admin password problem

Computer Help and Discussions Software
1

Hi all, first time listener, first time caller.

Having made the rediculous error of not unplugging my cable while shutting off the firewall to load Norton back in to try and remove a stubborn virus, I ended up with 6 programs I didn't install and 10 stubborn viruses. That's all been cleaned up now, thanks in part to PC-cillin and Avast! (Norton was useless after all that fuss), however I'm getting error messages now that I'd like to fix. I was told I could just shut down all those little processes that you don't actually need to load at start up (and I did), however it would be nice to fix the problem too, and I'm still having problems loading things like regedit and chkdsk using "run" from the START menu.

I tried putting my windows disk in to do a repair, but after going though the various menues in the repair program, it asks for the administrators password.

I have no passwords. Even for the profiles on the computer I didn't set passwords, let alone the administrator function.

Anyone got a work around, or how to reset the password? I couldn't even find how to get to the Administrator options- I thought it was just in mmc tools?

2

edit: i know this works for xp but im not sure about any other OS.

well, i do know of one way to reset a password.

go to start>control pannel>user accounts.

click on your name.

then on the right side, click prevent a forgotten password.

go through that setup, then you can use that disk to erase the admin password.

hope ive been of some help.

-aaron

3

I should have mentioned that I suppose, it is WinXP home sp2 that I'm using. But it's not the log on profile for me (computer admin type as opposed to limited access) that I need the password for. Those "extra" accounts that hide in the background (default user as an example) one of them is called Administrator, I suppose it would normally be used by the IT guy/gal of a company.

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this password reset disk can be used for ANY account on ANY computer.

5

I may be totally off track here but if you are referring to the request for password at the Command Prompt and you don't have one you can just hit enter to continue.

Sorry if I misunderstood the question or the answer.

6

something i forgot to mention, im cant quite remember how the password reset disk worked but you need to be in safe mode to see the administrator account.

usually its F8 or Del or F2 or something like that whn you first boot up your computer.

it usually tells you.

or, instead or going to repair on the disc, click start>run.

type in sfc /scannow and it will ask you to insert your XP disc.

this scans your computers for issues with security files and stuff.

not quite sure what else it does.

@mike, thats where hes at but im pretty sure he already tried it with no password.

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Could this be of help?

Reboot into safe mode, then when the logon screen comes up, select Administrator account.

Logon there, then go into user manager (start, control panel, user accounts).

Remove the password for the account you can't get into.

You can set a new password if you want to.

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it asks for the administrators password.

im pretty sure this is the same one as to log onto the admin account.

if thats the case, he still needs the password.

9

There are a few tips here on admin passwords

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

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There are a few tips here on admin passwords

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

I used "At a command prompt, type "control userpasswords2" and press Enter to open the Windows 2000-style User Accounts application." from the above and got the password sorted out, thanks all.

start/run sfc/scannow = windows cannot find it.

use windows disk, R for recovery console, put in Administrators password, and it just leaves me at the commmand prompt c:windows.

Tried sfc/scannow from there and it's an invalid command, couldn't even get chkdsk/f to run from there.

You folks sure are fast on the replies here, thanks for the help thus far.

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"sfc /scannow"

make sure you get that exact phrase. (copy/paste it)

if that still doesnt work, try installing XP.

pop the disc in then run it.

what you want to do is install windows over itself without formatting.

that resets most stuff but leaves the files in-tact.

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I got sfc /scannow to work, forgot the space last time.

errors still coming, update won't run.

I can re-install, however won't replacing XP sp2 with only XP original cause more issues?

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so sfc /scannow isnt working?

it should ask for the disc to install the items that are corrupted.

after you reinstall XP, it wants you to update.

you do that and it installs SP2 also in one of the updates, im pretty sure.

14

cool.

I'm sure it will want to update again afterwards, I was just worried that taking that big a step backwards would cost me alot of files. Also my wife and kid have profiles on this thing too, but that's just another step or 2 to make sure all our files remain safe.

of course, all our profiles should still be intact shouldn't they, just the settings on them will have been reset, so everything should be okay anyway... I've got to wake up more when I'm working on this thing.

sfc /scannow did ask for the disk and continued to run for quite a while, but in the end it just closed, and nothing seems to have changed. I'll try again tomorrow when I'll be able to oversee what's going on more closely.

Thanks again for the help,

Adam

15

That's how sfc /scannow behaves but the sneaky thing about it is you have to reboot after it finishes running for the changes to take effect. I say sneaky because it doesn't tell you that!

Thanks to krit86lr for pointing that out awhile ago.

Anyway, when you reboot you will probably get a "Please Wait" screen while the changes are implemented. That's what it does on my PC [XP SP2] and I just ran sfc /scannow a little while ago.