atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories Windows Passwords Lost!!!!

Bought IBM ThinkPad used for $200.00.
Accidentally removed my profile and all thats left is user and admin. I dont have admin password or system disk. Cant find seller to get password.
Am I hosed or what.

What OS is on the system

XP pro

Google for Linux password busters. I've used a boot disk that will step you through the command process to reset the password to whatever you want. Used it on W2000 and NT. Don't know what your OS is.

I use a utility called ERD Commanger and it will boot from cd and has a "locksmith" program that will change the password for any profile, I use it when setting up a new domain and having to login with a local admin acct to add to the new domain, a lot of people make weird passwords and forget them. I think the util was liek $50 or something, but probably the best $50 I ever spent.

Its a bart disc format, so you can rip the iso, then install other apps on it, I added some anitvirus utils and some diagnostic utils to it to make it a very valuable disc.

There is a way to do it from recovery console, but I can't remember.

PM sent

I am really confused by this question. Windows will not let you delete your own profile folder under "C:\Documents and Settings" when you are logged in.

The profile's folder name does not change when the username is changed. For instance if I change username "Administrator" to "Mike", then its profile is still stored in the "Administrator" folder even though it says "Mike" on the Welcome screen.

Even if you delete a user's profile folder under "Documents and Settings” you can still log in using the same username and password. That is because the username and password are stored in the registry, not the profile folder.

Try this first: Reboot and press F8 a few times. This will take you to a screen giving you some boot up choices. Choose “Last Known Good Configuration”. This may restore the username you think you deleted.

If you do not see the deleted username, do not reboot, but push Ctl-Alt-Delete two or three times. This will pop up a logon box. Type in your username and password that you think were deleted.

Please let us know if this works!

P.S. the other suggestions above are also good.

I dont even remember the old user name.
I just need to log on as admin, dont have that PW.
Will order one of above pgms. Thanks all.

Yes there are number of programs that will replace passwords in Windows XP. I think there is a free one out there but am not sure. You might want to check on www.majorgeeks.com, www.filehippo.com, www.download.com, www.tucows.com and www.sourceforge.net

And please let us know what you find!

I just had to use ERD Recovery on my XP laptop. It lost it's network ID somewhere between the customer site and the office with the IP address still configured to non-network. XP refused to allow me to login to any domain. ERD worked wonderfully, though a few more steps were needed to transfer over old user settings.