I have an HP PAVILLION #8660c. It is running XP PRO, and is devided into 2 users on the opening screen. A parents icon and the kids icon. The parents sde is password protected, the kids side is not. Does any one know how to remove and/or get around the password? Is the password stored on the machine somwhere? And if tes where and how do I find it so I can use it to sign in? I went to the kids side but I cannot download certain programs, such as protection or a media player because the password will not allow it. No furthur info givin. User accts also not helpful. Solutions please. I also have an older DELL P@ which operates on win 95, but is missing a usb card. I have several. Will any of them be recognizes by the os? Will the os auto download the appropriate drivers for a givin card? I need the usb to power an external device. Solutions pleasew
Hi rtrg Sorry, but I cannot help you with your password problem. I'm guessing you're the kid, and I don't think the parent wants you to access administrative privileges. As for your usb card problem, you have to download the driver for the card manually. Drivers can be downloaded from all over the internet, so you don't have to worry about that. Best Regards
CD--- I assure you I am NOT the child you seem to think I am. I bought this tower at a second hand store. It is a HP PAVILLION, win xp pro, again 2 user accounts. I also have a similar HP tower running win 98. 98 gives the user a choice to access the tower simply by clicking on CANCEL in the log on screen. xp does not. The user acconts screen does not offer any way of either displaying the password, removeing the password, only modifying it. Of course you still need to log in withh the current one in order to change it. A classical CATCH 22. I assure you again I am an ADULT, NOT the original owner. There are certain protection programs, such as anti virus, firewall, ect I cannot download. I also need access in order to remove unwanted programs. Any help will be welcome.
there are programs to get around that. HIt would do so by removing the SAM file which is the password in a hashed format. However, if you had windows encrypt anything on your hard drive, you would lose that because it is directly tied to your password.
I always use Winternal's ERD commander for these types of situations. However, this is software that my organization paid for and isn't something you'd probably want to pay for (they've been acquired by Microsoft and offer a 30 day trial if you're interesed). I'd recommend using a free utility from the following website to reset the password. http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/
The free ntpassword reset bootcd recommended on the previous link is also recommended by me. I used it several times and has always worked. Just make sure you choose all the default settings and it will reset the admin password and from there you can boot into the computer and do all the changes you need.
Thank you both for the advice. I presume I simply download the info fom the site and follow the steps. I of corse will post again if I run into trouble. Which is probable.
