Administrator password lost....

[Mike Burdick]

Hi,

Our church is given many (used) computers from our members. Problem is that some of these are password protected and therefore can't be used. I'll use one as an example: This machine's OS is Windows 2000 NT Professional and when it is started it asks for a password of which I naturally don't know. What we want to do is buy a new operating system and install it on the machine. My question - Can I format the machine and install a new OS? If so, how can I do this as I can't get to the c: drive as it stands now?

Thanks for any help regarding this.

[Jupac]

Hi, I dont think you need the admin pass to format. (but im not 100% sure)

[theuedimaster]

You reformat before windows comes on. If you have the (new - different) windows boot disk in the cd-drive, the computer will boot to it before windows is even loaded up. Therefore, you can get by the whole windows password protect.

[Mike Burdick]

theuedimaster,

For some reason it wouldn't let me do that. The OS was Windows 2000 NT so maybe they prevent formating since it's so security minded.

Here's what I finally did - hope I didn't get myself into trouble. I had a version of DOS 6.0 and loaded that. On setup it said that the hard disk was not compatable and do I want to fix it. Said yes, and that 's all it took! I then could format the hard drive.

Now I've got to reinstall Windows 2000 NT. I need to think a bit since the CD-ROM drivers are gone. Hmmm...hoping the setup CD's work....

Thanks for the help!

[theuedimaster]

np :)

[PeOfEo]

for future reference

You can reset a windows password from a boot disk. There is something called ERD commander for xp, but it is really pricy. But I am sure there is a freeware tool you can use for nt. Windows passwords are easy as pie to change... its like they do not exist.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ <-- I just googled this one.

[kmzpub]

Hi,

I suppose Active@ Password Changer can solve the problem. This small tool can easily recover or change password info. It really helped me, so, recommended soft!
http://www.password-changer.com/

[Mausau2000]

Putting in CD be4 the PC boots should intall any os without any fuss.

[David Harrison]

Just do what I do and dban the drive, you'll be left with a completely blank hard drive. It's not too much hassle, just pop the floppy disc or CD in, it'll boot up off the disc, then simply set it going, take the disc out and move onto the next machine. My 40GB Maxtor takes about 25mins on the shortest wipe, however it's fairly new so older drives may take longer.