news4la Posted September 16, 2012 CID Share Posted September 16, 2012 I actually don't know how to do this. I have been given an old Dell Box with XP OEM on it. The person giving it to me has long forgotten the LOGON. How do I make this box usefull again. I would like to use it myself. No one else will be using it. I would like to put Win 7 on it also. If it is sensitive info please do not post send in e-mail or IM. If I need to take it somewhere. Please let me know. RICK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted September 16, 2012 CID Share Posted September 16, 2012 XP is easy to change the admin login if you have an install cd for it ? Boot to the cd, when it asks if you want to install or repair hit 'enter' , this should locate the current installation, now hit the 'r' key , for repair Windows will copy files, and reboot. Do not boot to cd , allow the machine to boot normally.... When you see the installation begin after the reboot, hit 'shift+F10' do not wait for installation it will overwrite the current installation..... A command prompt will show up. In the shell type ' control userpasswords2' And you'll have access to all users and passwords on the machine , just change them. For anyone trying to use this to cause someone else trouble , steal information or do damage , it's your butt not mine. CA3LE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roco Posted September 17, 2012 CID Share Posted September 17, 2012 XP is easy to change the admin login if you have an install cd for it ? Boot to the cd, when it asks if you want to install or repair hit 'enter' , this should locate the current installation, now hit the 'r' key , for repair Windows will copy files, and reboot. Do not boot to cd , allow the machine to boot normally.... When you see the installation begin after the reboot, hit 'shift+F10' do not wait for installation it will overwrite the current installation..... A command prompt will show up. In the shell type ' control userpasswords2' And you'll have access to all users and passwords on the machine , just change them. For anyone trying to use this to cause someone else trouble , steal information or do damage , it's your butt not mine. Thanks Bro , XP pro is my windows system by choice ,and being a dmb ass , and getting in many throw away Xp puters , where all is forgotten ,and the case key sticker long gone , sure if I can get it to boot up into the O/S , key recovrey is simple ; and no not for pirating , just to get the old box running again, my thoughts on a old box upgrade to win 7 ...why ? win Xp runs on low memrory usage, my 4 core rums with loads of it's 2 Gb of ram . spare . vista rippled it to shreds , just glad I never paid for Vista , My bigest upgrade was from Win 3.1 to 95 , nice program but took time for making a cup of tea and toast to boot maybe the 8mb of ram didn't help, ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted September 17, 2012 CID Share Posted September 17, 2012 Yes, some machines might complain when you type in the 'control' command, if so I have a couple other ways to get it opened up. And the reason I went searching in the first place is exactly the same as you say, I obtain a lot of machines this way on trade in , or used to , people are holding on to their boxes in the last couple years. IMO XP was much more secure then anything after. I'm talking overall, because one must have physical access to the machine to carry out this fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
news4la Posted September 17, 2012 Author CID Share Posted September 17, 2012 Thank you Mudmanc for the info. Do you have any other suggestions? I do not have an install disc. This must be some box it has two cd drives and a Floppy!! I have not seen one of those for quite a while. RICK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coknuck Posted September 18, 2012 CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 If you have a copy of XP just reformat and use that copy and you will have a fresh box. If you don't have a copy, borrow a friends copy and reformat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted September 18, 2012 CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 If you want to save the current install and do not have the install disk , grab hirens boot cd from his site 1. Enter "Offline NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer" With Up & Down keys select Offline 'NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer' and press Enter. 2. Wait for "Offline NT Password & Registry Editor" to Load On the screen below, you'll see is several lines of text that quickly run down the screen. You don't need to do anything here. Wait for "Offline NT Password & Registry Editor" to load. 3. Choose the Correct Hard Drive Partition This step in the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor process is to select the partition that contains the Windows installation that you want to delete a password from. Many computers have a single operating system installed on a single partition on a single hard drive, making this a very easy choice. If that's the case for you, just press ENTER to accept the default partition. Otherwise, type the number corresponding to the correct partition from the Candidate Windows partitions found list and then press ENTER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
news4la Posted September 18, 2012 Author CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 What a long and envolved process that is. I see that it is written in Grub. I used that when I first was learnig Linux. A very simple question as brought up from Conuck. Can I just reformat and put 7 on it and not wory about someone else headache. Or would I still have the password problem after that. I will be the only user. It is not going back to anyone else. So i don't think there is a need to save anything. I could be wrong.What are your gentlemen's opinion. I will defer to your better judgment. RICK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coknuck Posted September 18, 2012 CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 I'd go ahead and put W7 On it! My wife's old PC3200, Pentium 3.2 GHz runs it just fine. Just doesn't use areo, no big deal! Also it has 2GHz memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
news4la Posted September 18, 2012 Author CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 Thank you Conuck. Mudmanc are you of the same conclusion. Is that an old thompson chopper I see in your avatar Conuck? RICK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted September 18, 2012 CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 Myself not being a later microsoft version fan my opinion would be no on the 7 Aside this , have you found what software may be on the machine ? Is it worth not running though the simple process of resetting the password first ? This is only a question you can answer. Maybe conuck is right , chuck it and try 7 , myself when I gert a machine with a legit XP license I never lose it. Just wipe it clean and use it. Or chuck it all and put any linux OS on it. Which will beat the daylights out of any other OS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
news4la Posted September 18, 2012 Author CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 I agree on the linux. Give me Ubuntu. Also yes it it a proper license. Already took the number off the sticker. MS says it's good. I also have to look at support. XP is coming to the end of the road. No matter how much we like it. It's time to move on. I also have at home Vista Ult. SP2. I have not had a days problem with it. You need a newer machine though. I bought mine from Gateway new in 2007. That is coming to an end. So the other alternative is W8! NO Thank You. I tried the beta. I don't think itis going to be a good seller. Thanks for your input,both of you. When Ihave some time to look more at it.I will let you know what I decide. RICK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted September 18, 2012 CID Share Posted September 18, 2012 Yea well hey < nice grammar huh lol XP is going to stay around here for a long time to come, support or no. Not tossing away perfect machines because of no more security updates. For those that refuse to run an OS that eats ram to survive, I'm sure the same. When it starts to funkitate and my foo can no longer be of any help , the machines will smile profuse and show their beaks in the sunlight to any linux distro from the beginning of time until present day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.