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Having owned an XP PC for 4 years without problems I was surprised to discover I suddenly had to enter a pasword in order to get into the system. I have never bothered with passwords as I am the only one who used that machine.
The trouble started when I found I had to click on my name to get into the system. This had to be done again if I didn't use the PC for a while. As I didn't like that I decided to go to User Accounts in Control Panel to see if this could be avoided. I clicked on Change the way Users Logon and Off, then Selected Logon and Logoff options and the following screen apeared.
Innocently, I unticked Use the Welcome screen and Use Fast User Switching as I thought I didn't need these. Clicking on Learn About Options revealed this
This effectively turned on the Classic Logon Prompt (as above) which is described as being more secure than the normal Welcome screen. It certainly was and locked me out completely !
I rebooted and was asked for a password. I had never set one. Nothing would allow me past this spot - not even Safe Mode. I had always thought XP passwords were no real security but this one was 100%
I naturally started to search the net for answers and found quite a good site at http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305
This said : (my notes in red)
1. Place your Windows XP CD in your cd-rom and start your computer (it’s assumed here that your XP CD is bootable – as it should be - and that you have your bios set to boot from CD)
2. Keep your eye on the screen messages for booting to your cd . Typically, it will be “Press any key to boot from cd”
3. Once you get in, the first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.
4. When you get to the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to Setup Windows now. N.B. Do NOT go for the REPAIR option at this point
5. The Licensing Agreement comes next - Press F8 to accept it.
6. The next screen is the Setup screen which gives you the option to do a Repair.
It should read something like “If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it”
Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (if you only have one, it should already be selected) and press R to begin the Repair process.
7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.
8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot. (this will happen automatically – you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”
9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of “pressing any key” to boot from the CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice Installing Windows is highlighted.
10. Keep your eye on the lower left hand side of the screen and when you see the Installing Devices progress bar, press SHIFT + F10. This is the security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system.
11. At the prompt, type NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter. Voila! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.
N.B. This did not work for me. Although I had got as far as accessing the whole computer with a C:\ command prompt, typing NUSRMGR.CPL said 'Couldn't find'. I later traced this program to the folder c:\windows\system32. So I suggest that you change to this folder by typing cd\windows\system32 . Your screen should show c:\windows\system32 . You can now type in NUSRMGR and it will open the password amendment screen
12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your
password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your
new password, you can type
control (space) userpasswords2 at the prompt and choose to log on
without being asked for a password. After you’ve made your changes close
the windows, exit the command box and continue on with the Repair (have your
Product key handy).
13. Once the Repair is done, you will be able to log on with your new password (or without a password if you chose not to use one or if you chose not to be asked for a password). Your programs and personalized settings should remain intact.
Well, it saves having to reinstall XP
If you take this option you can choose to overwrite you original XP (which will leave all your data intact but programs will have to be reinstalled, including Outlook Express settings)
OR you can install XP in another folder you name. OR you can choose to reformat the partition in which XP is resident and literally clear the whole thing back to factory settings.
June 08
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