no password

bogwarrior

hi a friend cant work their computer (laptop) as they don't know their password . is their some way around this ? the make is acer it was bought in shaw's electrical department . would like to get it fixed without bring it to a shop keep the cost down . any helpful ideas out their please .

Gary ITR

What operating system?

bogwarrior

hello , not sure what system , windows xp i would expect . tried to ring her and find out but no answer .

TommyGun

is it the os password or the BIOS or HDD.

bogwarrior

os , Bois , Hdd dont know what they are . when the laptop is turned on windows needs a password to open , run it thats all i know .

Tom Dunne

Moved from laptops.

allybhoy

When you turn it on and before windows loads (black screen) then that is a bios password and can be reset by opening up the case and taking the coin battery out of the laptop and joining the two terminals using a paper clip.

If you mean that the laptop boots up to the xp screen where it says the username etc then if its xp home then there is normally a reminder, ask her to click this to see if she can remember her password. If she honestly cant remember the password then you will need to reset the password using some 3rd party software. The most user friendly I can think of is a cd that you put in and boot of the cd and when it loads up it looks like XP, its called ERD Commander. Google it to see if you can download it somewhere as trialware, I doubt it though. Anyway try and get your hands on that, once it loads up click on the start menu and in system tools there is an application called locksmith where you can reset the password on any given account.

Overheal

Im scared that I started a hypothetical thread about this very problem just 2 days ago..

Hypothetical: Forgetting Your Password

Trampas

if a bios password then they don't use it much if they have forgot the password :rolleyes:

mr google will probably help you

challengemaster

It's just a windows password - boot into safe mode, admin account, reset the password. voila.

How do I get into safe mode?

How do you get into Safe Mode? Very easily. When booting your system, as soon as the first (POST) screen appears showing your memory and hardware information, start pressing 'F8.'

The Windows XP advanced options menu will come up listing various boot options. As you can see, there are a few safe mode options available. 'Safe Mode' is the one we are interested in for now. 'Safe mode with networking' allows you to connect to other computers via a network, and also allows you Internet access if you are using an Internet sharing device connected to your network. Note that dial up connections like DSL will not work directly in safe mode. 'Safe mode with command prompt' does not attempt to load the Windows Explorer graphical interface, instead transporting you straight to XP's DOS-like command prompt.

Administrator account details are:

Username: Administrator
Password: (there is no password)

Go into the control panel, then user accounts. From there you can reset the password.

bogwarrior

thanks for the replies folks , i shall see what happens:)