Administrator Password Reset (First Release)

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I plugged up and old computer that I have not used since I got my new one to transfer some files….and for the life of me cannot remember my Administrator Passsword. Is there any way to reset it. I also tried using the computers restore disc but it won’t go to the menu where I can click on “restore to factory settings”. I would really appreciate any help that Ican get. Thanks in advance!

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Yes, you can reset the administrator password, since you have physical access to the machine. A good place to start reading is this page. I personally have used this tool to do just that, but I will warn you in advance: it’s rather scary looking if you’re not used to working from a command line (“DOS prompt”).

Without knowing more about your restore disc – that is, the manufacturer and what they provided – I’m afraid that I can’t be much help. Without knowing how it should work I can’t tell you how to make it work. Perhaps resetting the password will solve the problem for you.

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In the case like this there is a more simple solution: just to remove the hard drive from old computer and connect it to the new computer (better instead of CD drive). Then logon to the account with Administrator rights and copy all files you need.

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That’s not really a solution when you need administrative access to the physical computer in question – although it works a treat for recovering data. It’s also highly dependent upon whether the user is proficient with hardware, and not everyone is. And if you don’t have another system available…

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Thank you for your reply….I actually figured out how to solve the first part of my problem doing just what you suggested…and it was a little scary. As for the second part, the computer that I am trying to restore is an old Compaq Presario, Model Number 5002US, which came with Windows ME. It came with a Recovery CD, which I have used twice over the years to do a factory restore. The first time that I popped it in last night the entire menu came up with all the different selections, with factory restore as one of the selection. And me trying to use the old wireless keyboard to make the selection…and failing to realize that the batteries had run out on the keyboard could not select anything until I fould new batteries to place in the keyboard. In the meanwhile…the selection menu dissappeared, and the cd popped out and put a message on the screen that says “please remove all disks…etc., press enter when ready” After pressing enter the system reboots but just with a few configs and specs on the screen…and then the same old computer settings come up, and now for the life of me every time I pop that cd in it does the same thing….and I cannot get that menu with the selection for restoring to factory settings to come up again. Whew! I probably should mention that I had previously installed a copy of Windows XP over the ME about a year ago, and have since lost the key codes, so now it seems that my only choice is to unistall XP (hopefully)..and try to do the system restore when I’m back to Windows ME???? (I just thought of that as I was typing!!!! Thanx again to you and everyone for their reply posts.

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It’s possible that your Windows ME restore disc will not downgrade a computer with XP loaded onto it. But a more interesting question is… why would you want to? If we lay aside the fact that it’s an older version of Windows and its imminent removal from extended support (June 30, 2006), it’s a stinker of an operating system, perhaps the worst to come out of Redmond.

What are your specific reasons for wanting to downgrade?

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My intentions were to wipe the drive with the restore disk, but it seems that the recovery disk will not work with XP on it, so I’m thinking that I need to uninstall XP to be able to restore back to factory settings which will bring it back to that lousy ME that they victimized poor unsuspecting consumers with, and then load it back up with the excellent XP, (which is actually the professional version) until I discovered that I lost my little black book with the registration key codes in it, so if I do take it off I cannot put it back on…..aaaaggghhh!!!lol. Is there any way that I can make the drive fresh again without going through all that? This girl has two days (well 2 evenings after getting off work) to get this done. I promised delievery of this system by Sunday. Help! Thanx again in advance….Angel

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Can you boot into XP at all at this point? If so, you might want to use a keyfinder (Magic Jelly Bean, for example). If not, you could drill down into the Registry to find the Product Key. Another option might be to run the System File Checker (sfc /scannow) from a command prompt. You could also run chkdsk from the Recovery Console. If getting to XP is totally impossible at this point, I’m afraid your only option is to wipe the disk and start over. Get a Windows 98SE boot floppy diskette and boot to a DOS prompt. Use the FDISK command to remove the non-DOS partition (I’m assuming that XP is on an NTFS partition), then create a Primary DOS partition. This new partition will be FAT32. Exit from FDISK, and type format c: /u at the prompt. This will prepare your machine for a reinstallation of Windows ME using the factory’s Recovery CDs. Just don’t wipe any Recovery Partitions with FDISK, or the CDs may fail!

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It’s past your deadline but I’m still not entirely sure of what you aim to accomplish. Did you just want to format the drive clean and install any version of Windows, or are you specifically trying to load ME onto the system?

As was noted in a previous post, you can obtain the Windows XP key using the Magical Jellybean Keyfinder but I’m afraid nothing can be done for the lost WinME product key.

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