lost admin password

[Charles B]

I lost track of the administrative password for Windows
XP on one of my computers. What can I do? Is there a
backdoor?

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Charles;
Try leaving the password blank.

The password is Case Sensitive.
Check Caps Lock and try various of Capital combinations.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321305
If you do not have a Password Recovery Disk, it is to late to make it.
Or
Log in to any account that has Administrator access.
Then go to User Accounts in Control Panel.
Select the user and change the password.

Windows XP Pro:
At the log-in screen, press Ctrl/Alt/Del twice quickly
Type "Administrator" and leave password blank.

Windows XP Home:
Reboot, tapping F8 each second.
Select Safe Mode at the menu.
Select Administrator, leave password blank.

Then go to User Accounts in Control Panel.
Select the user and change the password.
If you are using Windows XP Pro and have encrypted data, you may
permanently lose access to the encrypted data.

Here is another option:
http://www.wininternals.com/products/repairandrecovery/index.asp

Another option is to install Windows XP on another partition and take
Ownership of your data.
You could also perform another installation on the same partition,
although this is not a permanent fix and it is recommended to perform
a Clean Installation after retrieving your data.

After this is resolved, take precautions to not lose the password.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
http://dts-l.org/index.html


"Charles B" > wrote in message
...
> I lost track of the administrative password for Windows
> XP on one of my computers. What can I do? Is there a
> backdoor?