Re: Logon Password Problem.

From: Karl Levinson [x y] mvp (levinson_k@excite.com)
Date: 11/05/02 

From: "Karl Levinson [x y] mvp" <levinson_k@excite.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 20:20:43 -0500

"Joe Yee" <joseph_yee@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4e6001c2843d$9ef14a40$37ef2ecf@TKMSFTNGXA13...
> Hello all,
>
> This is my first time to this msg board. I am recieving
> the following logon message when starting up my computer,
> and cannot get into windows. I am hoping to fix this
> problem, so I can recover my data on my hardrive.
>
> Logon Message: "The system could not log you on. Make
> sure your username and domain are correct, then type your
> password again. Letters in passwords must be typed using
> the corret case. make sure that caps lock is not
> accidentally on."
>
> Background info: I use Windows 2000 Professional. The
> logon screen has always poped up when I start my
> computer. The default user name is always "Administrator"
> and I simply press "enter" and windows continues to load,
> and my desktop is displayed. Now I cannot even get past
> the logon screen.
>
> How can I fix this? My friend told me an option would be
> to reload windows on my hd, and all of my data on my
> second hd would be intact. Is there a better way to fix
> this?

==========

A: For problems with local workstation passwords on Windows 2000, XP, NT or
.NET:

[NOTE: If this is a password prompt that appears a few seconds after turning
on your computer BEFORE Windows loads and there is no place to enter a login
ID, this may be a BIOS / CMOS password and not a Windows password. If this
applies to you, the information below will not help. For more information,
see the section in this FAQ entitled "How can I reset the BIOS / CMOS boot
password on my computer?"]

There is no default Windows password. The initial Windows password is
always chosen by the person who installed Windows, during installation.
Also, with Windows 2000 / XP / .NET / NT, a login ID and password are always
being used to log into Windows and access anything on the system, whether
you know it or not.

FIRST, try logging in as Administrator with no password. Also, if you think
you know what the password was, try toggling the CAPS LOCK button before
logging in, as the password is case sensitive.

If you think the Administrator account may be locked out due to numerous
incorrect password attempts, you might also try waiting 20 minutes before
logging in again, as many systems are configured to unlock the account after
this time.

If there is a drop-down menu on the login screen to select logging into the
domain or the local workstation, check the selection in this box and try
changing it. It could be that you are accidentally trying to log into the
domain with a local ID and password, or vice-versa.

If this is a Windows 2000 / XP / .NET / NT computer joined to a Windows
domain AND the troubled account is a local account, you can use another
computer on the network to change the local passwords on that computer [e.g.
by using the Computer Management MMC].

If the problem is with an ID or password on a Windows domain [e.g. a Windows
network with a Windows domain controller server], try unplugging the network
cable and then attempt to log in using an ID and password that was
previously used to log into this workstation. [Windows caches the past
several IDs and passwords that were used to log into the network.]

If none of this works, try one or more of the solutions below to reset the
local Administrator password:

[Free]
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd - NTPASSWD floppy
http://www.dmzs.com/tools/files - NTPASSWD boot CD-ROM
http://www.nmrc.org/files/snt/index.html - bootdisk.bin
http://www.tech4uservices.com/download.htm - two different floppies
http://www.nttoolbox.com/public/tools/LinNT.zip
http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBD/tip1900/rh1984.htm - boot floppy

[Not Free]
http://www.sysinternals.com - ERD Commander 2002 boot CD-ROM
http://www.sunbelt-software.com - NTAccess

WARNING: use these tools at your own risk.

These tools work by modifying the SAM file on your computer. Manually
renaming the SAM files at C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM and
C:\WINNT\REPAIR\SAM should also reset the local Administrator password to
blank [and would also probably delete all other local accounts which you had
created on your computer].

This can be done by booting from a DOS or Windows 9x boot floppy [though if
your hard drive is formatted in NTFS format, you can't rename files this way
unless you purchase NTFSDOS Pro from www.winternals.com ]. You can also
rename the SAM files by moving the hard drive from the computer to another
Windows 2000/XP/NT computer, or by installing a second copy of Windows
2000/XP/NT to a different folder on the computer.

Problems with using the floppy disk methods above are supposedly rare, but
can happen. If you do try one of the floppy disk methods above and your
computer will no longer boot to Windows, try renaming the SAM files as
described above.

If all else fails, you can always reinstall Windows [though you could lose
some data or have to reinstall other software after doing this].

[Thanks to Sherry, Stephen Souza and Torgeir Bakken among others]