Password on Disk's repair feature?

From: Drew (nixt_@hotmail.com)
Date: 01/25/03 

From: "Drew" <nixt_@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 10:09:49 -0800

I cannot boot to XP home in normal mode.
I cannot use the 'repair' feature on the XP CD, because
the password is refused.

Machine/OS:
Gateway P4 2.8, 256 MB Ram, OEM installation of XP home
sp1.

Event:
Unknown beginning to event, I was brought in after three
hours, and the orig. person cannot fully describe what
happened (novice). They believe they had w32.Klez, but I
have established that it is *not* present on the machine,
by using both McGafee's and Symantec's tools.

When I took over:
Dead box, not bootable to even safe mode. (Corrupt or
missing "ntfs.sys" file.)

What I've done:
OK, so I throw in the OEM supplied disk for XP.
I select the 'repair' option.
I am prompted for an Administrator password.
Gateway support says that the default PW on the default
Admin acct. is BLANK!
OK... So i try it.
Nope.
Then I try the only other two passwords used on that
machine.
Nope, neither works.

Workaround:
Installed 4GB drive as master, made the orig. drive into
a slave. New install of XP on 4GB drive. Boot to new OS.
Copy ntfs.sys to old installation, matching dates and
file sizes. Pull out new drive, reset old to master. Boot.
Comes up in safe mode (I cheered!).
BUT, it won't boot to normal mode.
Bootlog looks fine, and that's puzzling..

Start to safe mode, enter the default admin account,
**using a blank pssword**.
So , the blank password works in Safe Mode, but NOT in
the "repair" password dialogue.
I change the password, thinking maybe a registry re-write
will happen, and allow me to use the repair feature.
Boot back to the CD, again I'm prompted for the default
admin PW. I enter the newly created PW.
Nope.

So, I cant get it to run in normal mode, and I can't use
the repair software.

I am STUMPED!

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

-Drew
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Safe Mode Boot Loop; Normal Boot OK
    ... in normal mode "or" ... I attempted to boot to Safe Mode to run a virus/malware ... load if logged in as Administrator (normal machine login is as a Power ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Windows Xp get stuck on; will no longer load
    ... Once you have all of your files you can reinstall the hard drive in your machine and either try to recover the system or do a fresh format and install. ... If you don't have access to another machine, can you boot to Safe Mode or a command prompt? ... If you can not boot to Safe Mode, then boot to the Recovery Console and see if you can copy your files off the drive. ... The last thing that comes to mind is a Repair Install. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Incessant loop
    ... Safe Mode and Normal Mode. ... In Normal Mode you get the lot. ... Boot into Safe Mode. ... Do not restore your Internet connection until your firewall/ ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Infected w-svhost / worm_rbot.ffx
    ... I ran them in NORMAL mode because I could not boot into safe ... I haven't applied any updates to Windows or MS ... Tried 3x to boot into safe mode. ...
    (microsoft.public.security)
  • Re: Incessant loop
    ... the Windows XP boot menu. ... it went into Normal mode. ... I now recommend that you boot the machine into Safe Mode, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)