microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin

1) Try contacting Dell to get the administrator password. This is THE
system administrator password, not the password for a random person with
administrator privileges.
2) Try running OPHCRACK from its bootable CD to get all passwords (not 100%
successful, but usually runs in minutes, so worth a short)
3) Try resetting the password. Google search will reveal many password
rest tools, some free, usually based on floppy or a bootable CD. Also
available on the Ultimate Boot CD.
4) Try making a BartsPE bootable CD on another computer. This is like an
advanced recovery console, and does not bother about things like passwords.
5) Download the multi-floppy disk set of XP setup files (free from
Microsoft). These can boot into a verison of the recovery console that
might avoid the password problem.
6) Try the Windows 2000 recovery console. I have heard that it is less
fussy about passwords.

"Hardlock" wrote in message
news:E0998BCC-D3DA-400F-BB82-F0DD004CBC69@microsoft.com...
> Hello, This is my first post so please bare with me.
>
> Today I encountered a frustrating situation that I hope someone here can
> resolve. The patient is a Dell desktop computer running WinXP Pro SP2. The
> computer will TRY to boot but eventually ends in a BSOD. It will NOT boot
> up
> in ANY mode (normal, safe, etc).
>
> Using PartitionMagic 8.0 and some other tools I've determined that the
> problem is "Partitions Improperly Dismounted". The MS Knowledge base
> (among
> others) claims that the simple solution is to run CHKDSK. However, the
> partitions are non accessable.
>
> I tried to run the Recovery Console from the WinXP Pro SP2 CD, but it asks
> for the administrators password before I can acquire a command prompt to
> run
> CHKDSK. The computer owner has no idea what the Admin pswd is (we tried
> everything he could think of including blank) so we hit a stone wall
> there.
>
> I've seen the registry hack posted elsewhere in these threads but, again,
> we
> are unable to access ANY files on the partitions.
>
> I NEED to run CHKDSK on this hard-drive to correct the mismounted
> partions, so
> my question is:
>
> 1. How can I bypass the admin pswd to access windows cmd prompt?
> 2. If #1 is impossible, how can I run CHKDSK without file access on
> hard-drive (remember, the hard-drive isn't even being recognized by OS
> even
> though data appears intact).
> 3. How can I do the registry edit without access?
>
> You all are my only hope on this. I've already used everthing else in my
> bag
> of tricks. HELP! :)