ever got locked out of a window system?

[drfsupercenter]

no

If it isn't the old free one, what is it then (my link)?

[UncasMS]

your link leads to ~3000/8500 BYTE! for a PE version

PE stands for Preinstallation Environment

ms released a WINDOWS PE 1.0 version quite some time ago and it was meant for pc manufacturers or sysadmins for a fully automatic installtion of a windows system on a new system

ms removed all information on PE shortly after as PE enabled you to circumvent certain ntfs security standards

"bart's pe builder" was a very nifty approach to create your own PE

[drfsupercenter]

Oh I see. I have found that program elsewhere, but I will not post a link as it probably violates multiple forum rules. My advice: google it (ERD Commander download" and find a link to it.

[katono]

this is what happened to me today and because the incident wrecked my nerves considerably i thought i should share the solution with you:

- was asked to help transfer a friends photos from his latest holiday from his notebook to his desktop machine

- took a network cable + switch with me in order to connect notebook and desktop

- had to change something in the desktop's network settings

- reboot

==>> so far so good

or so i thought as this was far from unusual



next, however, came something i didnt really consider strange or abnormal either but it actually made me pull my hair for almost an hour

====>>> i was faced with an ADMIN login

at first i didnt really think about it, called my friend, who was on the phone, and told him to log in

when i saw the expression on his face i knew something was wrong here:
he told me he never saw this admin login (for xp) before!



oooppssss

first i thought he was kidding and told him i needed the password but he didnt know any such thing

dont ask what made the pc ask a password at all - we both didnt know but i was the one to set it straight again

because the admin account was the only account being shown we had no chance to login to xp

i tried a couple of things but actually i had absolutely no idea of how to overcome this password protection

being close to taking the pc to my place, securing the data and installing windows from scratch i remembered one of those dvds i usually take with me when dealing with any of my friends pcs

i had ERD COMMANDER on one of the dvds and this tool or one of its components actually saved my a**e

erd commander let's you boot into a graphical interface similar to what xp looks like but is completely independend to the os

inside erd commander i found a tool by the name of LOCKSMITH and guess what... locksmith let's you override any existing password for any account!

i didnt believe the desription at first but said to myself i got nothing to loose and so i gave it a try

after the reboot admin account showed up and the NEW password which i set via locksmith let me enter xp again


folks, you dont belive how surprised i was finding a tool within my collection which i had never known or used before but which easily let me override the old password

on the one hand i was extremely happy to be able to login to xp again a to the job which i originally came to my friends house


but on the other hand this clearly shows that a password protection for an account is useless....
.....unless you protect your bios from being entered as well

because i had to enter the bios in order to switch the boot sequence to start from my dvd instead of hdd

so far i have not set a password for my bios but i will do so real soon in order not to find any of my machines entered as easily as i did it with my friends machine today



so in case anyone ever has pw problems: have erd commander on a bootable cd/dvd at hand and use LOCKSMITH

i kinda had a similar problem with my IBM laptop - somehow, my power on password was changed and i cant get into my laptop - i tried the recovery discs and even had someone remove the battery to see if i could bypass it - but nothing has worked - would something like this help me get past my problem? would there be any other options i could try, as ive heard that IBM doesnt have master bios passwords - am i total am A**ch?

[UncasMS]

in order to make use of a bootable device such as a cd/dvd floppy or usb stick you will have to enter your bios in most cases as the normal boot sequence will be:

1: harddrive
2: cd

now you will have to change the sequence to the device you want to boot from - e.g. the cd

should you not be able to boot from cd/etc all this wont work

++++

take a look here as well pls:

http://www.tech-faq.com/ibm-thinkpad-bios-password.shtml

[drfsupercenter]

Doesn't it go
Floppy-HD-CD-other?

[Chewy]

Doesn't it go
Floppy-HD-CD-other?

bios option vary by computer

[drfsupercenter]

Oh OK on mine if you leave a floppy in on reboot it says to take it out

[UncasMS]

that's why most of us CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE

it is a pain in the butt having cd or floppy as your 1st boot device

[NightTran]

I got lock out for few day, get new XP disc from dell, it was a few day from H... without internet and computer

[drfsupercenter]

that's why most of us CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE

it is a pain in the butt having cd or floppy as your 1st boot device

Unless your HD crashes... I just take the floppy out. The CD boots after the HD.

[UncasMS]

Unless your HD crashes... I just take the floppy out. The CD boots after the HD.

nope - always

in case of failure simply enter bios and change the sequence to cd first

no need to have a pc waste time searching for boot records on cd/floppy and bother you when those drives contain media

[katono]

Thanks UncasMS for the link - do you know what POST is?

[UncasMS]

Power
On
Self
Test

=> the initial start phase