basically, lost admin password

[t2data]

help...

set my single user, no logon Win2000 box onto a workgroup, and when it rebooted there's two new users.
one I can log on (blank password) but it has no admin rights.
one I can't log on (no password known).
there is no administrator listed in Documents/settings so I am assuming the unloggable user is the admin. ASS U ME'ng that is.

I need to boot into admin mode to update win2K and virus data...

Any ideas on what to do?

 

[Lin33]

Have you tried just typing "Administrator" into the logon box, and clicking OK? (No password) If this works, then you should be able to go into Users and Passwords and create a new administrator's account for yourself.

If you have trouble with the system asking you for a password, and you don't want to use one, first CHECK the "Users' must use..." box and click apply. Then UNcheck it and click apply. Sounds backwards, but for some reason it works. I had a similar problem with my 2000 PC, and this worked for me. Don't know if this will help, but it shouldn't hurt. Good luck.

 

[Lin33]

Hmm. Me again. I just realized that when you click "Apply" the second time, it will bring up a users box in which you can create the new account. I think maybe you can just fix things from there.

 

[Jesuspower]

You could try deleting the ?.SAM file from the HD. That will reset all your passwords to "". You have to do it from a W98 boot disk that has drivers for ntfs partitions. I forgot where the file is & it's name, you could look in Google for "lost admin password" and you might even find a disk image. -God Bless