Can't logon after domain to workgroup change

[Weezie62]

I was helping a "friend" and I totally messed up!

The Internet was only accessible from my friend's main home computer, so I had set up a wireless router so that her son’s computer could connect to the Internet. However, the printer was connected to her main PC, and she wanted her son to be able to print to it from his PC. I set up the main PC to share the printer, and then tried to connect to it from her son's PC. I realized that her son's PC wasn’t seeing the main PC because her son’s PC was in workgroup HOME and her main PC was in a domain. (So this is a little sticky - her main PC came from her ex-husband's work, so it will be difficult for her to get any help from there.) So I changed her main PC to workgroup HOME, which required a reboot.

The problem is that after the reboot, at the logon screen, it is not accepting the username (administrator) and the password. And when I click on the Options button, the only additional option I get is to Shutdown – I do not get the option to logon to a different workgroup or domain. Unfortunately, she has no other username besides Administrator set up on her PC, and yes, she has a password for it.

At the logon screen, I tried various options for the username, like \[domainname]\administrator, \\[domainname]\administrator, \[domainname].com\administrator, \[pcname].[domainname]\administrator, \HOME\administrator, etc., etc., to no avail.

I also cannot get into Safe mode, obviously, as it's also requiring the logon. I can get to a command prompt, but I'm not sure what, if anything, I can do to get in.
Please, please help. Thank you so much!

 

[vacunita]

Since you removed the domain, the user is no longer available as it was a domain user.


The only way into the computer now is to use a local Administrator account. Of course without the password its not going to be easy.


Unfortunately since this is an office computer, we cannot really help you out in breaking the password as that would be a TOS violation of this site.

Your best bet is to either get someone at the husbands office who might know the Administrator password to help you out, or re-install Windows to reset the password.



----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[linney]

Please HELP! NT Password Problem!
thread779-618409

Try Safe Mode and see if you can enter the Administrator account with a blank password.


This article is not as hopeful as it sounds but have a read anyway.

321305 - How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password Expires

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321305&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

305478 - HOW TO: Create and Use a Password Reset Disk for a Computer That Is Not a Domain

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305478&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

306214 - How to create and use a password reset disk for a computer in a domain in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306214&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

There are many sites that can help you further with lost or forgotten passwords (Google for instance) but this site for security and ethical reasons does not support that policy. Sorry about that, but if we can help in any other way please try us again.



Recovering a user's password. (Help and Support)

If you forget your password on a computer that is part of a workgroup or is a stand-alone computer, check your password hint. (Your password hint is located on the Welcome screen beside the password prompt.)

If you have a password reset disk, you can use it to create a new password for your account. Your personalized computer settings will be retained. For more information about using the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk, click Related Topics.

If your password hint does not help you remember your password and you did not create a password reset disk, you will need to have someone with a computer administrator account create a new password for you. For security reasons, a computer administrator cannot recover your password if you forget it; he or she can only create a new one for you.

Note

A user with a computer administrator account can create or change passwords for all users on the computer. Users with limited accounts can create and change their own passwords, as well as create password hints.


Big Note**************

If a user with a computer administrator account changes the password for another user, that user will lose all EFS-encrypted files, personal certificates, and stored passwords for Web sites or network resources.

EFS, Credentials, and Private Keys from Certificates Are Unavailable After a Password Is Reset

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290260

 

[Weezie62]

I think she'll have to contact her ex-husband's work. This could be a problem, but I don't know what else to do. We know the password - that's not the problem. The problem is that I changed it from a domain to a workgroup, without realizing that the only user set up on the PC was administrator. I had not created another user before making this change. UGH.

 

[vacunita]

But that Administrator is the Domain Administrator, and it went away with the domain.

The Computer should have another local built in Administrator, perhaps even without a password which is unrelated to the Domain.


That Administrator should enable access to the computer.




----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.