Extremly Urgent!!!

[karsh]

i got a new user with his personal laptop. but it was not letting me join the comapany domain.
so i was just trying to join it as a workgroup, as i have some machines in the same format.
but it rebooted to get this new effect and all of a sudden i cannot log on with any of the passwords.
i cannot log on into her machine.
so wht do i do?? how do i go back in??
i will really appreciate inputs on this.
the OS is windows 2000.
thanks a lot in advance.

 

[shmoes]

That doesn't make any sense, Is the name of the domain "workgroup" ?

you would join the "domainname" to become part of the domain.

If you succesfully joined the domain, try creating a new user account for that user.

otherwise, during logon when you press ctrl+alt+del hit options, and make sure that the "domain" is set to "computer name this computer" and log on with her personal login.

What is the EXACT error you're getting when you try to log in?


~Shmoes

I lay claim to nothing and everything. My words may be wisdom or disaster. In the end you make a choice. Noone is perfect.

 

[Grenage]

Have you tried selecting the local machine as the domain (if the option is there) and typing in Administrator, and a blank password?

 

[karsh]

I have the workgroup as WORKGROUP. I was able to map the network drive. But once i selected this workgroup, it rebooted and didnt let me go in. Initially i was trying to connect her as a part of domain, but had some problems, so thought to go to workgroup.
At the log on screen, I dont get the option of loggin on to this machine or anything.
so there is no way i can try to select a domain name or this computer.
so I tried loggingon as Administrator and password as the same and also blank, didnt let me go in.
So, i dont know what should i do??
please help, i cant think of anything....
THanks

 

[shmoes]

In windows 2000, you initially have two fields to fill in


USERNAME >

PASSWORD >

If you press the options button, another field will appear

LOG ON TO > use the pull down to change this from the domain to the local computer.

Then try loging on again.

Also, can you post the error message you are getting?

~Shmoes

I lay claim to nothing and everything. My words may be wisdom or disaster. In the end you make a choice. Noone is perfect.

 

[karsh]

I have been attached as a WOrkgroup memeber. I dont get that option of log on to local machine.
that option is only visible when you are connected as a part of domain.

 

[wolluf]

If machine is part of workgroup, then it will ONLY log in locally.

So local username/passwords should work.

If they don't, I'd suspect that you were actually connected to domain initially & logging in with domain user id/password. You then removed machine from domain into workgroup WORKGROUP. So, domain logons no longer work as you need local versions.

If you really are using local logons (btw, have you tried Administrator with no password) & can't get access, suggest you have some sort of corruption. You could try loading recovery console (to see if password works there) & then run chkdsk if it does. Or look in the 2k server forum FAQ - there's one for lost passwords.

 

[atreubin]

karsh, have you found a solution to the problem? I did the same thing and I have found that this is a very common problem since it's very easy to do and impossible to undo.
I have found multiple threads on exactly the same problem. Unfortunately, I don't think they got much further. Here are the URLS:
thread616-524307 far as I can tell, what has happened is that by changing the setting from a domain to a workgroup and not supplying a user and password, we have set W2K to boot without a valid login username. Thus, either there is no valid username, in which case there's absolutely no way of getting past the logon screen, or the only valid username is some default that is given when you set W2K to use workgroups.

If the former is the case, then as far as I have heard, there's no way around it. . . you have to reinstall the OS. If it's the latter, then we have to either figure out what the default is, or else reinstall.

Does this make sense? I am also really frustrated and have done this to a system that has a lot of valuable information that I don't want to lose in a reinstall.

I'd appreciate any help.

 

[karsh]

hi atreubin
yes you have the right diagonis for sure. you cannot just remove/change the domanin name without knowing the original username and password for the admin.
as the machine boots up till the log on screen and then doesnt accept any username or password.
as you said one solution is to reinstall the OS which i was planning to do, but fortunately there are some software which resets the admin password.
But those are kinda risky softwares. but it worked for me and I was able to get in. i was searching for this and i found a free program somewhere, if i find the site name i will send to you. i guess i also have that copied on CD, but have to find it, as i was looking for it recently as my friend did the sme thing wht we did.
but if its really urgent, there are software which u can buy and will do the same thing, but i wanted it for free.
let me know wht happens.
I hope it helps.

 

[atreubin]

Hi Karsh,
Thanks for the advice. I was ready to use a program to recover/change the password with a boot disk, but I fortunately found that the local user "ADMINISTRATOR" and blank password worked for me.
I'm not sure if that is a default that Win 2000 sets when you first switch to Workgroups or if it was set up on my machine when Win 200 was installed (I didn't install it), but anyway, I got really lucky!

Anyone else following this thread or having the same problem might want to try it in the possibility that this ADMINISTRATOR account is actually a W2K default. In any case, I'm pretty sure that there's absolutely no way of getting around the problem without
a) having a local username and password
b) reinstalling the OS
c) using software to compromise W2K security
Hope this helps and thanks again to karsh

 

[karsh]

Hey Atreubin
I am happy that atleast the administrator with blank password worked for you. I tried that it didnt worked for me. Nyways,
thanks to everybody for their input...

 

[BillyA]

TonyBose (IS/IT--Manageme) Jun 5, 2003

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/win2k-ipc-error.asp

Humpty Dumpty was pushed!!


this is what helped me..

billya

 

[wolluf]

Win2k Administrator password will only be blank if it was set up that way (when it was installed).

As has been noted - very common problem, people removing machines from domains without realising this will invalidate their domain logon. As I mentioned in earlier post, there is a FAQ in the 2k Server forum - faq96-2866 which has a number of useful links to cope with this situation.

PS. If possible of course, ask the system adminstrator/technical support for the domain being left for local Administrator logon details.