Manually "un-doing" Diagnsotic Startup 1

[Chopsy]

How can I "manually" undo Diagnostic Startup within XP?

I was trying to troubleshoot a problem, and used MSConfig to activate Diagnostic Startup.

When I rebooted the PC, I now can't login, and what I thought was the local admin password doesnt seem to work. The PC is a member of a domain, but of course I've no longer got access to the domain to log back in.

I've been able to boot from a Bart CD, and saw that the entries in win.ini and system.ini had all been commented out. What else do I need to do to switch off the Diagnostic mode without being able to access Windows to switch it off the easy way?

Help!!

 

[linney]

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.

 

[Chopsy]

Thanks for the pointers. I had already been able to forcibly change the password and access the PC. I was then able to use msconfig to undo the diagnostic startup and reboot normally. (I have since set the password to be what it should have been to start with!)

Thanks