[laundry95]

Hello

I have a Windows XP computer that I only use for Photoshop. After not using it for a while, I booted it up, but found that I couldn't log on: the welcome screen displayed the Windows XP logo on the left, but no usernames on the right. Ctrl + alt + delete prompted me to enter a name and password to logon, but I wasn't able to get onto my account (I tried all of the password combinations that I could think of). Booting in safe mode gave the same result.

This computer hasn't been connected to the internet for at least a year, and I can't recall running any programs other than Photoshop on it recently. It was at one point networked to this computer, which is (obviously) connected to the internet, but it hasn't been for a while.

I tried looking around for this topic, but I couldn't find any resolved problems that were similar to this one. :/

Thanks for taking the time to look into this.

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Log on as an administrator.
Restart the computer.
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE two times, and then type the name of the administrator user account.
In the Password box, type the administrator password, and then click OK.

Note If the administrator password is set to a blank password, do not type a password before you click OK.

If you didn't set an admin password, then leave it blank and try to login.

Also, do you have your Windows CD?

Edited by edge2022, 10 June 2009 - 07:20 PM.

[edge2022]

Log on as an administrator.
Restart the computer.
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE two times, and then type the name of the administrator user account.
In the Password box, type the administrator password, and then click OK.

Note If the administrator password is set to a blank password, do not type a password before you click OK.

If you didn't set an admin password, then leave it blank and try to login.

Also, do you have your Windows CD?

Edited by edge2022, 10 June 2009 - 07:20 PM.

[laundry95]

When you say log on as an admin, do you mean log onto an account with admin capabilities, or is there a default admin account on XP computers that I should be trying to log into? I'm not sure whether or not I can get into any of the accounts with admin abilities, but I'll try.

Not sure about the CD, but I'll look.

Thanks for the response!

Edited by laundry95, 10 June 2009 - 07:27 PM.

[edge2022]

In the user name box type in:
Administrator

And for the password, leave it blank.

This is a default account created during the time Windows was installed that has admin capabilities.

[laundry95]

I wasn't able to log on as the administrator. I didn't know what the password was, so I tried a blank password and was told that I couldn't log on. Then I decided to try some likely passwords. The first gave me the same prompt. When I tried the second password, the computer seemed to be logging me on (only the cancel button on the prompt was enabled), but after about 30 or so seconds gave me the same prompt. I restarted the computer and tried again, and the same password had the same result each time. I'm pretty sure that it's the administrator password, but I can't seem to get onto the account.

[edge2022]

Do you have your Windows CD?

[laundry95]

Noo... but I'm still looking! I'll let you know when I find it.

[rshaffer61]

You can borrow one as long as it is the ame type you have on your system (Home or Pro)

Edited by rshaffer61, 12 June 2009 - 11:37 AM.

[laundry95]

Thanks, rshaffer! But I found mine. All ready!

[rshaffer61]

ok thanks for the update.

[edge2022]

Run a repair installation of Windows.
Here is a tutorial: http://www.geekstogo...ws-XP-t138.html

[laundry95]

I ran the repair, but when the welcome screen came up, there were still no names on the right. Nothing changed when I restarted. I tried to log in with ctrl + alt + delete with the same results as before. The only difference is that the Administrator seems to have been reset to blank. :/

Thank you for your help

[edge2022]

So now you can login as Administrator?

Try creating a new user account.

[laundry95]

No - when I try to log on as an administrator with a blank password, I'm still rejected, but the computer spends some extra time trying to log me on, just as it did when I tried to log on as an administrator with the correct password before. Also, the other accounts are still there and do the same thing when the correct passwords are entered.

Ah, technology.

[edge2022]

Go here: http://pcsupport.abo...gr/ophcrack.htm
And read the article. Then download Ophcrack, and burn it to a CD. Boot from it, and find out what user accounts are present on your computer.