Windows XP

Graham Lawrie

Graham Lawrie

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,

I have inherited my old work HP EliteBook 6930p:)

Everything works, but i dint have administrator rights:( and here is the catch our IT department have lost the password:(

I have tried to download a passwords breaker to insert the cd but cant do that as IT have the drive set to read only:(

I have tried creating a new user......you guessed no admin rights:(

I have tried safe mode........you get the picture........:(

So any suggestions most welcome:)

I dont want to wipe the drive, i just want to get rid of the work programmes and install my own:)
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Sounds like they did this one right. If you can't get the admin password, then formatting the drive is really your only option. Easiest anyway. I would hound them to figure out the password. You own the computer now, so they need to cough it up.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
You will have to pull out the HDD and hook it up to your other computer. Format it to destroy all information and then purchase and install a new copy of XP. I think it's about $100 for a good copy.
 
callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
It's better to do that anyway graham. Windows xp is completely out of support and is only going to get more vulnerable as time goes by. Better to install 7 or 8 and be supported with security patches.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
You can't put W7 on an XP machine. 7 requires way too many resources that the xp machines just don't have. Unless this is a newer computer that had XP put on it for business reasons.
 
Stambo

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Has it got a win7 coa on the back? (Code number).
If it hasn't all is not lost, you should still be able to get the code either from work or from where the machine was purchased.
All you need is borrow a win7 DVD.
Try putting the DVD in the drive and rebooting.
You may get the option to boot from CD or DVD.

Otherwise
Can you get into the bios?
On startup you often get the option "Press delete to enter setup". or similar.
Change the startup order to DVD drive first, put win7 DVD in drive and reboot.

This will start the win7 installer before XP starts.
Nothing in XP can stop you doing this.

Unless they have password protected the bios too.
Even then it is still possible, just a little more complex.
 
Last edited:
Graham Lawrie

Graham Lawrie

Well-Known Member
Stambo said:
Has it got a win7 coa on the back? (Code number).
If it hasn't all is not lost, you should still be able to get the code either from work or from where the machine was purchased.
All you need is borrow a win7 DVD.
Try putting the DVD in the drive and rebooting.
You may get the option to boot from CD or DVD.

Otherwise
Can you get into the bios?
On startup you often get the option "Press delete to enter setup". or similar.
Change the startup order to DVD drive first, put win7 DVD in drive and reboot.

This will start the win7 installer before XP starts.
Nothing in XP can stop you doing this.

Unless they have password protected the bios too.
Even then it is still possible, just a little more complex.
Click to expand...
Everything is protected:( been in the bios etc,etc, cant add or delete anything all due to our diligent IT department , who lost the password:)
 
wolfman76

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
you can try this graham How do I unlock a password-protected computer?

- - - Updated - - -

it even shows 2 methods for unlocking a bios protected computer

- - - Updated - - -

it also says this If the password is set in BIOS then just remove the CMOS battery for a minute.
if the password is set for a account and is not the administrator.then Login as administrator.

press cltrl+alt+del on the login screen and type Administrator in the username field.and press enter.
If admin a/c is password protected then no luck...then u will have to use HB CD to clear the SAM database which stores the password in an o/s.
 
Stambo

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Graham Lawrie said:
Everything is protected:( been in the bios etc,etc, cant add or delete anything all due to our diligent IT department , who lost the password:)
Click to expand...

Not very diligent then are they. :)

Yup, pull the main battery, pull the CMOS battery, I normally give them 5 minutes.
Put it back together and get in to the bios.
Set the DVD drive as first boot drive, open it and put in the Win7 DVD before you reboot.
Then away you go and install win7.


Another thing you could do is put the hard drive in another PC and format it there.
 
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Graham Lawrie

Graham Lawrie

Well-Known Member
TADA:) got it:) now have 30GB of 39GB on one drive, 253GB of 259GB on the other drive:)

Didnt do anything different than i have tried before, all i can think of is at some stage of constant restarts something got corrupted?

Windows 7 now back on:) Uploading all my Heli/Phoenix/Bluetooth:) and got my TV surround sound in also:)

No flying due to rain:(
 
RandyDSok

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
Just a tip...

If you reloaded from the recovery partition on the computer ( not a DVD disk )... look in your start menu for a util provided by the manufacturer to create a set of install disks with... It will require at least one DVD but likely more since they often include more programs than just Windows itself. Save the disks in a location you can remember and if you sell it later, provide them to the new owner. These are used if the hard drive fails or if you replace it for some other reason later.
 
sarconastic

sarconastic

Member
he didn't say the bios was pass protected, and Hirens has a bootable USB part that helps with that as well. I use this thing all the time. I have yet to find a pc I cannot access. I have a lot of computers to manage. But as with any tool you must have the knowledge to use the tools, and make changes and adjustments to anything you might encounter.

In this case you boot into linux, change/delete or modify the partition and recover the entire drive. Or break the administrate password and use whats there.

Either way I am going to say get rid of XP ASAP. it is unsupported and really starting to show it lately.



Woody
 
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