Boot sequence and windows password reset

My password is only 3 characters (very simple)-I know the Windows password but
it is not logging in as it has done 100s of times.Says "incorrect username or password"
maybe a virus caused this,

So I have purchased password unlocker standard bundle to unlock my windows.

Details about laptop I have laptop Advent 9415 and am on Windows Vista Service Pack 2.
There are 4 USB slots on my laptop of which 1 does not work and when clicking
"My Computer" there is an item "Combo Unit". Unsure what that is-is it one of the
4 USB slots?If so which one?

I have followed the instructions--installed the ~37Mb file on a healthy (friend's)
computer, and ran the software. I also burned the item onto a blank 1Gb USB drive.

My problem is I am not able to boot my locked laptop.

To boot it, I inserted the burned USB drive into the locked laptop, and then, powered
the laptop.

As expected the error message is Invalid system disk--replace disk and press any key.
This normally happens when I boot (power up) when something is attached to one of the USB slots.

Next, I switched everything off,and tried powering up the locked laptop, by inserting the USB drive
into one of the working USB slots immediately after I saw it start powering up, to avoid
that error Invalid system disk--replace disk and press any key.

What I get is : Cannot boot because there is no operating system!

The point is the instructions that are in the website with the software say to boot from the USB drive.
But this error message says we need the operating system to start the computer!

My boot sequence is as follows

Boot priority sequence
1 USB key
2 USB FDC
3 USB HDD
4 USB CDRom
5 Other USB
6
7
8
Excluded from boot order
IDE CD: TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L632H-(
IDEHDD: WDC WD!"00BEVS-224STO-(S1)
PCI SCSI
CI BEV


These are the different boot options offered on my BIOS--If you follow my logic I excluded all the items from the boot sequence that look like
they could be from the hard drive

Please tell me what the correct boot sequence should be

Thanks for the help It is very urgent
MIKE

 

Hello Michael

You should set the computer to boot from USB key and disable other boot options,if it doesn't work set it to boot from 'other USB' as well then try switching them round.

If you've followed the instructions you should have created a bootable disk, when your computer comes on you should receive the message 'hit any key to boot from disk' hit a key then it will boot from the disk and the software should run. If this doesn't work try try hitting F11 'EDIT TRY F10 ALSO' which should open the boot menu 'for most advents' then select your device from the list.

All the software should need is the thumb drive,it doesn't load the operating system it simply run's the software from the drive which finds the password on the INACTIVE operating system but it must be connected,after the software has run you should have to restart your computer then load windows normally.

The thumb drive should be at least 4g,obviously try a different thumb drive.

There is no law that saws it has to be a flash drive you should be able to boot the software from a cdrom by creating a bootable cdrom if all else fails but consult your instructions.

If you can't get it to work and some laptops just won't boot from usb drives you don't have to use your computer,if you can get it to work on your friends computer remove your hard drive and install it in his.

As you can see from the spam post's there are a lot of fake/scam windows password recovery programs out there so something to keep in mind,do some research on the company.

Good luck

EDIT here is list of FREE password recovery programs if you have no luck with that one and your in urgent need.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/passrecovery.htm