Password Issues

Hi, I'm having problems getting onto my Dell desktop. It's running Windows XP. It was working perfectly fine the other day and suddenly my password to the login screen doesn't work and it's really irritating because it's been the same password for 2 years. Is there a way to go through Safe Mode to disable it or reset it or am I S.O.L. There is vital information on this desktop that I need. I know I can wipe the drive and start over but I'm trying to hold on to the information that the HDD holds. If you can let me know of any ways around this issue that would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

We don't normally get into password recovery because of the difficulty in proving ownerhip of the computer. But, I think in this case, I can trust that you're the owner of the computer in question. I use Lazesoft Recovery Suite Home Edition (free for personal use). Download the setup app, install and then run it. You'll be presented with the attached screen.

The first thing you would do is Burn CD/USB Stick. This will create a bootable CD/USB flash drive that you would then boot from. You'd then select the lower right to reset (blank) your password. Restart the computer (which now has a blank password so, one doesn't have to be entered in the logon password box). Go to Control Panel -> User Accounts, select your account and set a new password.

 

When I start to create a bootable CD/USB flash drive, I would assume that the one to select would be an ISO image. Also, when I select that one it wants me to browse for an ISO image. Where would I choose the Password Recovery to put it as a bootable image?

 

No, you don't select ISO, you select CD/DVD. It will then automatically create a bootable WinPE CD with the Lazesoft app which will automatically launch.

 

Alright I used the Password Recovery tool and it worked but I ran into another issue. Now that the password isn't there, I tried entering the account and it gives my a message saying: "The User Profile Service service has failed the logon." So I went into the Services window in Administrative Tools and checked the service, it was running in Local System, which I assume is normal. I managed to get into the Profile through safe mode but that's about it. I activated the Administrator account but I can't access my files in the other account.

 

You've got two accounts for yourself (Admin and Guest)?

 

Yes, but I never use them because I was only using the OWNER-PC. I only just now activated them through the Lazesoft app because it said they were password protected too. I figure just unlock them all. The guest wasn't password protected though.

 

Are you now able to access your data?

 

I can't view pictures or get into documents in the other profile just in the admin account that has nothing on it except for the programs I download to check for viruses and clean up the computer.

 

Yours is a situation I haven't encountered before but, correct me if I'm wrong. You log in as Admin to run apps such as AV, CCleaner and the like but, all of your "productivity" apps are under the guest account?

 

No, the Admin account is the Profile name and it also has admin access. The OWNER-PC is my personal account name Coulby. The guest account is off. The two accounts show on the logon screen are Admin. and Coulby. The Admin account appeared after I unlocked it with the Lazesoft App. because it didn't have the actual account name I just saw administrator and click it to remove password. When I rebooted the computer to the HDD that account appeared. So I ran the Lazesoft again and click the OWNER-PC and that was the one which had my name as the Profile "Coulby." When I tried logging on I got the Message: "The User Profile Service service failed to logon. Your Profile cannot be loaded." That's when I went into the Services window under Admin. Tools to check the The service status through the Admin profile name. Everything seemed to be running fine, I even restarted it. Should I just use the Lazesoft Recovery feature or is there a better program for extracting data?

 

You could try the Data Recovery -> File Recovery of the installed version of Lazesoft and save the files to another hard drive but, that's if the application can access the account. If not, you could try from the CD as from the CD, it's independent of the user accounts.

After you've gotten your files, it might be a good idea to do as you stated you could do in your initial post "wipe the drive and start over".