Password protected login

I have an old computer that has a password protected login. The computer starts up, loads, then starts windows 2000, professional if that matters. Then when it's finished it comes to a screen that says press ctrl alt delete, which brings up the user name, asking for the password. My ex set this password, and I used everything I think he may have used, but this computer is MANY years old and hasn't been touched in a long while. At the advice of a friend, I tried pressing f2 and resetting the pass, but this doesn't bring me to the same page pressing f2 on this computer does. The page it brings me to starts with system time, system date, lists hardware 1 2 3 4, etc/ Has power options, security options. It gives me the option to set a password, but when I tried this, it ended up making a password that you must type in before windows even loads. I typed the password, windows would then load, and then it would bring me to the same page with ctrl alt delete to enter the password. I don't know what to do. From what I hear, removing the battery won't get rid of that password. I really appreciate any advice and help I can get with this!

Sorry for the rambling!

 

The password you need is the Windows password and is on the hard drive. You're right, removing the battery won't do a thing. The password you created by pressing F2 is called a BIOS password (or a Power On Password, or POP). Anyway, visit this link: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ and download the appropriate utility (either the CD version or the floppy version) and create the disk; boot to it; follow the instructions at the link above. For best results, do NOT set a new password; just blank out the current password. You may want to print the instructions for reference while your doing the resetting of the password. It'll make the job MUCH easier! Good luck!

hd2k