Totally forgotten password! Cannot get on computer!

I have not used my computer in about 8 months and have totally forgotten the password to get on. I tried using the F8 button to go to "Safe Mode" and can't get in that way either! I believe I have all the disks for the system software, but I would rather do that as my VERY LAST resort if at all possible! I wanted to surprise my son this afternoon with it, but I wanted it running right for him! PLEASE PLEASE HELP???

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!!!

 

Is this an Windows account password or does the password prompt occur during boot.

 

It is Windows Vista. It happens when I boot the computer up. I have tried different ways to get into it, and each way has asked for a password.

 

What is the make of computer? When you say it happens when you boot up, you mean that you never get to the Welcome screen?

Edit: is it a laptop or desktop? And what is the model number?

 

The computer is a Dell Inspiron 530 running Vista Home Basic and yes, I cannot even get to the Welcome screen. I want to say, I believe I also have to put in yet another password after this first one too!

 

I also just found all of the software that came with the computer when I bought it.

 

See this documentation on clearing the password. You have to open the computer and place the password clear jumper on pins 1 and 2 for 5 seconds and then replace it on pins 2 and 3. The location depends on your motherboard. Unplug the computer and hold the power button down for 30 seconds before you do this.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/inspd530/en/OM/HTML/appendix.htm

 

I hope tgell's suggestion works for you. If not, the password may be on the hard drive (HD).

I ran into this on a Dell laptop about 5 years ago. A friend had, using the BIOS setup option, placed a password on the HD itself. I.e., the HD was locked before boot until the password was entered. He thought he was being smart in that if the laptop was ever stolen, the thief would not be able to use the laptop. It was smart until my friend forgot his own password.

I researched the problem for many, many hours and did not find a way to clear the HD's password, and as far as I could tell a password on the HD itself could not be cleared or recovered, even by the drive's manufacturer (or if they could, they weren't tellin'). (Putting the HD into another computer as a slave doesn't work, either, because the password is in the HD's firmware and one still has to enter the password to unlock that HD, no matter which computer the HD is in.)

I advised my friend to buy a new HD and reinstall windows, but we weren't sure if the BIOS would still think the HD was locked and would query the HD during boot to tell it to unlock itself. Dell probably could have answered that for us but my friend decided that the laptop was old enough to be replaced, so that's what he did. The old laptop is now a door stop.

I hope that doesn't happen to you, but I'm sorry to say it's a possibility. If yours is a HD lock, you might have the option to replace the HD and reload Windows, but I'd check with Dell first before buying the new HD.

Good luck!

 

tgell, thank you VERY MUCH for your help and support! I am going to print the information out and read thru it all. IF I think I can do it, (I'm not that great with computers, but instructions and pics help), I will try it tomorrow after my 3 kids are at school. If I don't think I can, my mom has an IT guy from work we could take it to, but I hate to spend money that I DON'T have. (I really don't know how so I hope I can do it!) I hope you will be online tomorrow early afternoon!

Thanks again!

 

kipfeet, I REALLY hope that doesn't happen to me because I DONT have the money to buy anything for the computer. Besides, the fact that it isn't really all that old and it ran really well before! But thanks for the head's up.

 

Pay special attention to the "Before you Begin" link about cautions working inside the computer.

kipfeet is right about the hard drive password. These are mostly used in laptops. Hopefully it does not apply to you.

 

I have printed everything out and will look at it tonite. The only thing I have a question about is the jumper. Not quite sure what that is. :confused

 

It's a little piece of plastic that is over pins 2 and 3. You may need to use a small pair of tweezers to get it off but be careful that you do not touch anything else except the plastic with the metal tweezers. If you have some kind of plastic tweezers, that would be even better. If you are not comfortable doing it, have somebody else help.

Here is an image. Yours will have three pins.

http://www.onlinecomputertips.com/images/pw_jumper.jpg

 

Thank you so very much! I kinda feel better about doing this tomorrow! The picture helps a bunch!

 

jennmomof3 and tgell,

Tweezers work well to remove jumpers if the tweezers fit well and you can get to the jumper easily, but sometimes I've had to resort to other methods, to wit, a special tool called...wait for it...a wooden clothespin :-D

I whittle down the sides of the jaw end of the clothespin if I need extra clearance, and I whittle the jaw faces a bit so they fit better into the circumferential notch in the jumper, though the clothespin can still work without either modification in some cases. Note, too, that not all jumpers have circumferential notches (at least not back in the old days), which makes it much harder to remove the jumper in tight situations. If your jumper has no notch, this tool won't do you much good, but it may be better than nothing if clearances are tight.

I fit the clothespin on the jumper and just lift upward. I find that 90% of the time the spring tension of the clothespin is enough to overcome the jumper's friction on its pins and the jumper slides right off. For the other 10% I just, with thumb and forefinger, grasp the clothespin a little harder anywhere below the clothespin's spring before lifting.

I've had 100% success using this method. You could also use a plastic clothespin, but they're a bit (ok, a lot) harder to whittle. One thing I like about the clothespin (wood or plastic) compared to the tweezers is that the latter are usually metal and there's more risk of accidentally shorting something with them.

Jenn, you may have small fingers and good clearances around the jumper and not need the highly technical device I described, but now you have a fallback if you can't get to the jumper easily. FYI, the jumper (the green thingy in tgell's pic---yours may be black or some other color) is pretty small. I've seen various sizes, but they're usually about 1/8" x 1/4" x 5/16 (tall)" or so. They're very easy to drop and go flying to places that you haven't cleaned since 2008, so be careful

I hope you're successful in clearing your password.
.

 

Great tip kipfeet. Thanks.

 

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!

I did exactly what you told me to do. It took a min to find the pins but I did. (Even noticed the "PSWD" under it! However, that did not work. Then the fear of having to get a new HD put a massive knot in my stomach! Then something told me to try the password, "admin" (makes sense doesn't it?) and was able to get into it!!!!!! And yes, it did ask for another password at the welcome screen, but my son remembered that one! :celebrate

I thank you both soooo very much!

I also have another computer (mine) that I stopped using because it started giving me a black screen and said something like the monitor wasnt getting a signal. In the next couple of days, I may attempt that one. Could you suggest where I post that question?

Once again, I thank you for your help. I have also told anyone that ever needed computer help to come to this website as I have only had the best of luck getting "real" help! Great work guys! ~Jenn

 

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.... the only "special tools" I needed, were my fingers! It came right off!

 

Good Job! Glad you got it sorted. Just curious as to why the jumper did not work but no matter.

I would probably post your monitor question in the hardware forum.

 

Uh oh...soon she's going to be swapping motherboards and hard drives. Stand back! :-D

Great that you got the PC going again, though. Good show! And also glad you didn't have to use the super-high-tech tool