Solved How can I retreive or reset my user logon info?

My PC won't boot neither normally or in safe mode and It won't repair itself, but I've found that if I press F8 after a restart, I can then select the option to repair and I getting System Recovery Options that ask for the user login. Either I don't have my user login info or it won't be accepted.

I have the Gateway disc that came with my PC. I also have discs created at Best Buy, 'Gateway Applications & Drivers' + 'Backup Discs'.

Advice Pro said:

My PC won't boot neither normally or in safe mode and It won't repair itself, but I've found that if I press F8 after a restart, I can then select the option to repair and I getting System Recovery Options that ask for the user login. I'll leave restoring the PC as a last resort because of losing personal data.

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Do you make a password reset disk?

Re: How can I boot my PC?

Advice Pro said:

My PC won't boot neither normally or in safe mode and It won't repair itself, but I've found that if I press F8 after a restart, I can then select the option to repair and I getting System Recovery Options that ask for the user login. Either I don't have my user login info or it won't be accepted.

I have the Gateway disc that came with my PC. I also have discs created at Best Buy, 'Gateway Applications & Drivers' + 'Backup Discs'.

Click to expand...

Well you have a couple of options depending your suituation. If you know the Username/Password to an Administrator account try using that when prompted. If you've lost the password or Windows just isn't accepting it, then you can try using the actual "Administrator" account with a blank password. However, from what I've read, this only works in Vista if no other Administrator accounts exist--otherwise its disabled. There are a number of password reset tools available that automate the process for you. Personally, I not tried any, but Winpass (part of the Trinity Rescue Kit) is a free reset tool that boots off a CD. See here for instructions: Trinity Rescue Kit :: View topic - My EX changed my password!!!!!.

Last option, especially if your Windows install is seriously damaged (ie: won't boot to any of the Safe Mode's) is to copy everything important (documents, music, videos) to another drive. You can do that with a bootable copy of Linux, or actually remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer directly or thru a USB to IDE/SATA adapter. Then reinstall Windows using the system restore discs from Gateway and copy your backed up data.