ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT DISABLED, CANNOT LOGIN TO MY PC...HELP!!!

try the last know good
tap F8 during boot and choose last known good from the menu

on account screen, press  crtl+alt+del  twice, another logon screen must appear like windows 2000, write to administrator and enter.

also try safe mode, and see if you can log on as the admin there

you may also be able to fix it with one fo thee
http://is-it-true.org/nt/atips/atips262.shtml
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
http://www.lostpassword.com/windows-2000-nt.htm

good site
http://www.pc-pipeline.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=15

were you logged on as the admin at the time?
is there another account that is an admin?
you could use that to reenable it

StevenLewis - I tried rebooting in safe mode still got the windows login prompt to login so there was no going around that.  I"ve also tried the last known good configuration setting, this didn't work, still got the windows log-on prompt.

bturan - I haven't tried the control, alt, delete thing yet but will.

if that doesn't work is there anything else i could try?  maybe going into mmc.exe in command prompt there?

thanks - vic

Do you have another account with administrative rights? If you do you can log on with that account and then open lusrmgr.msc to unlock the administrators account.

START | RUN | LUSRMGR.MSC

Scrub that....You can't even log on right?

Forgot the Administrator's Password
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm 

I think that he has disabled the administrative account for good.
You can not log into the system.
Even if the password is right the account is disabled.
If you have important data you need to save then take the disk ann plug it into your friends computer and
rescue.Then format the drive and reinstall.
Another shot would be to reinstall xp and during setup try therepair option first.
If unsucessfull do the full install.

Hello itsmevic

One of stevenlewis' links is for
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

if you read through this it will tell you how to make a bootdisk either from a floppy or a cd-rw that will allow you to
remove the lockout status of the administrator.

Hmmm, since the sam is part of the registry wonder if this will work
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545&Product=winxp

correct i can't make it past the log-on screen.  i've typed in for the user name:  administrator and then the password i use, still get the administrator account has been disabled, please contact your admin.  there is no getting around this.  hit f8 tried and then from list i do safe mode with command prompt but still get the windows logon...

so i haven't forgotten the password, i accidentally disabled the administrator account therefore it will not let me login.

Read this section "Alternate Method - The LOGON.SCR trick" for the link I posted

Forgot the Administrator's Password
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm 

try my 8:05 post (beats formatting)

Hello itsmevic,
I know you're probably getting bombarded with information but I think you should read through
my first post...or I'll just repeat it :)

I think Stevenlewis post is the best one.
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
this can reset passwords but it should also be able to REMOVE the DISABLED status

"Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!"

I have used this before and it works!

I am not sure this will work, but it may be an idea, and if it does, it would be an easy and fast fix...

If you are on a W2K/XP system and the computers are networked..  Try opening up the Computer Management console and Connect to the other computer...   You may be able to enable the account from there...

let me know if it works...  I am hesitant to try it on my machine.. for obvious reasons...  :)

FE

ERD Commander 2003
http://www.winternals.com/products/repairandrecovery/erdcommander2002.asp

Fatal Exception - That's a good idea, however I'm on a stand alone system.

CarlWarner - Awesome Utility, but it's very expensive.

mdiglio - Great utility as well.  The information on his page is quite extensive, where in the heck does one begin?

Which One?
bd040116.zip (~1.1MB) - Bootdisk image, date 040116
sc040116.zip (~1MB) - SCSI-drivers (040116) (only use newest drivers with newest bootdisk, this one works with bd040116)
cd040116.zip (~2MB) - Bootable CD image with same version and drivers as floppies above.

senad - I"ve got a burned copy of XP on disk that I"ve put in the CD-ROM, set the BIOS to boot from from CD-ROM first however it will not for some reason.  The only other computer that I could back my data up to would be this one (My work PC), so it's not very practical for the most part.  At this point I'd just reformat My disk, however I can't even get to a DOS prompt to do an FDISK/FORMAT C:  When restarting XP how can I get to DOS Prompt, even if I go F8, choose and choose command prompt it will still loop me around to log-in screen where I'm unable to get past.

StevenLewis - The reg hack is great, but I cannot get to registry, I can't even get to a command prompt.

- Maybe I should take the hard drive out and kick it through the uprights and by a new one.  I'm so aggreviated at myself for being so freakin stupid.  I can't believe I disabled the Admin Accounts absolutely moronic on my part.  

StevenLewis - Hello, so basically I take the floppy or CD with this information pop it in the CD-ROM, set my BIOS to boot from CD-ROM, boot her up, this information will then kick in and I just take it from there to get this on a roll.  Is it pretty user friendly to follow?  I'm pretty good with the computer, contrary to my brain fart here.  I took the PC to repair shop today and the repair technician was asking me something about what was my password when I first installed it??? I was like huh?  I just entered the key code and bam it installed.  I then created a profile for my wife and I using the same password but different usernames.  So I didn't know what he was talking about.  I just said the hell with it, told her to go get the PC and fifteen dollars later we're still in the same boat...maybe the new drive is the way to go, I don't know.  If your suggestion doesn't work, I think I have no choice..  

Back to the idea of accessing the management panel...  Is the subject system in an isolated environment..?  In other words, you can still use this method in a workgroup..  I take it that you are on these forums from a working machine, hopefully W2K+, and if so, and the other machine is close by, you could join the same workgroup and access it..???

Or, maybe not, eh..??  

Yes, that is correct. If your PC has a floppy, make the floppy, insert it,  then set the bios to boot from the floppy first
boot to it, and follow the instructions on that page I linked to for you (it has instructions for navigating in linux, which is what this floppy will boot to)
should be a breeze, but either have the page of instructions open, or print them out for reference :-)

>> I then created a profile for my wife and I using the same password but different usernames
can you boot to hers? Is hers an admin account?

One more thing...  don't feel like the lone ranger here..  we have all done these types of things before...  and learned from it..  :)

Oh...  if my suggestion does not work..  just to let you know that I have had to use Steven's method before for other types of access, and the boot disk does work quite well..  read up on it though, as it will appear a little scary at first...

FE

Gonna give her a shot, will let you know....  Thanks for overwhelming support.

I'll be up for a bit more, let us know :-)

Not me..   but will ck back in tomorrow morning to read all about it..  :)

G'nite all...

G'nite FE, talk to ya tomorrow :-)

StevenLewis - went to the site you recommended and downloaded the required information, I then burnt it to a CD.  Stuck the CD in set the boot sequence to boot from CD first, nothing happen.  Tonight I will try it with a regular floppy disk to see if that helps.  If nothing happens, i'm yanking the hard drive and replacing it with a new one.  Is Western Digital a good brand of Hard Drive to get?  I was thinking just like a 40gb one, nothing extravagent.  When talking speed I am guessing I could get one at 10,000RPM right and it would suite me system fine correct?  I think the typical hard drive spins at 7200 correct?

Yes, do the floppy

regarding the new drive...  I have never seen an IDE drive that spins at 10,000 rpm...  The SATA drives do (SCSI too) but you must have a board that supports it...  

I use WD drives on all my workstations, and I have found them reliable...  the warranty on these are also good, and WD will not hesitate to send you a new one with a RMA..    A 40 GB/7200 will be just fine for what you are doing..

FE

StevenLewis - Dude if you were a girl I'd kiss you right now....YOU FIXED IT MAN!!! THANK YOU...I didn't have to replace the hard drive!!! Your suggestion with the boot utility worked.  I put it on floppy, set the boot sequence correctly and put the Floppy in...booted her up and it went through it's thing...it's was a little intimidating at first with the script style atmosphere I was in but I followed the instructions, reset the two profiles to the password I wanted and continued.  I wasn't for sure whether I should do anything else and took a chance.  Popped out the Floppy and rebooted with fingers crossed.  Got to the log-in dialog, at first it didn't work, I then re-enter the profile user name again and hit enter this time with No Password, it went through, I was able to go into the console from there and re-enable the profile accounts.  System has been restored!!!  Your Freakin Awesome dude!  Thank you so much and a big thank you goes out to everyone else for all their suggestions as well.

Mucho Thanks!!!

Vic

Glad we could help!
I wish I could take the credit, but I didn't write that nifty utility, and this was a team effort, a lot of people helped here

mdiglio
Please see here
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20880631/for-mdiglio.html

Steve

Steven...  looks like you have an admirer here..  better not let your wife know about it...  :)

And Vic, although I have used that utility many times I too am a little surprised it did the job of enabling the account...   But thanks to you and Steven, we now do not have to experiment to find out that it also will work in a case like yours... !!!!

and so glad you nailed it..!!

FE

Dear Stevenlewis .
I read everything about that subject, i just forgot my administrator password and have to recover it back to access my project files, which i could not copy by attaching the hdd to another machine.

But the problem with the utility you provide with vmlinux is that it do not recognize SATA hdd.
do u have a work around that problem, how to let your OS on the floppy to recongnize my sata hdd.
Thanks in advanced.

OK Listen. Do you have admin access to another computer?
If yes, than this procedure should work (as the guy said, the
bootdisk didn't).  This is a nearly foolproof method for applying
the login.scr track.

1. Download and build bartpe (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder).
   You won't need any plugins.
   NOTE: you must build bartpe from the CD used to load the machine you cannot
   get into (legal issues).
2. Boot bartpe on the computer you are locked out of.
3. Start the command prompt if it doesn't start automatically.
4.  Run these commands:

D:\> C:
C:\> cd windows\system32
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32> ren login.scr login.bak
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32> copy cmd.exe login.scr
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32> exit

and reboot if it doesn't automatically.
In about ten minutes after the welcome screen appears, you will be given
a command prompt.

From that commant prompt,
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32> net user Administrator /ACTIVE:YES

or try mmc (I'm not sure if you can start mmc from that context).

Itsmevic or Stevelewis,
I made the same mistake you did except I did it on my son’s computer. I was trying to get around having to enter in a password every time the computer booted up and I made the mistake of disabling the administrator which was the only user on that computer.
I have made boot floppy disc Stevelewis suggested minus the drivers but cannot seem to make the necessary changes.
I am trying to modify the recovery console setting which is what I assume I need to do but just can’t seem to make it work for me. Am I doing this correctly or is there something else I should be doing?

Tplayer..  you may want to consider opening another thread for your question, as this is the way to get good responses from the experts since this one is already closed.

BTW:  I do have a method to activate your Users from the Command line.  This requires some work, and it uses the Net User Command:

net user administrator /active:yes

FE

Please telll me how to start a new thread. I didn't see any liink to do so.
Thanks,
Tplayer

If you look at the left hand tables, you will find a link to Ask a Question..  this will open a page that walks you through the process..

Also, this may help:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi3

Thank you for responding.
Well, it took me about 10 tries but I finally got it to work. I was very surprised to see it boot up afterwards but so relived.
Thank you for caring enough to write.
Tplayer.

Glad you got it..  come on back anytime..

FE