Xp password problem

[dafydd_brown]

I had a blue screen (completely blue, no error codes or anything... very helpful) about two months ago which when I restarted had caused errors on my OS HD but I managed to fix that but plugging that HD into my friend's computer and his Xp scanned and fixed it.

That was that... or so I thought.

Two nights ago I got another blue screen, this time with a bunch of error codes which I duly noted down and have later discovered point to various possible hardware faults (which have obviously left my jumping for joy because it's not like it's Christmas soon and I've just spent all my money on presents or anything lol.) On reboot I was expecting horrible things but nothing happened other than an ordinary start-up so I started looking up the error codes and searching for explanations kind of expecting another blue screen any second. I wasn't left waiting for long. This time though Xp won't load and gives me an error message about LSASS and a missing DNSAPI.dll which is as far as I get.

So I thought I'd try to do an Xp repair but I go through the motions and am asked for an admin password which I assume is the password I've been using as the only user of this PC... but no. Any ideas what's going on? Why would the admin password be different from mine? I'm the only user and so I should be the admin... right? I have all the right privileges when it's working okay and anyway, surely it's not possible to be the only only user and not be the admin... is it?

Thanks guys.

 

[KSoD]

http://techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61575

That will probably be the best bit of help that can be offered.

 

[technogab]

Even though you are the only user account on the PC, there is still the administrator account which does not show up on the welcome screen. You have change your login screen from the "welcome" screen, to the login screen which requires you to type your name and password. Use administrator as the user name and try a blank password. It sounds like you may have not setup a password for the administrator.

 

[KSoD]

When it asks for the Admin password did you just try hitting enter and seeing if it will continue?

 

[dafydd_brown]

Well this is the thing; I only get to a stage when I can type anything at all when I run the repair function by booting with the Xp disc. I select repair, then it asks me which OS I want to repair (there being only one option labelled as 1: c:\windows) with ENTER as the button to cancel the process... so I type in '1' as it only lets me type in one character but then nothing happens... so I hit enter... as you would to confirm something. I don't know if that's cancelling or not but there seems no other way to progress.
When I try to load windows as normal it begins to load the welcome screen but then I get an error message about missing a dll.
Anyway, after this it then asks me simply for the administrator password and this is where I'm stuck. I tried leaving it blank, entering me usual password, typing 'password', typing 'admin' and various other passwords I use for other things but to no avail. After three attempts I start over again.
Makaveli, I followed your link to the password post but I'm currently running a live Linux CD and don't have the ability to make boot disks or much else so I can't really follow much of the advice. Thanks anyway... Saying that though I might have to wait until a friend's computer becomes available.
Once this is sorted out there's no doubt in my mind anymore that I want a dual boot system with Xp and one of the more easy to use Linux distributions.

 

[ECTech]

When you get to the first setup screen, instead of pressing R for repair, hit enter to install windows. Setup will then search for any existing OS's. It should find your existing OS. You then have the option to repair that OS. This is the option you want. Make sure you have the product key, you will need it to complete the install.

 

[dafydd_brown]

I did actually try to do this ECTech just to see what would happen... I didn't actually get as far as been asked for the product key but if i had I'd have been in trouble as I don't have one... well technically not anyway but that's another story.

Instead it started telling me that it couldn't delete a bunch of dll files and asking if I wanted to continue anyway because they weren't going to stop the process... then it started trying to load a bunch of dlls and they wouldn't load... which is a problem and so I had to abandon the process.

Any idea why that might have happened? Maybe it's because I'm trying to repair a copied version of Xp with a disc I got legitimately? (the other story from above!)

 

[dafydd_brown]

Okay well after several days of head scratching and trying various things I finally came to the conclusion that now may be the time to start again, format and install the first legit version of Windows I have ever owned. Unfortunately it's Xp Home and the copy I had was Xp professional...

Now, I've read the Microsoft page comparing the two versions and I really can't see that I'm going to lose any vital functions.
Would anyone disagree? Are there any significant advantages to having Xp professional over the home edition?

 

[Inaris]

The only thing that Pro gives you is enchance local machine security controls and a few networking things that make domains easier. Nothing that a home user should ever miss.

 

[dafydd_brown]

Okay, thanks for all your help!
I had some problems with formatting for a while... It was suggested that Knoppix would be helpful in doing it but after searching for a while I gave up and downloaded Darik's Boot and Nuke (recommended in some other posts) which seems to have done the job nicely.
Xp home is now up and running. Just need to figure out how to install Ubuntu onto the other partition now!