Administrator password?

gadje · 10-03-2007, 11:31 PM

On my first build, I used the HDD from my HP pavillion 7955; trouble is HP put some sort of 'tatoo' on the HDD so it would only let you get into it if it was hooked up to the exact same motherboard make&model... simple fix was to buy XP home upgrade version and do a repair install.
On my second build currently, i wanna use the same HDD, but when booting up it only gets to that windows XP start-up screen and reboots continually... when I put in the XP upgrade and press 'R' for repair install, it goes to this Recovery console, asks me what windows installation I want to log into ,then asks for an administrator password?
I never created any seperate administrator/user/guest accounts on XP, let alone any passwords.

The onset of having to buy XP again and a new hard drive is very depressing

**mattlock** · 10-04-2007, 12:42 AM

To do a repair install, don't hit R at the 1st prompt. Proceed as if you are going to install Windows. It'll look for previous Windows installations. Once it detects that Windows already exists, you'll then be asked to "hit R to repair this installation"
You'll need to reload all your drivers after the installation is complete (and possibly need to reinstall some programs) but all your personal will remain intact.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW, the Admin password in Recovery Console is blank by default. So to continue in Recovery Console just hit enter, and it'll take you command prompt. (Just for future reference)

gadje · 10-06-2007, 04:42 PM

Thanks for the tip Mattlock, I couldnt remember if choosing new installation would have given the repair option again.

BTW, after I save some files to another storage, would you recommend I do another reinstall(non-repair) to wipe the drive clean, problem is I have no sound and XP seems to think there are no audio mixers, cant even get into volume control... could it be b/c my version of windows still has the drivers for on-board sound from previous mobo?

Also, what hardware/software do I need to port contents from old PATA HDD to a SATA HDD?

**mattlock** · 10-06-2007, 09:50 PM

It's not normally necessary to do a clean install with a new motherboard, but a clean install is always the best option if you don't mind reinstalling all your software. I've had plenty of success with repair installs after upgrades.

As for the sound, go into add/remove and remove any audio devices that may be there. Then go into device manager and remove all entries under "Sound, Video, and Game controllers" Reboot and install the Audio drivers that came on the motherboard driver cd.

What do you mean by "port contents"? Backup the entire drive including OS, or just backup personal data (Music, etc)? If you just want to backup your personal data then, just copy and paste it to the SATA drive.

gadje · 10-07-2007, 03:11 PM

Oops, false alarm on the sound issue, uninstalled old mixer and installed new one just fine; also had to use more elbow grease to shuv headphone jack into front panel header.

As for "port contents", yep, entire drive including OS... still using 40gb.

**mattlock** · 10-07-2007, 11:37 PM

Ok, what you want to do is called "Cloning" the hard drive. I use Acornis for all my backup and cloning needs, but it is not free. It cost about $50 in the US. A free utility that alot of the staff member here at TSF use is CloneXXL. We have a nice tutorial on how to use it, that can be found at the link below.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/cont...ticles/47.html

**mattlock** · 10-08-2007, 09:28 AM

BTW, if you would like to use Acronis, you can download the trial version and use it for 15 days free. The cloning process is very quick with Acronis and you can have it automatically set your partition sizes or you can set the parameters your self. It is very user friendly.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/

10-03-2007, 11:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
gadje Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 26 OS: XPHome SP3 My System	Administrator password? On my first build, I used the HDD from my HP pavillion 7955; trouble is HP put some sort of 'tatoo' on the HDD so it would only let you get into it if it was hooked up to the exact same motherboard make&model... simple fix was to buy XP home upgrade version and do a repair install. On my second build currently, i wanna use the same HDD, but when booting up it only gets to that windows XP start-up screen and reboots continually... when I put in the XP upgrade and press 'R' for repair install, it goes to this Recovery console, asks me what windows installation I want to log into ,then asks for an administrator password? I never created any seperate administrator/user/guest accounts on XP, let alone any passwords. The onset of having to buy XP again and a new hard drive is very depressing

10-04-2007, 12:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Administrator password? To do a repair install, don't hit R at the 1st prompt. Proceed as if you are going to install Windows. It'll look for previous Windows installations. Once it detects that Windows already exists, you'll then be asked to "hit R to repair this installation" You'll need to reload all your drivers after the installation is complete (and possibly need to reinstall some programs) but all your personal will remain intact. Let us know how it goes. BTW, the Admin password in Recovery Console is blank by default. So to continue in Recovery Console just hit enter, and it'll take you command prompt. (Just for future reference) __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free! Last edited by mattlock; 10-04-2007 at 12:51 AM.

10-06-2007, 04:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
gadje Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 26 OS: XPHome SP3 My System	Re: Administrator password? Thanks for the tip Mattlock, I couldnt remember if choosing new installation would have given the repair option again. BTW, after I save some files to another storage, would you recommend I do another reinstall(non-repair) to wipe the drive clean, problem is I have no sound and XP seems to think there are no audio mixers, cant even get into volume control... could it be b/c my version of windows still has the drivers for on-board sound from previous mobo? Also, what hardware/software do I need to port contents from old PATA HDD to a SATA HDD?

10-06-2007, 09:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Administrator password? It's not normally necessary to do a clean install with a new motherboard, but a clean install is always the best option if you don't mind reinstalling all your software. I've had plenty of success with repair installs after upgrades. As for the sound, go into add/remove and remove any audio devices that may be there. Then go into device manager and remove all entries under "Sound, Video, and Game controllers" Reboot and install the Audio drivers that came on the motherboard driver cd. What do you mean by "port contents"? Backup the entire drive including OS, or just backup personal data (Music, etc)? If you just want to backup your personal data then, just copy and paste it to the SATA drive. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

10-07-2007, 03:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
gadje Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 26 OS: XPHome SP3 My System	Re: Administrator password? Oops, false alarm on the sound issue, uninstalled old mixer and installed new one just fine; also had to use more elbow grease to shuv headphone jack into front panel header. As for "port contents", yep, entire drive including OS... still using 40gb.

10-07-2007, 11:37 PM	#6 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Administrator password? Ok, what you want to do is called "Cloning" the hard drive. I use Acornis for all my backup and cloning needs, but it is not free. It cost about $50 in the US. A free utility that alot of the staff member here at TSF use is CloneXXL. We have a nice tutorial on how to use it, that can be found at the link below. http://www.techsupportforum.com/cont...ticles/47.html __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

10-08-2007, 09:28 AM	#7 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Administrator password? BTW, if you would like to use Acronis, you can download the trial version and use it for 15 days free. The cloning process is very quick with Acronis and you can have it automatically set your partition sizes or you can set the parameters your self. It is very user friendly. http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/ __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!