a relative went to jail and we took in her 17yr old son for a few weeks .he was alloud use of the puter and now else needed it for time being.he is gone now but the rescel put a password lock on the startup and claim,s he forgot the password .thats all b.s. i know he loaded uo one of those aol so many free hrs
to try the internet.witch was not nessarey it already has a server.and we know he got hold of a credet card and used it with this disk. can someone tell me a way to get on this puter and see what all he,s hidden and get use of our computer again

have a local shop do this, while there are ways to do this, i have no way to determine if you are the actual owner or correct user!! and will not provide information on how to do this to a unknown user. if nothing important is on it simply Format and reinstall windows using the restore cd or the XP setup cd.

as i stated before a credet card belonging to the misses,was used to back up the aol install and little bits of info is starting to show their,s a big problem in other charge,s .that was not approved by the card holder. i have no doubt that in this case a good offance is going to be better then a defence. i know i can get to all the files that makes then puter run .just dont have a clue how to bust the password lock.

Don't let rascals have access to your pc. I hope you've learn a valuable lesson from this ordeal. You probably have no clue "yet" what misfortunes will come from allowing this criminal to use your pc.

stupid bint ;)

I agree with Jerry K..
There is No way around security..with XP.. even if you could access
that user name. it would be much easier just to Contact the people..stop payment, and so forth..as a Unauthorized credit.. IF that was done without Permission, that is also Credit card Theft- unauthorized use., which is a Federal crime..
I have researched this type of thing in the past.. Microsoft Will Not
tolerate password security miss-use.. If it gets screwed up..OH well...

You will have to cancel service, and Reinstall the XP install...
If you can't handle that, you will have to have a service fee repair..

I wish you the best -- Dont Allow Anyone to mess with Electronics without your knowlege.... You have learned a lesson I am sure...

Can he go into BIOS and disable the User password from there?

Sorry! I just realized he said he put a password on startup. I am wondering if the person is talking about the Supervisor password or User password???

Start your pc up in safe mode go to users in the control panel, and select your guests new account.If he did not change,or add an administrator password, you can change the password he used back to a blank one, or remove him from the computer . sincerely Dano

Okay, there have been a couple of good answers, some of them in a manner of speaking, tried to point you in the right direction, and in the process, have left out very important key steps.
Right off the bat, let me agree with the user that stated that he does not know if your the legit user or owner and state that once again, we can not verify that your not the kid trying to gain access into his parents system.
If there is really a problem, I can probably help. If your running windows, then your probably logged with microsoft as well as the computer maker as to being legit and it can be verified relatively easily.
The person that suggested safe mood was on the right track, but left out some very important key eliments to curing your problem. Also, if your unable to log into the appropriate settings due to certain passwords being equipped in safe mode, then your hosed.
Furthermore, as a general rule of thumb with windows xp, and I am sorry if this sounds like a slam, but, by default, your setting when programmed should be as a computer administor, that being the case, if this supposed kid as turned on guest account, which by default, is a limited account, and has a password equipped, well, there are was around that as well without safe mode being employed. The Easiest being to shut off the password, or shut of the guest account. It is Password protected, sorry, there are only two guareented passwords on the computer when running windows xp. 2 gaureented passwords, unless your really effiecent with DOS Command Prompt. That would be Systems Administrator, not Computer Administrator, Systems Administrator, and like one of the others have stated, Bios or CMos, being setup utilities, both supervisor and windows password in the bios. And let me be the first to tell you, there are ways around the bios as well. Thus, the only halfway "Secure" password is Systems Administrator. The only way around it, and for that matter, the bios password, unless your a real teckie, is to reinstall windows.
Now, if your really instrested in fixing the problem and would like more info, give us a call and we can probably help, however, you will have to call so that we can verify, first, the software is yours, and second, your software is legit. We do not mind helping, we understand what kids do, after all, it is our job to fix it. My only other suggestion is this, if it is like you stated and it is a guest account, then the guest account was set up for you and you have no business going any further. It is safe to say that I am reading it as this is not your system. Is the password idiot proof. Oh yeah, that is why you can not get past it.
Just recently, I did some work on a system for a member of the Indiana State Police who thought his system security was set so his kids could not gain access. Well, I am not one of his kids. When he got home from work, the first thing I told him is I ran some updates on his system and that he needs to reprogram his passwords because I had to blow them out to gain access. I then explained to him how to stop me from being able to do it again. Now, his kids will never get to his setting.
Furthermore. if you did set up the guest account, why did you not turn around and set it to read only.

Jon Bower

edit by mod: no posting allowed of telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. for purposes of offering services. 1st and last warning.

hi guys . hey this password stuff... that's me exactly. i have a compaq presario 4000 running xp home ed. my startup is password locking me out. i read all the suggestions put forth but remain stumped. (yes i can prove the laptop is mine. i registered n every thing.) it's like this... when i boot up i can't get past the password request to do anything. can't boot to safe mode, can't boot into cmos, can't boot from cd, original or otherwise. all i get is three attempts at guessing the password and then poof! i m informed that my system has been disabled. and sure nuff, it has been. tell i reboot n get that #!@**!%# password request again. i would be more than happy to fdisk, format, re-install, if someone would please help me !

u don't have to ask this q from the beig
i thought u know more than u r talking about

hi guys . hey this password stuff... that's me exactly. i have a compaq presario 4000 running xp home ed. my startup is password locking me out. i read all the suggestions put forth but remain stumped. (yes i can prove the laptop is mine. i registered n every thing.) it's like this... when i boot up i can't get past the password request to do anything. can't boot to safe mode, can't boot into cmos, can't boot from cd, original or otherwise. all i get is three attempts at guessing the password and then poof! i m informed that my system has been disabled. and sure nuff, it has been. tell i reboot n get that #!@**!%# password request again. i would be more than happy to fdisk, format, re-install, if someone would please help me !

Do you really think Microsoft designed the security in Windows XP to be easily defeated? Not a slight chance. Call Compaq (HP), prove to them you are the legal owner (required step), and they can help you.

Can he go into BIOS and disable the User password from there?
it won't work...different password location.!!