Vostro 200 Administrator Password??????

Question

I will be as detailed as possible with regards to this problem, if anyone can help out, please respond but please read completely before responding....

I own a Dell Vostro 200 desktop and was running Windows XP Professional w/ SP3. I don't use it much as I have another computer but the other day I started getting a blue screen and it was showing a memory dump. I would turn the system off and then restart and the system would beep six times but it would not restart, just beep six at a time. I checked the Dell error codes and beeps portion of the support site and it seemed to be related to the video card. I had a spare card (same one that came with the system) and installed it.

The system would not boot to Windows, so I figured I would repair Windows so I installed my Windows XP disc and booted from the CD. Instead of doing a reformat I elected to click "R" to repair the current Windows install. It then went to a black screen where it states Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console. It says 1: C:\Windows. It asks which Windows installation would I like to log into, since there is one option, I select 1.

It then asks the Administrator Password. I have no idea what it is as I never set up any type of administrator password would I bought the system from Dell. Before my system had this issue I actually backed everything up to a USB thumb drive (everything meaning my documents, photos, etc). The only problem is I failed to save/back-up my Firefox browser favorite places. I realize it is probably not a big deal to most, but I had a number of links saved pertaining to my business but also personal items. That really is the only thing I need. I don't want to do a reinstall/reformat as I would lose all of that. I just want to find a way if I can somehow boot to Windows long enough to save those favorites, and then I will reformat and get rid of the system as I have a new system.

I made the mistake of calling Dell, that experience was like pulling teeth. I managed to get bounced around and transferred to the wrong departments SIX times by SIX different "Dell technical support agents" all of whom seem to be outsourced individuals who barely spoke English or had no idea what I was asking. Finally on my seventh agent (after now being on the phone well over an hour) I got an agent and I explained why I was calling. He then said a random group of digits but he didn't sound like he knew what he was doing either. I entered what he said was the password but it wasn't.

So I am stuck at this black screen on the desktop asking for an administrator password and unsure what to do. If anyone can help, please advise as I hope it is possible to somehow save those favorite places from my internet browser, and that's it.

shesagordie · Answer

Kinsella5 If you never set an Administrator Password, have you tried clicking 'Enter' when it is requested? Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

Kinsella5 If the solution listed in my last post does not work, try the following: http://ccm.net/faq/8228-lost-administrator-password-windows-xp Bev.

rdunnill · Answer

It then asks the Administrator Password. I have no idea what it is as I never set up any type of administrator password would I bought the system from Dell.

Usually, with XP the primary user is an Administrator. Can you log using your account?

Regarding your data and settings, you should be able to access those, even from another computer. Just don't reformat the hard drive, because that IS NOT NEEDED to get your Vostro functioning again! (Some people will insist that it is.)

speedstep · Answer

Administrator password is NOT the same as BIOS password. If you already have your data backed up then delete the partition and reformat and reinstall from scratch.

RoHe · Answer

If you haven't used this PC for a while, are you sure the motherboard battery hasn't died, meaning your BIOS settings could be scrambled...

You might want to replace that battery, if nothing else than to rule it out as part of the problem. CR2032 3-volt lithium ion battery, ~$2 at discount stores.

Kinsella5 · Answer

A big 'Thank You!' for those who took the time to respond, my apologies for the very long delay, I was never notified that anyone had commented and then I lost my link to my posting. I could not figure out the problem, I basically pushed the desktop aside and used my laptop for awhile. While I had managed to save most of what I wanted on the desktop such as emails, documents, photos to a USB Thumbdrive, the one thing that I forgot to save was all my internet favorite places. I decided to revisit the desktop a few weekends ago, but it continued to give me problems. What I had not done was a complete reformat in quite some time so I decided that the favorites would be lost forever, and to just reformat which I did with Windows 7 as I had been running XP since I had bought the desktop new back in 2008. Since I reformatted the hard drive I have not had any issues except one. I went to restart and it did the five beeps when it was getting ready to boot to Windows. I simply powered it off and waited a few minutes and then restarted. Since then there have been no issues whatsoever. Sure its nearly 8 years old, and hard drives generally *** out around that time, but its running quite smooth and will admit, a bit quieter than before. One program that I loaded on is the free version of Advanced SystemCare from Download.com. I ran most everything it had to offer once it was loaded including the Driver Updater program that found much of the internal devices out of date with their drivers, once everything was current, the system is running brand new. Regarding the motherboard battery, I believe it was a CR2032 or something along those lines. I don't recall when I changed that but I will more than likely pick up a 2-pack of them and install them. Again thanks to those who took the time to post.

shesagordie · Answer

Kinsella5 Bev.

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Vostro 200 Administrator Password??????

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