Domain and Password Problems

Question

My friend has a Dell - 3 gig processor 500 mb memory. Unfortunately, I did not write down all of the information before proceeding never expecting to run into the problem I know have which is not being able to get logged on.   The computer was used at her deceased husbands business and was connected to a server.  She asked me to change the password to her name. So, I went to the help screen and looked up how to change the domain and passwords before proceeding. When I went in to change the password, it would not update. So, I deleted the the user account from the box showing all of the users. It had 5 total users of which 3 were identical.  I deleted those 3 leaving 2 accounts still showing.   Then a pop up came up asking what type of use the computer was being used for, Home or business connected to server or something to that effect.  I clicked the radio button for home use.  It then asked me for a domain name or user name and password.  It would not take anything but the former business name so that is what I put in.  Then it asked me for a password and I input the password that my friend asked me to use. It then asked to shut down in order to make the requested changes.    Now, when the computer boots up and ask for the user name and password, it will not accept either the new user name and password or the old ones.  Is there any way to get past this screen and redo or cancel out the password request? There are a lot of financial files that need to be retained for tax purposes.    Hopefully, someone has a solution.   Thank You for you help.   Edward L Lumbert elumbert@homeworkswildblue.com

jmwills · Answer

Okay, are you still on the Domain with this machine or unjoined? If unjoined, you will have to log in locally with an Admin Role based account to either get access to the files or change the name /password of that exisiting account. You will then need to unjoin the machine from the domain and log back in with a local account and take ownership of those files.

As long as you can get in with an Admin account, you can give "Everyone" full rights to those files and not worry about passwords and the such.

Edward Lumbert · Answer

jmwills

I thought I had tried that once but still could not get in. I typed in Administrator for the user name/domain and typed in the in the old password (sharon), but still not luck. Did I type in the correct information? The old user name was sharon and the password was sharon. I deleted those 3 accounts. There was still the administrator plus one user account left. When I made the change to the domain, it would not take the information I gave it, it would only take the old business name. Once I put that in, the user name went in OK as well as the password. But after rebooting, it says it can not find the domain.

I did find out yesterday that the machine is still under warranty until Oct. 2007 so I thought I just might call Dell technical support on line and see if they can help me.

Thanks again for any help or suggestions.

Ed Lumbert

jmwills · Answer

You have to log on locally, not into the Domain.  If you hit the down arrow next to the Domain name, the name of the machine will be listed.  Chnage to that and use the name of the Admin Account to login and take control of all the files.

jmwills · Answer

There should be three box there when you hit ALT+CTRL+DEL

Username:

Password:

Log on To:

Change the logon to the local. That option HAS to be there. Use your known Administrator Account name (Administrator) and its password. If that Admin Account name was changed and you do not know it, all bets are off.

You will have to take the hard drive out and slave it to another machine in order to retrive the data.

Edward Lumbert · Answer

jmwills:

I can not log into anything! A pop up box comes up saying to hit Cntl, alt, Delete, and something about the safety and security of the machine. After doing that, it immediately goes into the login screen asking for the user/domain name and password.

I am not sure who set this machine up when it was removed from the server but he is the one that set it up like it is now.

Any suggestions on how to get past that cntl, alt, delete and skip the login?

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