Rebooting a computer help

[Roughknight]

Ok, so recently I acquired a computer that ran a Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional from this guy at work (I work in moving, so when the company was transferring, they left these computers behind and said that they didn't need them so we could take them if we wanted) and they never told us any of the passwords or anything.

So, I plug it in, and it brings to me the log in screen (where I press Control + Alt + Delete to get to the login screen) and the User Name is automatically set to Administrator, but the password is blank. I've tried everything, but I can't guess the password. So I figure, well, I have a couple of reboot discs, maybe I can wipe out the hard drive of this thing, and put on a new OS, and that'll solve everything. Unfortunetly, that didn't work, because it won't read the boot discs without going to the login page either way.

So, then my friend told me to FDISK it, I don't have any FDISKS, so if someone could tell me how to get one, what to do with it, and what it will do that'd be great. My main problem is finding one, and how to get it from here to there. If anyone could tell me that, I'll be greatly appreciative.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

What kind of boot disks do you have - Windows 2000? If so, you should be able to wipe/format your HD. The boot disks also contain FDISK.

Pity you can't use the currently installed Win2K system; I think it was the first really stable OS by Microsoft. Have you tried Google regarding the unknown Administrator password? (I really can't give you any more information than that.)

[Roughknight]

No, I don't have the boot disc for Windows 2000, I wanted to wipe it out 1) to get rid of any content that's on it, and 2) to actually be able to log into the computer, which at this point is impossible. I have tried to do Google searches for info on retrieving the password, but each leads me to rebooting it. Another thing is that this is Professional, not a regular personal OS, which is what I want.

Bottom line, would I be able then, to download a reboot file or whatever online, and then save it to a disc or whatever, and pop it into this computer and it will read?

I had a Windows 95 disc and floppy reboot thing and all it did was come up with this black screen with a bunch of information about the computer, but it wouldn't actually do anything. Like I said, the computer is pretty much inaccessable right now, so I can't do anything.

[Seshomaru Samma]

So I figure, well, I have a couple of reboot discs, maybe I can wipe out the hard drive of this thing, and put on a new OS, and that'll solve everything. Unfortunetly, that didn't work, because it won't read the boot discs without going to the login page either way.

you can use Knoppix (click on the american/british flag for english) to format your computer. look for an application called 'gparted'

there is also a gparted live CD which will do the same (here)

make sure you set BIOS to boot from CD

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Another thing is that this is Professional, not a regular personal OS, which is what I want.

Windows 2000 only had a professional and a server version, to the best of my knowledge. A Windows 9x boot disk cannot see an NTFS disk or partition.

[wickedadmin]

If you want to use the installed OS, you can always reset the administrator password. It's a bit tricky but it's possible. I usually have to run it twice before I can get it right.

I use NT Password Reset, but I'm sure there are better and easier tools out there for free.