Lost Password Windows 2000 Professional

I have a Compaq Armada 1590DMT which I received from a friend who no longer
used it and of course no disks and locked out without passwords. I am not a
techie so I have tried the site you usually give
and not understanding it fully i
need help cracking the password. I have a computer which can create CD's but
not floppies. I need to access this computer to figure out if I can possibly
upgrade it with some extras I may find at a local flea market that has
computer shows almost monthly. I want to do this on the cheap obviously so
free sites will work best and detailed instructions for the non-techie would
be greatly appreciated. I know very little about Windows 2000 Professional so
if I get this computer unlocked I will use it mainly as a hobby computer
short of anything else. Please help!!

You must download the bootable CD image, then burn it to a CD so that you
can boot the machine with this CD and reset its administrator password.

The drag-and-drop metaphor is so ubiquitously simple that if one is unable
to drag the disk image icon onto the desktop program icon and answer a few
simple questions, then such simple problems as the OP expressed are beyond
solution.

I understand your point.

I explicitly chose to recommend CDCC because it has the *sole*
function of burning a CD from an image file. About the only thing you
have to do after running it is point to the image file.

I tried to download the disk but again I am not very tech savvy so I guess I
did not write it to CD properly. I do not know how to burn it to CD as a file
like it states. I know this is probably something simple in tech terms but
this is my first attempt at something like this and I know there must be
risks if I don't do this carefully. I appreciate the help but again I need
some kind fo step by step help to get this right because it seems simple
enough but I have not been able to unlock the computer yet.

Telling you how to burn a bootable CD without knowing your particular CD
burner in detail unlikely to work. If you're not experienced in such matters
then I recommend that you ask a computer-savvy friend to assist you. If this
is not an option then you should consider purchasing a Windows 2000 CD, with
product code, so that you can load a fresh copy of Windows. This would be a
safer option anyway: You don't know where this PC has been and what viruses
it might harbour. Your popularity with your friends would suffer
considerably if your PC turned out to be a source of nasty viruses.

To get "step-by-step" info, we'd have to know what software you use for
burning CD's and then someone here would have to be familiar with that
particular software ... and there maybe no one that fits that category.

However, if you look in your burning software, somewhere there should be
an entry that is called "burn a cd from disc image" or "burn image file"
or similar. Looking at the help file for the software (not Windows Help)
should point you in the right direction (try searching in the help file
for "image" or "disc image" or even "disk image"). Follow the
instructions and use the image file you downloaded as the file to burn.

In most burning software, it's just about the simplest procedure of all.
Just insert a blank cd, click on "burn image file" (or whatever it's
called) then browse to and select the file and click OK.

This link may help for several popular versions of burning software

and/or you could try a Google search using "burning an image file" (with
or without quotes).

If you're still stuck, your best bet is, as Pegasus suggests, to get
some local help.

Where would I obtain a new copy of Windows 2000? I have tried to look online
and most stores are places I have never heard of and we all know how hard it
can be to trust a fly by night computer shop online. I know I used to work
for one of the worst ones which now that it is open again (name and ownership
changed obviously), CompUSA that sometimes cheap is not always good. I would
appreciate any help you can give and i know this is a huge request but again
no better way to learn than through trial and error. I have seen it for sale
on Amazon.com but really it seems pricey there for such an old program
($140-$180). If you know of some cheaper and reliable sites let me know so I
can purchase it online and still save some cash in the process.

Obviously I trust the person who gave me the computer otherwise I never
would have accepted it in the first place so I doubt it is loaded with
viruses or worms. It was mainly a business/personal finance computer and not
something he used for fun and enjoyment online so I doubt he had any virus
possibilities with so little use. If anything besides for updates to the
software I will just download some free antivirus software because buying
something for a rarely used system like Win2000 which will get me online via
dial up only access is not very cost effective for a hobbie computer.

I would never buy a PC without having some OS installation CD too. You'll
need it sooner or later. And while $140-$180 may sound high for an old OS,
Win2000 is still an excellent operating system. It's solid, robust, stable
and it provides most of the features that WinXP does.

I've heard this line before - "I trust this person" - yet you would not
drink out of the same glass that he did. Why not? He may be a good friend
but will he guarantee that his PC is clean?

The Win2000 CD is nothing - it is perfectly legal to use a copy made of the
real thing. The 25-character Win2000 Product Key is everything. Do you have
it? Is it stuck on your laptop? Does your friend have it? If not then this
tool will retrieve it for you after you have resolved your password problem:
If you can't find a friend to give you a copy of his Win2000 CD then I'm
happy to send you one. I would ask for postage (overseas!) and expenses
only. But remember - you will need your own product key!

Yes, all very helpful, but the OP (who has already stated that he's none
too computer-literate) is having trouble burning an image from his
existing software (with which he presumably has at least a passing
familiarity). Throwing other, unfamiliar software at him because it
happens to be your particular favourite seems more of a complication
under the circumstances. And burning from a disc image (which is all
that was at issue) is such a relatively simple process that it's hard to
believe that any particular package is much better than any other in
that respect.

(The link I gave was not for alternative software but for explicit
instructions for burning image files from a variety of popular burning
applications).

Never stated I was computer illiterate I said I was not a techie who fully
understands all aspects of computers. I am not some computer ignorant person
who, like I used to see come into one of my former employers (a computer
store) and ask for a copy of the Internet on disk. Yes a person actually
believed the entire internet was on a single disk.

As for the advice I have been given I am working on the problems first by
burning the disk (which somehow I do not believe will work on this older
model laptop unless from what I have learned may have had to be set to boot
from a CD which of course not having been able to get past the administrater
password screen I would have no idea how things are set on it. But I will try
a rewritable CD for now and hope if nothing else trial and error will
prevail.

Also as for some of the other negative comments posted on here obviously if
you don't want/care to help someone please don't bother really hate to
disturb your life and try to read the previous responses before you just send
me all over the net to download some software as someone else said. I have
gotten some good responses so far but the last few were kind of rude to say
the least. As for some of the other nonsense like I said sorry to disturb you
as I am sure some of my early resonders would say as well. I have just asked
for some computer advice and yeah take it or leave it I can learn something
from helpful comments but to just ignore the original post and post random
sites is kind of off topic and not helpful.

I do not have much in the way of local professional computer help except for
Best buy which starts any and all services at like $125-$200 just to turn in
the computer and they add on from there any repairs. Had many fly by nighters
come and go so real cautious just dumping it in an unknown place only to find
a week later they shut down and never see the computer again.

I will think seriously about the new copy of Windows 2000 and if anyone
knows of a reliable low priced website let me know and I will check them out
and hope for the best.

Hi,

........ set to boot from a CD which of course not having been able to
get past the administrater password screen I would have no idea how
things are set on it.

What they want you to do is set your computer to boot from the CD first
instead of the hard drive. That job is done by first entering your BIOS
which is pretty much all those black and white text screens you see when
you first hit your power button. The computer BIOS is looking around
inside itself taking an inventory and deciding how to deal with what
it's finding.

There are several different ways of opening your BIOS so you can change
settings, but Someone with knowledge of your brand and model laptop
would need to tell you how it's done. The BIOS is changed way before
Windoze gets to booting and drops you at the administrater password
screen, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Once you make the BIOS change you'll see a screen pass by during early
booting that asks you to touch a key to boot from the CD instead of
normally, you should then be on the way to fixing your initial password
problem.

I've only used the password resetting utility once and cringed at
clicking OK to options I didn't know as they were presented, but
eventually the old passsword was cleanly removed and let me move on from
there.

While the idea of an almost free copy of Windows 2000 is a great idea and
probably would be helpful, I can't accept it even for postage because I am
very restrained financially currently and overseas purchases are not
something I am interested in either as they tend to be risky even if you
trust the person on the other side.

One question I do have is ok say I don't get the password but just somehow
buy a copy of Windows 2000. Would it just load the entire operating system
and basically wipe out everything previously on the system? Including the
obvious unbroken password? Just figured I would ask now before I go and toss
$150 at a problem only to have the problem still exist without a solution.

Thanks again for the offer ayways but hopefully my post will keep gathering
responses and I will get that one glimmer of hope and someone finds the best
solution.

As for the orginal Windows 2000 CD for this computer I highly doubt he has
it seeing as it was a former work computer given to him when it was
considered outdated but still useful. Back in the day this was one high
dollar machine and companies tended to keep what they could and toss the rest
aside even if it was to former workers without full use priveleges.

As far as I know , there are two main methods to solve the windows password problem as follows:
1st Method:
Start system and when you see Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> keys twice and it'll show Classic Login box. Now type \"Administrator\" (without quotes) in Username and leave Password field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.
Now you can reset your account password from \"Control Panel -> User Accounts\".
Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.
2th Method:
Windows password reset software:
for example:Windows Password Reset. It is easy and convenient to use.

You can DIY a Windows password reset CD. There is an Windows password unlocker.ISO image file integrated in the windows password unlocker. Burn the .ISO file onto a blank CD with your favorite burners or use the freely burner included in windows password unlocker. With the newly created windows password reset CD, you can reset windows admin password with our erasing anything else

I suggest you try to upgrade your 2000 system to windows 7, 2000 is too old now....

by the way, if you need to find lost 2000 password, you can try some windows password recovery tool, you can google it or directly visit my site on my signatue.

Hi,maybe this can help you