Trying to re-install a corrupt ntfs.sys file w/o admin password.

[Gyroscope]

The title says it all really: i am trying to reinstall the ntfs.sys file on my laptop after it corrupted, preventing me from starting windows. I can access the recovery system but it prompts me for an administrator password that I do not have and do not even remember setting. Is there a way to either bypass this step of the setup or recover the admin password so that i can fix the problem as I have some vital data on the laptop that I cannot lose (hence why a reinstall is not an option)

[Gyroscope]

//Sorry, I'm getting desperate and can't find a solution any where.

Connect teh drive to another system and copy teh file in.

Clear the admin password and reinstall the file. However: Since it's
NTFS, and it's XP, it's also possible that EFS encryption was used.

If there is even the remotest possibility of this, do NOT clear the password
or perform a Windows reinstall. Either of these, risk making encrypted
data permanently inaccessible. If you *have* to take attempts, clone the
disk, set it aside, and work on the clone only.

[Gyroscope]

Hi, thanks for the response. Firstly, how would I find out whether my system uses 'EFS encryption'?

Then if needed, how would I go about cloning my disk?