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Post by Ixxchel on Apr 20, 2004 15:09:38 GMT 1
My father has given me an old laptop, which was being thrown out at work, however although it appears to startup allright, the display becomes blank at some stage in the startup process.
Is this fixable, and if so how?
Thanks, -Kirsty
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Post by Graeme Houston on Apr 21, 2004 12:46:46 GMT 1
What sort of age is the laptop, and do you know what version of windows is on it? (did anyone tell your dad this when he got it? Probably not if it was lying around for sometime but I'm asking on the offchance.)
There are a number of things that could be causing it. So I will start with the simplest.
First lets assume that at some stage in the laptop's past, someone has changed the screen resoulution (size) to something the screen can't display.
I'll have to assume that being an older laptop, it's probably got windows 95 or 98.
To fix this, when you first start the laptop (presumably you can see the text at this stage) hold down the F8 function key, and after a while you will find yourself in the "Windows Boot Options".
If it doesn't happen, restart and try again holding down the Ctrl key this time. One of these should work.
Now once your into the boot options, select 'Safe Mode' as your startup option. It will then start up with as little running as possible, and the screen (should) be visible.
But your not finished yet...
Right click on the desktop and select properties, you will get the 'display properties' box. Click on the 'Settings' tab at the top right. Change the 'screen area' to something other than what it is just now... 800 x 600, or 640 x 480 will do nicely. Then press apply.
It should warn you that if you cant see the screen once it changes the display, don't touch anything and it will revert back to the previous option in 15 seconds.
If your screen goes blank, dont touch anything and wait.. count to 15! Then once it's back try another size. You might find only 640 x 480's working. if thats the case, change the number of colours, 256 at least would be nice. But try for more. Keep testing the new settings with the apply button!
Once you've found one thats working, cleary; select the option to keep that resolution (before the 15 seconds it up). Next Press 'ok' and then restart. When your computer restarts, it should do so in the new resolution (hence work).
Good Luck!
PS. If this doesn't work let me know, I will run you through each of the other possibilites in turn.
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Post by guest on Oct 13, 2004 14:30:07 GMT 1
is it possible to get past the administrator pass word when you cant remember what it is?
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Post by TheWeeMan on Oct 13, 2004 18:53:30 GMT 1
Graeme is currentlly out of the country on business. I'll ask him to get back to you Kirsty when he returns. Keep in touch.
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Post by Tuesg on Oct 13, 2004 21:08:40 GMT 1
Thats all Microsoft has sorry I couldn't be of anyhelp, by the way before you do a clean install wait for Graeme to get back as he may know away to get in.
Have you tried pressing F8 when you pc is booting and going in through safe mode?
INTRODUCTION This article describes how to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or your password expires and you cannot create a new one.
Note If you have not created a password reset disk, and you have also forgotten the password for all user accounts, you cannot log on to your existing Windows installation for security reasons. This information applies to starting Windows XP typically, to safe mode, and to Recovery Console. In this case, you must perform a "clean" installation of Windows XP, re-create all user accounts, and then reinstall all your programs. MORE INFORMATION To log on to Windows XP, use any one of the following methods: Method 1: Use a password reset disk If you created a password reset disk for Windows XP, reset your password by using the password reset disk.
For additional information about how to use a password reset disk, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 305478 How to create and use a password reset disk for a computer that is not a domain member in Windows XP 306214 How to create and use a password reset disk for a computer in a domain in Windows XP Method 2: Log on as an administrator to reset the password If you cannot log on to Windows by using a particular user account (including the Administrator or Computer Administrator accounts), but you can log on to another account that has administrative credentials (including the Administrator or Computer Administrator accounts), follow these steps:1. Log on to Windows by using the administrator account that has a password that you remember.
Note You cannot log on as usual by using the Administrator or Computer Administrator account to a Windows XP Home Edition-based computer or to a Windows XP Professional-based computer in a workgroup. To log on as the Administrator or Computer Administrator, you must start Windows XP in safe mode. For additional information, see the "Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional in a workgroup" section. 2. Click Start, and then click Run. 3. In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK: control userpasswords2 4. Click the user account that you forgot the password for, and then click Reset Password. 5. Type a new password in both the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and then click OK. Warning If you reset the password for a user account in this manner in Windows XP Professional, the following kinds of information for that user will be no longer available:• E-mail messages that are encrypted with the user's public key. • Internet passwords that are saved on or remembered by the computer. • Any files that the user has encrypted. You should now be able to log on to Windows with the user account and the new password. The following sections provide step-by-step instructions to reset the password for a typical user account in Safe Mode by using the Administrator (or Computer Administrator account. Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional in a workgroup To log on as Administrator and reset the password, follow these steps: 1. Restart the computer. After the Power On Self Test (POST), press the F8 key. 2. On the Windows Advanced Options menu, use the ARROW keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER. 3. When you are prompted to select the operating system to start, select Microsoft Windows XP edition (where edition is the edition of Windows XP that is installed), and then press ENTER. 4. On the To begin, click your user name screen, click Administrator. 5. Type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
Note In some cases, the Administrator password may be set to a blank password. In this case, do not type a password before you press ENTER. 6. Click Yes to acknowledge that Windows is running in safe mode. 7. Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel). 8. Click User Accounts. 9. Click the user account whose password you want to change. 10. Click Change the Password if you want to keep a password, or click Remove password if you do not want to use a password. If you remove the password, go to step 11. 11. Type the new password for the user, and then click Change Password. 12. Quit the User Accounts tool, and then restart the computer.
Windows XP Professional in a domain To log on as Administrator to reset the password, follow these steps:1. In the Welcome to Windows dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE. 2. Type the logon information for the Administrator account, including the password, and then click OK.
Note The Administrator password may be set to a blank password. In this case, do not type a password before you click OK. 3. Click Start, click Run, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK. 4. In the Computer Management (Local) box, expand Local Users and Groups. 5. Click the Users folder. 6. In the right pane of the Computer Management window, right-click the user account whose password you want to reset, and then click Set Password. 7. Click Proceed. 8. In the New password box, type the new password for the user account. 9. Type the same password in the Confirm password box, and then click OK. 10. Click OK to acknowledge that the new password has been set. 11. Quit the Computer Management snap-in, and then restart the computer.
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Post by Pollywollydoddle on Oct 13, 2004 21:59:12 GMT 1
Jeeeze Oh Iain, Could you repeat that please..lololololol Glad you sent this posting tonight ?? Wonders what it would of been like after your wee night out, teeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeee Polly
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Post by Graeme Houston on Oct 26, 2004 18:13:19 GMT 1
Which version of windows, XP?
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Post by guest on Oct 29, 2004 19:25:15 GMT 1
it's windows 2000 i cant get past the administrater password. thanx tueseg for putting all that up.
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Post by Graeme Houston on Oct 30, 2004 15:43:16 GMT 1
Depending on the settings, this might work. Dont bother typing anything in. Just click cancel and tell me what happens please?
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Post by Iain on Oct 30, 2004 16:56:26 GMT 1
Yeah if I new it was windows 2000 and not xp i could have told you that, i believe windows 2000 still has the very bad security
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Post by Graeme Houston on Oct 30, 2004 19:00:49 GMT 1
If that doesn't work, then you can either reinstall, or hack. If you go for the hacking option I have heard that the following utility is ideal. However I cannot take any responsibility for any loss of information that may occur should it go wrong. home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/I mention it only because if you are going to have to reinstall and lose all your work anyway then it's probably worth the risk. Your choice though.
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Post by Graeme Houston on Oct 30, 2004 19:02:14 GMT 1
PS. If your going for the hacking option, read everything it says on that website carefully, and anything you don't understand, ask me and I'll translate into english.
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Post by Graeme Houston on Oct 30, 2004 19:08:42 GMT 1
Your right prolly right Iain. I only used win 2000 very briefly. It was good, but I had to return to 98 at the time because I was playing an online Role Play game. If it crashed - 2000 would stop the game from opening for a while till it fixed it. Pain in the neck when you have to get back in-game to save your character from death. So I opted for 98, because in most cases the game would crash, dissapear, and I could simply open it again. Be back in within seconds...
erm, wandered off there. Point is I only used it briefly, but it didn't seem a great deal better than 98, wheras I remember being distinctly impressed by XP.
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Post by guest on Oct 31, 2004 12:47:20 GMT 1
i tryed hitting the cancel button but it doesnt seem to do anything, i'll take a look at that site. computers are gerat but when they dont work i am lost compleatly so thanx for your help guys
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Post by Graeme Houston on Nov 1, 2004 14:28:38 GMT 1
I know the feeling - trying to work out how to get something fixed when your not into computers is a nightmare. I'll keep an eye on this board so I can get back to your questions quickly should you have any. Good Luck!
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