XP Pro Non Administrator Account

[ShinyF1]

I have an old laptop [HP nc6320] from a former employer, as I still assist them on some old ongoing issues, but it is set up with me as an account with no administrator rights. I never link back into the old company's network and use the machine stand alone, and have drawn a blank in my request to have my old IT dept alter the account settings.

Is there a way to retain all of the data but tweak the OS so admin settings exist by a reinstall of windows XP or a new upgrade to Vista or 7? Biggest issue is being unable to install new software for kids' use or update plugins to IE - JAVA/Flash player. The machine has Lotus Notes databases which I need to retain and access.

Thanks

Sean

 

[Mark300SL]

You can hack the administrator password without too much grief.
There are several tools on the net, including Hirens boot CD, BUT be very very careful that you heavily virus scan any downloaded file.

As part of my job I use ERD commander 2005 and its very quick and painless at resetting passwords

 

[Mark300SL]

BTW

There are loads of Dos based "net user" type commands to change passwords but if you cant install software then you wont have the admin privileges to actually use them.

ERD commander will solve this in 5 mins !

 

[masqueraid]

This is also useful
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Don't forget it's not your password you want to change it's the rights on the account so you need to change the password of an administrator account. Then you can change your account from limited user to admin (unless you are logging into a domain)