Need a windows genius....

ollyc98

ollyc98

Ex. Club Member
Ok I will try some tech forums but figured I'd try here first as some of you know more about PC's than me.

Here's the situation: I got a laptop as part of a job lot, it's a micro one so has no CD or Floppy drive. It won't boot from a USB pendrive.

It has win 2000 pro on it which is password protected, I don't have the password.

Is there any way I can bypass this ( I can't get into command prompt btw) as the only way I can think of is to get a PCMCIA CD drive and re-load the operating system.

Thanks.
 
most laptops have a function built in to them, that if you press certian keys when you turn it on, it will run the windows setup thats hidden away in the harddrive.

whats the full name and model number of the laptop
 
It's a toshiba portege 3490CT Nothing too great but would be nice to put in the car.

Model number: PP349E-6PY86-EN
 
right i've talk'd to a mate, he's realy good with laptop's

he say's press the F12 button over and over and at the same time turn on ur laptop, this should bring up a menu and you can select the recovery function from there, is that don't work you'l need to download the recovery disk from the toshiba web site, and do the F12 start up again, but this time select optical recovery and select were the cd is.

hope that helps
 
Well a floppy drive would be better, I can get into any windows in 5 mins with a floppy disk lol.

I never use CD drives.
 
Thanks that'd be great, I won't have any cash in my account til thursday. I'll see what I can do before then.
 
Not sure what method fish suggested, but you can reset the local admin password. Information on this can be found in the Microsoft knowledge base!
 
Arnold said:
Not sure what method fish suggested, but you can reset the local admin password. Information on this can be found in the Microsoft knowledge base!
Click to expand...

Is that the method that involves a start up disk and command prompt?


Thanks for the PM I'll give it a go when I can get hold of a CD drive.
 
Also, have you tried logging in without a password? It may sound simple, but surprisingly, not alot of home users stick a password on the local admin account
 
Double or triple glazing? lol

Sorry read the title and it made me laugh!

Yeah i dont have a password on mine, i just press enter when that comes up!
 
Tried that, also you can hit cancel and the window will disappear and it'll go into a guest account, however this one doesn't, it's locked down pretty tight.
 
You haven't been able to click cancel on a login screen since Windows 9x/Me. Windows 2000 is built on NT, which is much more secure in that respect. Your only way forward is using a password reset tool like the one I posted.
 
It's non NT based O/S you can press Cancel.

Get a USB CD Rom and format it or do what James said
 
It's only possible to format these ones with PCMCIA CD drives, USB ones aren't recognised until you login.
 
Yeah, I'm gunna check for any 'interesting' files on it then format and install Damn Small Linux or React OS, I'm not sure which on yet.
 
tis a long shot but have to tried entering administrator as the user and no pass,

I tend to do this so if a user forgets their pass i can get in and sort it even if i forget mine :p

Also it allows me access to thecomputer even if they think "oh the password will protect me"
 
You could always take the HDD out, use a cheep 2.5 to 3.5 interface adaptor and stick it in a desktop to work on it...
For instance, check for anything interesting, format it, put in a fresh build of whatever and then put it back in the laptop.
 
I was gonna suggest that earlier. a converter hardly costs anything. I've got one in my carputer.
 
if you use the adapter though and install windows it wont work when you put it in the laptop. becuase xp/vista kinda lock themselves to the mobo they were installed on untill you re-install the OS on another mobo. Linux, will work though cause its a useful piece of software.
 
Yeah I tried that before and got the blue screen of death. Anyway I should be getting some drives through soon, I love ebay lol.

Got a PCMCIA CD drive through 2day, tried to load 2 different operating systems but it won't boot from the CD. I have tried changing the bios settings but no go, have I just got an expensive paperweight?
 
Update the BIOS if possible. It may then allow you to use PCMCIA, LAN and other sources to boot up. I'm surprised the machine doesn't have a floppy or CD drive - maybe they were optional? does the laptop have an expansion slot for such devices? They usually all have the same connector type. (floppy, CD, second battery etc).
 
Update the BIOS if possible. It may then allow you to use PCMCIA, LAN and other sources to boot up. I'm surprised the machine doesn't have a floppy or CD drive - maybe they were optional? does the laptop have an expansion slot for such devices? They usually all have the same connector type. (floppy, CD, second battery etc).
 
You can buy a port replicator, they came with a USB floppy and a PCMCIA CD drive, however the OS was already loaded on the HDD so they weren't needed.

I got it cheap so didn't get any accessories.

I've set the BIOS to: FDD, CD-ROM, LAN, HDD
 
olly

a boot disc will load the cd drivers, then you type D:\setup.exe
iirc
be careful if you flash the bios tho, or you will end up with a paperweight :blush:
 
I think only the windows 98 boot disks loads the CD rom drivers, for command prompt installations :)
 
After all that trouble I bought a HDD converter, loaded DSL on it and put the drive back in, shoulda done that to start with and saved a load of money.

Just need a network card now and I can dump the desktop altogether.
 

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