need to update to windows vista but have a problem

[andrew]

Ok, here's my problem. I just got a laptop from my parents and it was my dad's work laptop.  We do not know the password for the administrator so I have to use the laptop w/o administrator and therein lies my problem.  I have all the CD's to update to windows vista yet when I insert the begginning disc I get a message saying I need administrator to do this.  I have tried everything I could find on youtube to "hack" the administrator but it simply surpasses my knowledge of computers. Please help me!!

[Joey]

I had a similar problem at work. It took me a full week to figure this one out, hehe.

For the fix you will need the following…
1. Use of another computer that has a connection to the Internet and the capability of burning CDs

2. A blank CD

Go to the following link and download the latest version of Hiren’s BootCD:
http://hotfile.com/dl/11195212/a897d49/Hiren_s_BootCD_v10.0__9Down.COM.rar.html

Once you have downloaded it, extract the file. If you don’t know how to extract it you need to download 7-zip from www.7-zip.org and it will open up the file for you. When it is extracted you will notice a large file out of the bunch. It is an, “iso” file. Open up your CD burning software, whatever you have on the computer. It will burn it to a CD. Then proceed to the following instructions…


1. Put in the CD you just created on the computer that you can’t login to and start it up

2. You should see a screen that is titled, “Hiren’s BootCD”

3. Select, “Start BootCD”

4. Choose option, “9. Next…”

5. Choose option, “4. Password & Registry Tools…”

6. Choose option, “1. Active Password Changer 3.0.420 (NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista)”

7. Select, “Auto” when it asked you something about the CD drive

8. Select option, “2 Search for MS SAM Database(s) on all hard disks and logical drives”. This might take a while to process so be patient.

9. Select the hard drive it gives you, which should be, “0”

10. You will now see a list of all users on your Windows computer, select the Administrative account you want to get into

11. A screen will appear showing that you are about to, “Clear this User’s Password”. Press the, “Y” key on your keyboard to proceed.

12. It should have erased the password. Now click the, SpaceBar on your computer. Press the, “Esc” key on your keyboard a few times to exit

13. Eject the CD from the drive and restart your computer by pressing and holding down the, “Ctrl” and “Alt” keys (either pair) and then tapping the, “Delete” key twice

14. Once Windows has started you can login to the administrative account by entering the username (if it isn’t already there) and leaving the password field blank