Please Help! Trying to update friends pc from 98 to w2k. Installed w2k and it had a error that wouldn't let us past the pass word, forced to enter one but it won't accept it after installed and rebooted. Tried reinstalling and somehow it made a seperate partition for the 2nd try. The w2k on c: is the one that won't accept the password and has all her files, pics and emails. The w2k on d: is the one that will boot but doesn't see drive c: How in the world do I get it back without losing all her stuff? Any ideas? Thanks much

Upgrading W98 to W2K is a disaster waiting to happen. They have different SubSystems, W98 is MS-DOS and W2K is NT based. Do yourself a favour and wipe the hard drive with http://www.killdisk.com, after backing up any data you need to keep. Then install W2K , obviously you will need to install W2K compatable software, older W9x software will not install, so I hope you took this into consideration when deciding to go down this road.... Also please post specs "don't know" is not informative, and Compaq have made several hundred various models.

k, sorry I don't know what model her pc is, it might be a pent 3 and no clue what ram she has, more than needs, she had more installed. Uh..ok, how can I back up her stuff if I can't get past the password on the c: ..? Only the d: where the files aren't will let me access. Sorry new to this..thanks for you help :)

You need to put the hard drive in another PC or an external USB enclosure and attach to another PC, preferably with XP. Then you can pull her data off. You should always backup before playing with upgrading.

You'd need to enter the password you set when you installed Windows 2K. If, after such a short time, you don't remember what you set, go with WW's suggestion. THEN, put the drive back in, reformat, repartition and reinstall. Life's more painless for the brainless.