is there any way to recover the password for the welcome screen in xp. coz either its expired or i have forgoten it. how to recover it.

Hi Try reinstalling XP BOB

QUESTION: I have forgotten my Windows 2000 or Windows XP administrator or user password. What do I do? ANSWER: The Windows 2000 Administrator and User passwords are very important tools to access your system. If you forget these passwords you will not be able to log into your system and access files, programs, etc. This is particularly a problem if your system is formatted with the NTFS file system. There is no native Windows-based method for changing the Administrator password if you've forgotten it. The best solution available is to boot your computer with a special Linux-based floppy disk, which will allow you to change your Administrator password. This disk may be downloaded from the Web at http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html If the utility asks for a registry path, it is usually winnt/system32/config. Depending on where Windows is installed, you can also try windows/system32/config, windows/system, or simply windows.

You don't have to reinstall XP.. You can login using the administrator's account in safemode and change the password for that user account. You can also try Passware Password Recovery Kit!. Goodluck

Hi If you have very importent docs you need, then follow Sabertooth's link to Passware Password Recovery Kit!. Note it is VERY expensive, it would be a lot cheaper to reinstall O/S BOB

The Admin password by default is not set (i.e. it's left blank - unless you set one...). Have you tried using Adminstrator as the logon - but with no (a blank (password? If you can gain access then just reset password(s) for various user accounts - and keep a note of them somewhere safe. If on a home system - is there 'really' any need to set an Admin password (and similarly for user accounts); perhaps blank passwords can be accomodated? Otherwise - besides assorted boot-disk/utils to regain/reset passwords - perhaps: If XP = fat32, boot with a '98 bootdisk. Then locate the SAM file for XP; typically it's in: c:\winnt\system32\config Also delete the SAM.sav and SAM.backup (if they exist). Remove floppy and reboot to XP. You 'should' then boot to fresh Adminstrator logon dialogue-box. Leave pasword blank - for now, and just boot thru... You can then recreate all user accounts afresh; deleting the SAM file deleted 'all' account details. When you are back in OK - keep the Admin password somewhere safe - and perhaps the other account password(s) too (if you do decide to (re)set them...).