Hi, I have laptop that I had on a company domain. I left the company so I removed the domain and checked workgroup. When I restarted it asked me for my username and password as it always has but it would not except it. I do not remember setting an admin password and at this point I am locked out. Is there anyway of getting by this without having to reformat and loose all of my stuff?

Thanks tdogyou

You are entering the domain password but now you need the local password. Since you don't remember it, there are two things to try.

You can try the tool at http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpas...
or similar tools available on the net. I have never used it, so I can't comment on the quality of the app.
OR
You can remove the drive, put it in an external USB HD enclosure and connect it to another PC. Boot the PC and find the drive letter that windows gave your drive. At that point, you can delete the SAM file, then put the HD back into the original machine.

hi tdogyou,

If you want I can give you a link to download an ISO, which you burn to CD and reboot with and will allow you to reset the account password.

Of course, going from a domain to a workgroup can bring with it a world of problems, and guapo said above, remove the drive, put it in an external USB HD enclosure and connect it to another PC, but so that you can backup your stuff, and then just reinstall a fresh copy of XP, assuming of course you have the COA for your laptop.