windows xp crashed on my computer--it says to insert the install?

Question

windows xp crashed on my computer. it says to insert the installation cd then hit repair. When I do that it says to says to select the drive i want to repair. I select 1, which is the only one listed, and the only version i have installed. Then it asks for a password. I never set up a password. Is there anything i can do to repair this. I dont want to lose every thing on my drive. Is there a default password or something? Please help.

Answer 1

If you are absolutely certain you didn't have an administrator password on the machine and hitting enter by itself doesn't bypass the screen... then it's time to condier the following:



If this is a computer that you received from your employer, the desktop support people sometimes will install an administrator password. If this is the case, they should have a record of the password.



If this is a computer you purchased from a reliable vendor such as Dell... then the same concept as above may apply.. and you should give them a call and see if they have your system configured as such.



If you purchased the computer secondhand then it is entirely possible that the prior owner had one set up and you will need to contact them for the password.





If none of that applies then you may have to purchase a pasword cracking program...



Windows Key from passware http://www.lostpassword.com/windows-howto.htm



There are also free programs like Ophcrack you can get for free which will attempt to crack a password. but if your system is down and/or you've been locked out from a virus or something then you may be stuck.



You could also attempt to simply reinstall windows. As long as you DO NOT choose to reformat the drive, windows will basically just install over itself. Saving your documents but you'll probably have to reinstall programs.

Answer 2

I consider the definitely matters that it might be are as follows: a million) Bad replica of XP. I could depart getting a recent replica for a later step, given the price. two) Bad vigour deliver. When vigour presents begin to weaken, the capacitors can not manage the vigour needs in your approach, overheats and shuts down. I could both get a technician to verify this as a likelihood, or get a vigour deliver tester ($10-$20 at a pc deliver retailer). three) Hard force is failing. If you've gotten broken sectors in your rough force, it might reason your pc to close down. Just substitute it with a brand new force. four) Could be that your RAM is unhealthy. If you've gotten a couple of stick of RAM on your pc take a look at doing away with them one after the other after which exchanging them one after the other, rebooting among each and every RAM stick you put off(till none are left to take away). And reboot among each and every stick you substitute. (Make certain you flooring your self thoroughly, with the pc unplugged, and contact the steel case clear of the motherboard). If that's the hindrance, your pc will quit behaving badly as soon as the unhealthy stick is out. If this sounds slightly past what you believe you'll be able to do, you'll be able to take it in to a provider core and feature the hindrance constant. Hope this used to be handy.

Answer 3

is there a key on the CD case? there should be... that's my best guess... if that fails, call Windows tech support