NTLDR Missing with a lost admin password!!!

[phillygolf]

Ok....I need some help. This may be somewhat lengthy, but feel it is important to distinguish what I know and what I dont to correct the issue. Actually, the issue is twofold:

NTLRD missing & lost admin password.

Background - was running an erase program that writes over deleted data and cleans up the clusters. It was about 80% through and stopped responding. At that time, it was running through the master boot record. It hung forever, so I end tasked the application. Then, I went into defrag and saw my available memory was 1%. I was figuring that it was writing a temp file somewhere and that just rebooting the pc would clean it up. Bad idea. I reboot and get the NTLDR missing issue.

I research that and find that most likely, I will need the XP recovery disk (I printed out how to correct it, etc). So, last night I boot from the cd in safe mode - and find that I need my admin password. I wrote it down 3 years ago - so most likely have it somewhere, but over 3/4 of my stuff is in storage. So....bottomline, I dont have it and it would be mere luck if I found it in the next 10 years.

So - I do some more research and find I can use a windows 2000 disk or a linux bootable disk.

I am considering trying the Linux boot disk first, hopefully changing my password, and then trying the XP resource CD. However, do to it all happening when it was reading the Master Boot Record, I might also try to 'FIXMBR' but unsure exactly where I type this command......

Thats the background...below are some specific questions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

1. Does anyone know if I can change my admin pw even with the NTDLR missing through the Linux or Windows 2000 cd? I am hoping someone else has been able to work through this.

2. Where do I type the FixMBR command?

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

-Patrick

1. I've never heard of people being able to change the admin password using *nix/2K CD. I'm sure it's possible, I've just haven't read about it.

2. You would type 'FIXMBR' in the Recover Console. For that though, you'd need to know the Admin password.

Your safest bet at this point would be to just do a Repair. Boot w/ the XP CD and start the installation. You'll get a screen where you can do a repair instead of a clean install. I actually did it for the first time myself a couple of days ago. I had a gal who was having the same issue w/ the NTLDR Missing, I just did the repair and everything was fine w/ the reboot.

[phillygolf]

Thanks Rick,

One more quick question. Can I do the repair without the Admin password?

Thanks again,

Patrick

[sechs]

You can hack the password, but its not worth the effort. Mark one for remembering your password.

You do not need any passwords to run a repair, as this is basically upgrading Windows over itself. You will lose all updates and some settings. It won't change your password. Mark two for remembering your password.

You may need your administrator password to set everything up after going through this process. Mark three for remembering your password.