need help with ex-school dell optiplex 620

[Soundguy]

Long story shor version:

At the end of last year they replaced all the teachers computer. they let you buy the old computer, hd monitor, kb and mouse for 25$, wife decided to.

it's been setting all summer in the corner. decided to bootit up and set i up as a hoe computer for us since we only have our phones and a netbook. t's on winxp pro i believe. Looks tobea dual core pent d and 4 mem slots, 2 on riser, 2 onboard, with 2slots populated, probably 1g chips.. I have a couple spare 2gb chips i could swap in for 4gb. not a powerhouse by any means.. but better than the atom in the netbook.

anyway, at startup it parks at the network login sreen to login to the schools network. i can get my wifes old password no prob.. but this thing is obviusly not gonna find the old school network.

how do i get rid of that login screen? we just want to be able to turn it on and use it for email.. etc.

we have dsl and the dsl modem has the built in router and wireless access, so i have a pare cat 5 to plug in to the computer.. the dsl modem has ? 4 ports on it. netbook uses 1 when in the office.. otherwise the nb and out phones are wifi... there is no in home network to join or anything.

any help from the pc tech savy guys?

once i get in it i will get into outlook express and get our email settings xfered over from the netbook.. also on winxp and using outlook client. etc.

thanks

 

[Imaybail]

Try going into the BIOS settings and edit the boot order. It is probably set for network boot. You should be able to change the order to HDD(disk drive). Then save and exit the BIOS setup and reboot. If the HDD has the operating system and master boot record, it should boot to the login screen.
You probably already know, but support has ended for XP, so you might want to consider installing a more up to date operating system.

 

[MossRoad]

On a PC that is joined to a domain (which is what you probably have), it should come up with three fields, username, password and domain, unless her username is jane@domainname, in which case it will only ask for that username which contains the domain name, and then password.

Since there is no school domain controller at your house for her to authenticate her credentials to, she may not be able to log on to that pc with that login.

You have to log in locally to that machine.

If you don't have the local machine name and admin credentials, you are kinda screwed.... kinda.

You can wipe the machine and re-install an operating system....
OR
You can crack the local admin password
OR
You can wipe the local admin password with a password cracker/wiper type software on a bootable CD or USB drive.

Here's a link to some resources... I like the 2nd suggestion, as it just wipes the password and you can log in.
Haven't used this type of program for several years, so you're on your own for assistance, as I stopped messing with computers, quite I.T. after 20+ years and am now a maintenance mechanic! I hate comuters!!! :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

See, I hate computers so much, I forgot to give you the link!!!!
7 Free Windows Password Recovery Tools
:thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Try going into the BIOS settings and edit the boot order. It is probably set for network boot. You should be able to change the order to HDD(disk drive). Then save and exit the BIOS setup and reboot. If the HDD has the operating system and master boot record, it should boot to the login screen.
You probably already know, but support has ended for XP, so you might want to consider installing a more up to date operating system.

He's probably not set for a network boot.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, I don't hate comuters, they can use the roads just like the rest of us... its computers that I dislike. :licking:

 

[aczlan]

See, I hate computers so much, I forgot to give you the link!!!!
7 Free Windows Password Recovery Tools
:thumbsup:

I have used both Ophcrack and Offline NT Password & Registry Editor. Both work well. Ophcrack will show you the passwords, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor lets you just blank the password.
Once you have a password, I would log in as a local administrator and switch from the domain to a workgroup (see: How to change a computer name, join a domain, and add a computer description in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003 )

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

He's probably not set for a network boot.

yep. your other post was correct... it brings up a winxp pro login in for a network.

username. then has password and then choice of 3 school domains.

and yep., it's a stalling point.

so in non tech person speak.

what's my easiest bet to just get a working xp machie out of this?

 

[MossRoad]

yep. your other post was correct... it brings up a winxp pro login in for a network.

username. then has password and then choice of 3 school domains.

and yep., it's a stalling point.

so in non tech person speak.

what's my easiest bet to just get a working xp machie out of this?

Download one of those password wipers in ISO format on another PC.
Burn a CD from that ISO.
Boot the box you are wanting to wipe the password on from the CD.
Follow the instructions.
It will boot up and give you some options, one of which shoul be to wipe the password.
It's just that simple... it wipes the password... resets it to blank.
Some of them let you set a new password, but I'd just wipe the password for now.
Then remove the CD and reboot.
That's it.
XP has lame security if you have access to the physical machine.

Hope that helps.

 

[Winmac]

It was mentioned already, reinstalling windows is the best option. It will clear out all the trash on it too.
Dose the machine have a windows sticker on it?

I'm very surprised that a school sold off the computers without wiping the hard drives first.

 

[Soundguy]

they sell them off every year they upgrade, and yeah.. normally you get a blank box that just boots to windows. we have bought them from time to time .. they only charge 25$. we wanted this one because it came with a really nice monitor.. flat panel with hd dv input. that was wortht he 25$ to me. if i can get the puter part working.. bonus...

I'll download one of those iso's at work and burn it. thanks

 

[Soundguy]

ok.. downloaded the nt offline iso.

will work on it this weekend when i get to my usb dvd burner.

i grabbed the file on my netbook... so will update and see what's what later.

One question however.

once i get past that password thing. how do i get the computer to stop trying to log into the school domain each boot?

thanks

 

[aczlan]

One question however.
once i get past that password thing. how do i get the computer to stop trying to log into the school domain each boot?
thanks

See my earlier post:

Once you have a password, I would log in as a local administrator and switch from the domain to a workgroup (see: How to change a computer name, join a domain, and add a computer description in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003 )

Switching to a workgroup will get rid of the domain stuff.

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

thanks, i had missed that part of the post earlier!

 

[Soundguy]

update:

this am before work, I pulled the password jumper off the motherboard so that i could get rid of the bios password so that i could change boot order.

got booted using the cracker cd. there were multiple user account. I changed the admin one to have the blanked password.

i then rebooted the machine.. it then accepted my wifes old password but did complain that the school network was not found.. but then let me to a desktop.

at this point i just have to find out how to get rid of that searching fo rthe school network i guess.

 

[/pine]

What I do with a lot of similar systems is install Linux and set it up as a multi-media system...install a HD tuner card with an HDMI out port and install something like "Myth TV"

MythTV is a collection of software that provides digital video recording functions (PVR or DVR--personal, or digital, video recorder) a computerized VCR, similar to a TiVo or a Replay. It runs under the Linux operating system. Since it's open source software, if you don't like the way it does something, you can always change it that's how much of its current functionality came about in the first place.

In addition to the basic PVR functions of recording and playing back scheduled programs and allowing you to schedule recordings automatically in advance, MythTV has a plugin system that permits it to be extended by other programmers. Plugins currently exist for playing external video, viewing photos, listening to music files, using your TV and a web camera as a video-telephone over the Internet, browsing the web, retrieving current local weather, and many other functions.

 

[MossRoad]

update:

this am before work, I pulled the password jumper off the motherboard so that i could get rid of the bios password so that i could change boot order.

got booted using the cracker cd. there were multiple user account. I changed the admin one to have the blanked password.

i then rebooted the machine.. it then accepted my wifes old password but did complain that the school network was not found.. but then let me to a desktop.

at this point i just have to find out how to get rid of that searching fo rthe school network i guess.

Do you know if it still thinks its a member of the domain instead of a member of the workgroup?
You want it to be a member of the workgroup at home.
If you don't know how to find that or change that, post again and someone will help.

 

[aczlan]

Do you know if it still thinks its a member of the domain instead of a member of the workgroup?

Yes, it still thinks its a member of a domain, thats why his wife's school login still works.

i then rebooted the machine.. it then accepted my wifes old password but did complain that the school network was not found.. but then let me to a desktop.
at this point i just have to find out how to get rid of that searching fo rthe school network i guess.

See the link I posted earlier to switch to from a domain to a workgroup. That will get it to stop looking for the school network.
Short directions to do it:

1. Login as an administrator
2. Right click on My Computer, then click on properties
3. Click on the "Computer Name" tab
4. Click the "Change" button
5. Put a new computer name in the "Computer name" box (optional)
6. Click the "Workgroup" radio button
7. Enter a name in the "Workgroup" text box
8. Click "Ok"
9. Click "Ok"
10. Click "Ok" (or "Yes") when it asks to reboot
11. When it starts back up, login as your admin account
12. Enjoy

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

thanks, quick ( dumb? ) question.. when you say to login as administrator.

does that mean that after i use the wifes school login, i tell it to log that users off and login as another user ( from the start button / shut down menu ) ?

thanks for the help.

I was much better with computers back when stuff had jumpers and belts, and ram came in small DIP packages..

 

[MossRoad]

Try looking at the "properties" mentioned above while logged in as your wife. By some chance she may have permissions to change the computer name.
If not, then you'll have to log on to the computer as the local administrator.