Stuck in Safe Boot

[Cade187]

ok, I was looking at a computer for a friend, using windows xp pro, and I wanted to restarted the computer into safe mode, and I was already in the msconfig, so to save time, I went to the boot.ini tab and selected safe boot.

well, here's the problem, when attempting to log into safe mode, it has the manual log in screen where you must type both username and password, for some reason it will not except the username and password when attempting to log into safe mode. However, since I've selected safe boot from boot.ini, I can no longer restart using any of the other windows functions from the windows start menu. I tried typing the username as: Administrator and not using a password, but it would not except that also. So now the computer can only boot to safe mode log in screen. It can also reach the bios. That is all. If necessary I can get a windows 98/me boot disk, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can break this cycle and disable safe boot without the correct username/password? I'm really stuck here.

I've enabled email notification, so if anyone has any suggestions, please post them, thanks.

- Lester

[emr]

ok, I was looking at a computer for a friend, using windows xp pro, and I wanted to restarted the computer into safe mode, and I was already in the msconfig, so to save time, I went to the boot.ini tab and selected safe boot.

well, here's the problem, when attempting to log into safe mode, it has the manual log in screen where you must type both username and password, for some reason it will not except the username and password when attempting to log into safe mode. However, since I've selected safe boot from boot.ini, I can no longer restart using any of the other windows functions from the windows start menu. I tried typing the username as: Administrator and not using a password, but it would not except that also. So now the computer can only boot to safe mode log in screen. It can also reach the bios. That is all. If necessary I can get a windows 98/me boot disk, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can break this cycle and disable safe boot without the correct username/password? I'm really stuck here.

I've enabled email notification, so if anyone has any suggestions, please post them, thanks.

- Lester
If you have no way of getting in via a known user name and password try Ultimate Boot CD http://ubcd.sourceforge.net (http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/)

You can reset the admin password with this.

Be cautious with this! It is pretty powerful and as always you should make sure you have back ups before hand.

If you are unsure how to use this let us know.

emr

[Cade187]

hey, thanks.

I was looking at the features of this disk, and what functions would I use to reset an admin password with this?

actually, another question, is there anyway around safeboot once enabled? is there any way to force the computer to boot normally? i tried using f8 and selecting start windows normally, however it still boot to safe mode.

again, any help is appreciated. thanks.

- Lester

[emr]

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

Some FAQ here.

I am not being doubtful of your abilities but could you give us an idea of your tech abilities? This is really for more advanced users and you could end up wrecking the system if you are not sure how to use it.

Just thought of something that may be easier, if you press F8 at startup do you receive a boot screen where you can select which mode to boot to?
Should have thought of that first but hey, it's early morning here so the brain is just kicking in! http://forums.windrivers.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

This may allow you to select normal boot.

emr

[Cade187]

lol, i would describe myself as above intermediate, I've done over the phone tech support for hewlitt packard and msn in the past.

yes i checked all boot options using f8, and aslong as safeboot is enabled it will not allow the computer to boot to windows normally. I also tried the option for booting to the last known good configuration, and it appeared to load to a system restore point, but after the process was complete it would still only boot to safe mode.

[emr]

Ok, does your friend have back ups?

Try the UBCD using the FAQ link that I posted before. Unless you want to wait a few hours and see if anyone else comes up with an easier / better idea.

emr

[Cade187]

ooops, never noticed the link you posted for the faq, lol. Alright I will read through that and give it a try, thanks.

- Lester

[Cade187]

ok, here's a big problem, its a toshiba laptop, and it doesnt have a floppy disk drive.

does anyone else have any suggestions that do not requikre the use of a floppy disk?

[merlinsghost]

Is the drive's file system NTFS or FAT32?

If it's FAT32, I'd suggest booting into DOS with a bootable CD (98/98se, etc) to re-edit the boot.ini file.

If it doesn't accept your username/password, make sure capslock isn't on, and make sure your spelling of "administrator" is right. Ask your friend for the administrator's password if null doesn't work. It's possible one was put on during Windows setup. /shrug

Good luck.

Oh, you can also try using the Windows Recovery Consol.

[Cade187]

yeah i probably should have stated this earlier, but the file system is NTFS.

I do however have a windows recovery console built into my copy of XP. but i don't think any functions on that would help me, what am I looking for on there?

oh, also, i've attempted password entry easily a hundred times using both the actual username and password, and administrator, so user error can be ruled out, and ive also asked my friend if he had an administrator password put on and he said no.

[merlinsghost]

Using the recovery console may not work for you since it prompts you for the administrator password.

But, on the off chance that it does...

The recovery consol is basically a specialized command prompt.

To edit the boot.ini, enter "bootcfg" at the prompt and edit as necessary (mind you, I haven't done this in a while so my memory may be shotty).

Here is a list of most of the commands and their function(s):

Attrib changes attributes on one file or subdirectory.

Batch executes commands that you specify in the text file, Inputfile. Outputfile holds the output of the commands. If you omit the Outputfile parameter, output appears on the screen.

Bootcfg modifies the Boot.ini file for boot configuration and recovery.
CD (Chdir) operates only in the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.

Chkdsk The /p switch runs Chkdsk even if the drive is not flagged as dirty. The /r switch locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. This switch implies /p. Chkdsk requires Autochk. Chkdsk automatically looks for Autochk.exe in the startup folder. If Chkdsk cannot find the file in the startup folder, it looks for the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM. If Chkdsk cannot find the installation CD-ROM, Chkdsk prompts the user for the location of Autochk.exe.

Cls clears the screen.

Copy copies one file to a target location. By default, the target cannot be removable media, and you cannot use wildcard characters. Copying a compressed file from the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM automatically decompresses the file.

Del (Delete) deletes one file. Operates within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources. By default, you cannot use wildcard characters.

Dir displays a list of all files, including hidden and system files.

Disable disables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver is the name of the service or driver that you want to disable. When you use this command to disable a service, the command displays the service's original startup type before it changes the type to SERVICE_DISABLED. Note the original startup type so that you can use the enable command to restart the service.

Diskpart manages partitions on hard disk volumes. The /add option creates a new partition. The /delete option deletes an existing partition. The variable device is the device name for a new partition (such as \device\harddisk0). The variable drive is the drive letter for a partition that you are deleting (for example, D). Partition is the partition-based name for a partition that you are deleting, (for example: \device\harddisk0\partition1) and can be used instead of the drive variable. The variable size is the size, in megabytes, of a new partition.

Enable enables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver is the name of the service or driver that you want to enable, and start_type is the startup type for an enabled service. The startup type uses one of the following formats:
SERVICE_BOOT_START
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START
SERVICE_AUTO_START
SERVICE_DEMAND_START


Exit quits the Recovery Console, and then restarts the computer.

Expand expands a compressed file. The variable source is the file that you want to expand. By default, you cannot use wildcard characters. The variable destination is the directory for the new file. By default, the destination cannot be removable media and cannot be read-only. You can use the attrib command to remove the read-only attribute from the destination directory. The option /f:filespec is required if the source contains more than one file. This option permits wildcard characters. The /y switch disables the overwrite confirmation prompt. The /d switch specifies that the files will not be expanded and displays a directory of the files in the source.

Fixboot writes a new startup sector on the system partition.

Fixmbr repairs the startup partition's master boot code. The variable device is an optional name that specifies the device that requires a new Master Boot Record. Omit this variable when the target is the startup device.

Format formats a disk. The /q switch performs a quick format. The /fs switch specifies the file system.

Help If you do not use the command variable to specify a command, help lists all the commands that the Recovery Console supports.

Listsvc displays all available services and drivers on the computer.

Logon displays detected installations of Windows and requests the local
Administrator password for those installations. Use this command to move to another installation or subdirectory.

Map displays currently active device mappings. Include the arc option to specify the use of Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) paths (the format for Boot.ini) instead of Windows device paths.

MD (Mkdir) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.

More/Type displays the specified text file on screen.

Net Use connects to a remote share for the Windows XP Recovery Console. The following text describes the syntax for this command:NET USE [devicename | *] [\\computername\sharename[\volume] [password | *]]
[/USER:[domainname\]username]
[/USER:[dotted domain name\]username]
[/USER:[username@dotted domain name]
[/SMARTCARD]
[/SAVECRED]
[[/DELETE] | [/PERSISTENT:{YES | NO}]]

NET USE {devicename | *} [password | *] /HOME

NET USE [/PERSISTENT:{YES | NO}]

Rd (Rmdir) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.

Ren (Rename) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources. You cannot specify a new drive or path as the target.

Set displays and sets the Recovery Console environment variables.

Systemroot sets the current directory to %SystemRoot%.


Recovery Console rules:
Several environment rules are in effect while you are working in the Recovery Console. Type set to see the current environment. By default, these are the rules:

AllowAllPaths = FALSE prevents access to directories and subdirectories outside the system installation that you selected when you entered the Recovery Console.

AllowRemovableMedia = FALSE prevents access to removable media as a target for copied files.
AllowWildCards = FALSE prevents wildcard support for commands such as copy and del.

NoCopyPrompt = FALSE means that you are prompted by the Recovery Console for confirmation when overwriting an existing file.

Hope that helps. And good luck.

Edited to add: To make recovery console more powerful, see the following link:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310497

[Cade187]

ok, and the plot thickens, this is a laptop computer that my friend, who is home visitting canada from the united states, was given from work so he could do work and updates from home. as it would seem, they installed it and included an administrator password. they will not release the admin password, and told him to bring it to them and they will reset the logins. the problem is he has a bunch of family photos for everyone on this computer, and that is why he brought it home.

so, i wasnt able to get into the recovery console... however, i've found a windows 98 boot disk that i can copy to cd, and I am going to try to edit the boot.ini that way.

[merlinsghost]

I could be wrong (darn memory), but the drive will need to be FAT32 for you to be able to see it in DOS (thus the existance of the recovery console).

[Cade187]

ok, so i tried using the nero option to record a bootable cd rom, when i tried booting with this cd, it told me that hal.dll is missing or corrupt, which is untrue, because the computer is booting fine.

i also tried downloading a generic windows 98 boot disk *.exe file from bootdisk.com, however, when i tried booting with this disk, it said invalid media type.

[freddy]

ok, and the plot thickens, this is a laptop computer that my friend, who is home visitting canada from the united states, was given from work so he could do work and updates from home. as it would seem, they installed it and included an administrator password. they will not release the admin password, and told him to bring it to them and they will reset the logins. the problem is he has a bunch of family photos for everyone on this computer, and that is why he brought it home.

so, i wasnt able to get into the recovery console... however, i've found a windows 98 boot disk that i can copy to cd, and I am going to try to edit the boot.ini that way.

ok , if they are being funny with him , pick up a laptop=ide connecror ,,,local shop/ebay ,,,,copy yer files over ,,then hand it in ,,,for them to sort out although why they won,t give the password ,,is beyond me,,

[edball]

ok , if they are being funny with him , pick up a laptop=ide connecror ,,,local shop/ebay ,,,,copy yer files over ,,then hand it in ,,,for them to sort out although why they won,t give the password ,,is beyond me,,
I wouldn't have given it to them either. http://forums.windrivers.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Cade187]

does anyone know where i can download a good bootable cd rom that will work with ntfs and allow me to edit the boot.ini file? and also does not require an admin password.

[emr]

does anyone know where i can download a good bootable cd rom that will work with ntfs and allow me to edit the boot.ini file? and also does not require an admin password.

Yip, the one I posted yesterday. Has an Dos NTFS reader on it too.

[Cade187]

ok thanks again, will try it in the morning :thumbs:

[emr]

ok thanks again, will try it in the morning :thumbs:

Just noticed your earlier post stating that it is a company laptop. If the tech department of your friends company won't give out the admin password then they will not be happy with someone messing around changing password's, etc.

I would be very careful doing anything on the laptop as it may cause problems for your friend at work afterwards!

[Cade187]

alright, ive been away for 2 days, so ive only just been able to try this, i can't create the bootable cd rom, even when i tried downloading just the iso file it will not work as a bootable device.

at risk of sounding stupid, lol, think someone could explain to me what im doing wrong, and what i should be doing to make a bootable cd rom?

oh, and im not trying to change the password at this point, im trying to boot to a dos or command prompt from cd, so i can edit the boot.ini file manually. i have no intentions on changing the admin password.

[NooNoo]

Did you check the cd on another machine?
Is the laptop set to boot from cd rom first?
Did you press a key when it says "press a key to boot from cd rom"?