Locked out of laptop

[andrewm1]

Hi all i have a small problem my mother's laptop wont let her log in all of a sudden after using the same password for 4 years she said it doesn't recognize the p/word??
I will be picking it up in about half an hour to have a look. somewhere on this site i downloaded a file that erases passwords on boot up from a cd will this work ??
The laptop is an hp (i think) with W7 it wont be ultimate as she purchased it from a store

 

[alphanumeric]

I'd do the usual first, make sure caps lock is not on or that some other keyboard function hasn't switched a character on a button.

 

[MilesAhead]

I'd do the usual first, make sure caps lock is not on or that some other keyboard function hasn't switched a character on a button.

+1. The main thing to do is not to panic. Just work at resolving it using the least destructive options first.

 

[andrewm1]

Thanks ok now how will i get around this as it's a HP G61 with W7 home premium

 

[andrewm1]

Right i managed to get into it in safe mode i removed the admin password (user acc) rebooted it but it still is asking for the password on start up ??

 

[d00p98uy]

have you pressed enter without typing anything?

 

[gregrocker]

Try enabling the hidden Built-in Admin to access User Accounts in Control Panel, remove her password there. Built-in Administrator Account - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Forums How to Enable or Disable the Windows 7 Built-in Administrator Account
Built-in Administrator - Enable from WinRE - Windows 7 Forums How to Enable the Built-in Administrator Account from WinRE

If this fails copy her data over to a new account you create and set up, then delete the old failed account while saving its files to desktop just to be sure. User Account - Create - Windows 7 Help Forums Then hide the Built in Admin again.

 

[andrewm1]

Fixed up i did a system restore in safe mode. From what it looks like she did a Microsoft critical update yesterday then she obviously shut it down when she was finished using the pc and since then she couldn't log back on. I think that maybe the update stuffed it up a bit.( not to sure still a newbie at this )
But thanks guys for your help this site truly does rock

 

[gregrocker]

Glad to hear it, Andrew. Good work!

I'd go over these steps to Clean Up Factory Bloatware to improve performance some from the corrupt Acer preinstalled Win7. Even at its best it's one of the worst installs of Win7 one can have.

Maybe you'd even feel up to doing the vastly superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 while we're here to help you.

 

[andrewm1]

Thanks that's something i would defiantly do .But as it's not my laptop and i did tell her i would not change anything as she likes it the way it is so i think i'll pass on that one
But thank you anyway