Rescuing laptop

Ken Ibold

Ken Ibold

Final Approach
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Feb 21, 2005
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Display name:
Ken Ibold
I posted this before, but then life intervened and I didn't address the problem. The post has since vanished.

I have a Dell Lattitude laptop that was given to me by a guy who closed his business. The hardware works fine, but I can't get access to the contents anymore. It's running Windows 2000 Professional. Once upon a time he gave me a password that went to the default user name, but I don't remember it and neither does he. I can't log on as an administrator because that info is also long gone. I would like to simply start over and put Windows XP on it, but I can't get access to the hard drive.

This would be a spare/travel laptop, and so I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on it, but I'm willing to spend some if I need to get a new (blank) hard drive or something.

How would I go about returning this device to usefulness? I have an original Windows XP disk. I have some Dell recovery disks from other laptops. I'm not super tech savvy, but I am somewhat capable.

Any suggestions?
 
Replacing the existing HD with a new one would be an easy step. But, is the XP software you have from a hardware manufacturer or from a purchased box set? The OS installation/recovery disk sets from a hardware manufacturer are usually designed to install on only a specific model or set of models with specific firmware installed. That would likely rule out the other Dell recovery disk you have unless they are the same model.

You might consider replacing the HD then ordering the recovery disk set from Dell. Often, they are pretty cheap. A couple manufacturers list them as free then charge for shipping; $15-20.
 
Find a local tech who has the "Locksmith" application (part of the old, now-defunct ERD) and reset the admin password.

(Or just mail the thing to me and I'll do it for you.)

-Rich
 
Ken,

As long as you don't mind loosing all the data on the computer and start from scratch you can do the following:

Put the Win XP CD in and boot from the CD. You might have to go into you BIOS settings to enable booting from CD or to move it up higher than your hard drive in the boot order.

Then you should be able to install Win XP in it's place. I would do a clean install meaning to delete and format the hard drive prior to installation. (the setup utility will guide you through this.)
 
You should be able to boot it from your XP CD and then do an install that wipes the drive and leaves you with a fresh new system ready to set up and customize. It would be best if you had the recovery/system disks that came with the computer because they'll have all the drivers and apps you might need on them already. If not, you'll have to go scrounging around for drivers from the various OEM web sites.
 
Ken--How much do you want to learn? If you don't want to bother with learning a bunch of crap just ship the laptop to me and I can either reset the password for you or install Windows XP for you with your disks. No charge.
 
Turns out the XP disk I have is just an upgrade disk and won't boot it. (I'd not thought of changing the boot order in the bios, but that's done.) The Dell recovery disks do not boot it, either.

If I get one of you kind souls to unlock the admin functions, will the XP Home edition upgrade disk work on Windows 2000 Pro, or will I need a juicier version of XP? The computer doesn't have the horsepower to run Vista. To boot it from an XP disk I need the full new install disks, which I'm guessing they might not sell any more.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Turns out the XP disk I have is just an upgrade disk and won't boot it. (I'd not thought of changing the boot order in the bios, but that's done.) The Dell recovery disks do not boot it, either.

If I get one of you kind souls to unlock the admin functions, will the XP Home edition upgrade disk work on Windows 2000 Pro, or will I need a juicier version of XP? The computer doesn't have the horsepower to run Vista. To boot it from an XP disk I need the full new install disks, which I'm guessing they might not sell any more.
Click to expand...

Every XP Ugrade disk I ever used was bootable. Once it boots, it gives you the choice between an upgrade and a full install, once it recognizes that an eligible version of Windows is installed on the HD (except for WinMe, which it never seems to recognize, for some reason). The fact that it won't boot from the Dell restore disk either suggests a problem with the CD drive.

Officially, the upgrade path from Win2K was to XP Professional, but I think it would also work with XP Home. I really don't recall for sure, so I won't swear to it. In any case, you could install from the upgrade disk to a blank hard drive if you wanted to by just inserting the CD from an earlier version of Windows in the drive when prompted.

I think your biggest problem (other than activation, if you don't have the key) will be drivers, although Dell's pretty good about keeping old drivers on the Web site. Just download them to a flash drive using another computer.

If it won't boot from the CD drive, then it won't boot from ERD to reset the password. Does it have a working floppy drive?

-Rich

EDIT: If you can get it to boot from the CD, it might make a nice Linux machine. Ubuntu is a joy.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Turns out the XP disk I have is just an upgrade disk and won't boot it. (I'd not thought of changing the boot order in the bios, but that's done.) The Dell recovery disks do not boot it, either.

If I get one of you kind souls to unlock the admin functions, will the XP Home edition upgrade disk work on Windows 2000 Pro, or will I need a juicier version of XP? The computer doesn't have the horsepower to run Vista. To boot it from an XP disk I need the full new install disks, which I'm guessing they might not sell any more.
Click to expand...
An upgrade disk should boot. You can do a full install from one--it'll just ask to see a previous Windows CD during the installation.

It really shouldn't be too big of a deal to get a full install from that upgrade disk. Just send the disk and key with it.
 
On another machine, go to grc.com and purchase Spinrite for $89.
Make a bootable CD and run it on the laptop to determine the condition of the existing HD.
 
john smith said:
On another machine, go to grc.com and purchase Spinrite for $89.
Make a bootable CD and run it on the laptop to determine the condition of the existing HD.
Click to expand...
Sorry--but you can buy a new hard drive for less money then that....Not worth it for a one off job.
 
Yes, but you can use it on this and other machines to prevent, detect and repair current or future problems.
 
john smith said:
Yes, but you can use it on this and other machines to prevent, detect and repair current or future problems.
Click to expand...
Maybe so. Ken is not exactly looking to open a computer repair shop. I've never understood the fascination with trying to save hard drives. They are a critical component that is cheap to replace.
 
jesse said:
Maybe so. Ken is not exactly looking to open a computer repair shop. I've never understood the fascination with trying to save hard drives. They are a critical component that is cheap to replace.
Click to expand...

True, however depending upon your backup strategy, the data contained on a HDD may be priceless.
 
john smith said:
True, however depending upon your backup strategy, the data contained on a HDD may be priceless.
Click to expand...

Sure. But if the data is priceless I'm not sure relying on 'hard drive repair software' is the best strategy.
 
The WinXP CD should boot. Even the upgrade CDs will boot, and moreover, unlike Jesse, I've never seen a Windows CD after Win98 ask for the old CD during the installation, even for an Upgrade CD. If it is not booting, try the obvious stuff first:

Clean the CD, with a soft cloth, using center to outside swipes
Check to make sure the BIOS has "Boot from CD" before "Boot from 1st HDD"
When it says "PRESS ENTER TO BOOT FROM CD" make sure you press enter.

If it still doesn't boot, try downloading a bootable disk of some sort to see if the CD ROM drive will boot any disks. You can a nice small one here:

http://www.freedos.org/freedos/files/

If that doesn't start either, then we're looking at a bigger problem.

If it does, it could be something wrong with the CDROM.
 
SkyHog said:
The WinXP CD should boot. Even the upgrade CDs will boot, and moreover, unlike Jesse, I've never seen a Windows CD after Win98 ask for the old CD during the installation, even for an Upgrade CD.
Click to expand...
Nick--a Windows XP Upgrade CD *will* ask for the old CD *IF* there is no operating system installed on the hard drive. I used to do this *all* day long and it is something I know very well. I spent too many years installing Windows and working closely with Microsoft as an OEM partner that bought many many thousands of licenses per year.

You're confusing what I said. *IF* you have windows pre-installed it will not ask for the cd as it will find it on the hard drive. What most people don't know is that you can install an upgrade as a full installation with a completely blank hard drive provided you can produce an older Windows CD.

Upgrading Windows is generally just a bad idea. It is best to just format the drive and install the upgrade as a full installation which can be done by booting the upgrade CD and producing a previous version of Windows during installation.

Basically:
if($previous_windows=='installed') {
permit_os_upgrade();
} else {
ask_user_for_previous_windows_cd();
}
 
Last edited:
Presuming the CD ROM is working, you might as well replace the hard drive with a new, larger one. But if the CD ROM isn't working, you might want to borrow a USB CD ROM from someone rather than buying a new one. You could also set up a bootable USB running Tom's Boot Disk or something similar to check out the CD ROM drive.
 
jesse said:
...

Basically:
if($previous_windows=='installed') {
permit_os_upgrade();
} else {
ask_user_for_previous_windows_cd();
}
Click to expand...

Yeahbut, AFAIK, its

Code: 
if(EXISTS "C:\WINDOWS\*.*") {
SET $previous_windows='installed')
}

if($previous_windows=='installed') {
   permit_os_upgrade();
} else {
   ask_user_for_previous_windows_cd();
}

In other words you can fake it out by creating and copying files to the directory first.
 
mikea said:
Yeahbut, AFAIK, its

if(EXISTS "C:\WINDOWS\*.*") {
SET $previous_windows='installed')
}

f($previous_windows=='installed') {
permit_os_upgrade();
} else {
ask_user_for_previous_windows_cd();
}
Click to expand...

In other words you can fake it out by creating and copying files to the directory first.[/quote]
Sure. But you get the best install by just doing a full installation with the upgrade CD and presenting an older Windows CD during the installation. It works just like a full install that way and you can have the installer format the entire drive.
 
jesse said:
In other words you can fake it out by creating and copying files to the directory first.
Click to expand...
Sure. But you get the best install by just doing a full installation with the upgrade CD and presenting an older Windows CD during the installation. It works just like a full install that way and you can have the installer format the entire drive.[/QUOTE]

You can format the drive and just populate C:\WINDOWS, do a full upgrade and be in the same place...it's not like XP uses anything it finds there.

I'm just suggesting this because it's unlikely I'd have the other Windows CD (Besudes, it would be a an OEM restore CD, too.)
 
mikea said:
You can format the drive and just populate C:\WINDOWS, do a full upgrade and be in the same place...it's not like XP uses anything it finds there.

I'm just suggesting this because it's unlikely I'd have the other Windows CD (Besudes, it would be a an OEM restore CD, too.)
Click to expand...

Well--Ken said he had one--which is why I was suggesting the best way for him to do it..since this is his thread and all.

(It can be Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000) You can also do Windows NT Workstation 4.0 if you're installing XP Pro.
 
jesse said:
Nick--a Windows XP Upgrade CD *will* ask for the old CD *IF* there is no operating system installed on the hard drive. I used to do this *all* day long and it is something I know very well. I spent too many years installing Windows and working closely with Microsoft as an OEM partner that bought many many thousands of licenses per year.

You're confusing what I said. *IF* you have windows pre-installed it will not ask for the cd as it will find it on the hard drive. What most people don't know is that you can install an upgrade as a full installation with a completely blank hard drive provided you can produce an older Windows CD.

Upgrading Windows is generally just a bad idea. It is best to just format the drive and install the upgrade as a full installation which can be done by booting the upgrade CD and producing a previous version of Windows during installation.

Basically:
if($previous_windows=='installed') {
permit_os_upgrade();
} else {
ask_user_for_previous_windows_cd();
}
Click to expand...

I have never seen that with Windows XP. I'm not calling you a liar, simply saying that IME, this has only happened in Windows 95/98 (never tried a Win2K upgrade).

The Upgrade CD I have at home just asks if its an upgrade or new install, even with a new hard drive, and then installs when you choose "upgrade" and then "a clean copy"
 
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