FAQ: How do I set/change my administrative passwords on Windows XP?
| To have full access to set all administrator account passwords, you'll need to start your computer in Safe Mode. To do so: 1. Press the power button on your computer to start it. 2. As soon as you see that your computer has powered on, begin pressing the "F8" key. 3. You should be prompted with a screen that includes several options. Near the top of the screen, you should see "Safe Mode" or "Safe Mode with Network Support". 4. Press the Up or Down arrows to select "Safe Mode with Network Support". 5. Press Enter. Once you have started Windows in Safe Mode: 1. Click the "Start" button. 2. Go to "Settings" then click "Control Panel" OR just click on "Control Panel"; depending on how your computer is configured. The following steps are based on the Classic View in Windows XP Professional. To see which view is used on your computer, you can look on the left side of the window. If it says "Switch to Classic View", you are in Category View. Also, if the windows displays "Pick a Category", you are in Category View. If it says "Switch to Category View", you are in Classic View. 3. Double-click on the User Accounts icon. 4. Under "Pick a task", click on "Change an account." 5. Click on the account you would like to change the password for. (Underneath the name of the account, it should say "Computer Administrator".) 6. Click either "Change my password" or "Create a password." (If creating a password, skip step 7) 7. Type in your current password. 8. Type in a new password. Note: We recommend using a combination of letters and numbers or characters to make your password more difficult for another user to guess or hack. In addition, we recommend that administrator passwords be 15 characters or more. 9. Type the new password again to confirm. If you choose a password that you may not be able to remember easily, we recommend entering a password hint in the appropriate box. If you choose to write it down, be sure you keep it in a safe place. 10. Click "Change Password" or "Create Password." Make sure ALL accounts have passwords that are difficult to guess. | |
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