Reinstalling XP on 2nd hand laptop

kopper

Hi
i have bought a Toshiba Portege R500 laptop from a car boot sale and am trying to wipe it and reinstall it with Win XP. The prob is that it already has XP Pro on it and is asking for a windows password which I dont have.

I have tried changing the boot sequence to CD and tried booting it with a XP CD but its just not giving me the option to reinstall windows and just goes back to the Windows logon screen.

Is there an easier way to wipe this laptop and install XP?
Thanks

mclmsn

If XP has been installed by the manufacturer they usually store a copy of windows on the hard drive, if a re-install is needed. Here is a link you can hopefully use to re-install if this is the case, just make sure you know what the product key is (hopefully somewhere on the laptop)

http://www.wikihow.com/Reinstall-Windows-XP-Without-the-CD

hth

edited to add, you could always look on the Toshiba website on how to do a factory reset

kopper

mclmsn wrote: »

If XP has been installed by the manufacturer they usually store a copy of windows on the hard drive, if a re-install is needed. Here is a link you can hopefully use to re-install if this is the case, just make sure you know what the product key is (hopefully somewhere on the laptop)

http://www.wikihow.com/Reinstall-Windows-XP-Without-the-CD

hth

edited to add, you could always look on the Toshiba website on how to do a factory reset

The problem is I cannot log into Windows as I dont have the admin windows password. The only way it seems appear to be to create a boot up cd but where and how I dont know.
Thanks

Norman_Castle

Have you tried admin or administrator as the password

Browntoa

this boot cd enables you to reset Xp passwords (well clear them ) inclduing the admin

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

you can purchase restore CD's direct from toshiba for £30

kopper

Still no joy
It appears none of the isos files are booting from cd.
My only option appear to be booting from usb but struggling to burn an iso onto usb to make it bootable

Norman_Castle

I had a similar xp laptop, using admin or administrator as the admin password and leaving the other password blank worked . I think this is the default setting when the passwords have never been changed. Google told me to do it!.

closed

If you can see the iso file on the cd, you have created the cd incorrectly, try imgburn to create the cd, write image file to disc option.

Some machines require either a bios setting to be changed to force cd boot first, or pressing a button at boot, usually F12.

Does it have a COA sticker on it, and is it for XP Pro? If so, check to see if a factory restore option is available for the machine.

kopper

closed wrote: »

If you can see the iso file on the cd, you have created the cd incorrectly, try imgburn to create the cd, write image file to disc option.

Some machines require either a bios setting to be changed to force cd boot first, or pressing a button at boot, usually F12.

Does it have a COA sticker on it, and is it for XP Pro? If so, check to see if a factory restore option is available for the machine.

I am using a software called OPH Crack to see if I can at least crack the password. I changed the BIOS to boot up from CD first but its still not reading the CD and just boots up to the Win Pro logon screen even though the CD lights flashes.

Is there a way to just format the HD before Windows boots up. I just want to wipe it clean before installing a fresh copy of Windows XP.

KillerWatt

If it isn't booting from a disc that you know is bootable, and you are sure the first boot device is CD/DVD, then either the monitor isn't springing to life quickly enough for you to see the "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD" message - or your CD/DVD drive is shagged.

GunJack

DBAN ??? Hiren's Boot CD has DBAN on it along with password find/reset progs

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/