Locked out of Windows XP possibly due to a virus, Safe Mode not helping

[mmcelroy]

Windows XP Home Edition
Service pak 3 (I believe)
HP Pavilion 725n
1GB RAM
70GB HardDrive (with 35GB of free space)
NVidia video card (can't remember version)
AVG free version antivirus (up to date)
No Windows CD
Pretty much the only thing I do on my computer is play Sims2 (way too much) and hang out at Sims2 forums.

Here's what happened:

I had my computer on standby for the night, and everything was fine prior to that.  In the morning when I brought up my desktop, everything on the desktop was highlighted.  I right clicked in an open area to unhighlight everything, but instead, all the files and folders on my desktop started opening.  I couldn't stop them, and I had dozens of folders and subfolders opened on my desktop in rapid succession.

I started running my antivirus program (AVG free edition last updated on Dec 21st).  It ran for 3 hours, finding no viruses, but a ton of spyware. 
It stopped before finishing, and I got a text box saying that my computer was going to restart.  I didn't want that yet, but clicking 'no' didn't work, and my computer rebooted itself. 
When my computer came back on it asked for my login password as usual, but my password was not accepted.  I repeatedly tried my password, but it would not work. 

I restarted in Safe Mode, and my room mate (who knows more about computers than I do), tried to change or remove the password so that I could get in, but that did not work. 

I don't have a Windows disk (stupidly lost it during a move).  So I don't have a way to reformat, and no money to pay anyone to do it.

Is there anything I can do myself to get into my computer, or am I S.O.L.?


THANKS for any help. 

Marilyn

[DaveLembke]

If you have access to a CD or DVD Burner you can use a password reset tool that is free to download and Linux based to get back into your computer if the system  password was screwed up. As far as correcting for this problem you will need to get an OEM Windows XP CD to fix this. It can be a friends etc, but you have to use YOUR KEY to activate the build to avoid piracy. If you dont play video games etc, you can switch to Linux for FREE. I use a Live Distro of Linux to surf the web etc and never get infected because its a read-only OS that runs direct from disk to ram.