New Computer, cant log in

[jkyb]

i just bought a new dell computer from some guy on the net. its an incredibly good computer with one problem. i cant log in. the previous owner had one account (password protected) and also had a password for the admin profile. i have already tried to contact him but so far its been a few days and no luck.

i would like to erase everything that is on the HD and install XP Pro, so loosing information is not important to me. i have tried booting into safe mode but no luck there. any help would be great thanks!

i believe XP Pro is on the system btw

[GX1_Man]

i just bought a [highlight]new[/highlight] dell computer from some guy on the net. its an incredibly good computer with one problem. i cant log in. the [highlight]previous owner [/highlight]had one account

If it was not sold with the CD and the COA you do not have a legal copy of XP under the Microsoft licensing scheme. If it fails the WGA test then you will be SOL in other areas very soon.

Was it sold with a legal version of XP to be included? If so, Microsoft has restrictions on that. Did it mention specifically what was included, or did you assume.

If it was sold and just happened to have some copy of XP on there, you should invest in a legal CD. You will need that CD sooner or later. Buying something from "some guy on the net" with these limitations sounds like pirated software.

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/default.mspx

If you buy a new copy of XP you can easily format the drive and install it regardless of any Windows passwords currently in place.

If you are talking about a BIOS password, that is another matter. Perhaps you could elaborate on this and if this is a desktop or laptop.

[jkyb]

the CD was not included,and i was assuming. i will "invest" in a legal CD, i thought there was some magical way i could revert it to the way it was "out of the box".  when i get the copy of Pro, do i just insert the disk in..safe mode? or what? its a dell XPS desktop

sorry i am not that computer savy

[GX1_Man]

Just insert the CD and start the machine. You will see a message that say "Press any key to boot from CD".

Just press your Any key, and follow the prompts.

Be sure and choose to format the drive when installing.  

[jkyb]

thanks!
 

[GX1_Man]

Let us know if you have any problems with that, but it's pretty self explanatory.

Are you planning to get an XP Upgrade package? If so do you have a Windows CD from a previous version to qualify? If not, you will need an OEM package or the full (expen$ive) version.