[aklug] Re: Windows question: this account is locked

Christopher Howard wrote:
> Hate to ask Windows questions on a LUG, but it's kind of an emergency
> and all the Windows techies are out on vacation. I need to change the
> password on a Windows XP box. (It's part of a larger system that must
> have sync'd passwords on all boxes.)
>
> The account I need to change is the only Administrator account on the
> system. I tried to change it last Friday: Windows let me go through the
> entire password change procedure, even up to entering the new password
> twice. But then it tells me "Windows cannot change this password because
> the account is locked." (Or something fairly close to that.)
>
> I thought maybe the wrong password had been entered too many times, and
> that the account was on some kind of timed lock-out. However, I left it
> alone the entire week-end and today I still cannot change the password.
> (Same error.)
>
> I have been looking through the registry (the system automatically logs
> into this account on startup) but I am not sure how to edit the reg. to
> allow me to change the password on the account.

Server or workstation? Or more precisely, can you reboot it? If nobody
else is on it, I'd do a reboot which should close any open sessions if
that's what has the lock.

It sounds like you can log in as administrator - just not change the
password. Is that right? And you're trying to change the local
administrator (not the domain administrator)?

If you can get in as an admin, I'd create a 2nd admin account, log in as
that and then try to manipulate the account.

...Kevin

-- 
Kevin Miller
Juneau, Alaska
http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
In a recent poll, seven out of ten hard drives preferred Linux.
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