User profile erased erroneously !!! How get data back ???

Hi,

my sister has deleted a user profile on her daughetr's laptop under XP (
using config panel -> users -> delete user "daughter-name"). Now that was the
only user on that pc except Windows own ones.
But !! no one knows pasword for user Administrator ! So cannot log onto pc
now.
Is there a default one that she could try ?

If no, how can she get back to that pc and gain access to the data ? As far
as I know these data are not encrypted in any way by windows, but are almost
surely stored in the c:\.....\daughter-name\.... folders.

Any help more than greatly appreciated ! I live in 250 km distance from her,
so can only tele-help, so concise and clear instructions needed since she is
absoluteley not computer litterate ( she only wanted to automatically log
onto the computer !!!)

TIA TIA for help !

"Phil" <Phil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news06A3804-16CB-407E-AC1C-8F8A120C9B2E@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> my sister has deleted a user profile on her daughetr's laptop under XP (
> using config panel -> users -> delete user "daughter-name"). Now that was
> the
> only user on that pc except Windows own ones.
> But !! no one knows pasword for user Administrator ! So cannot log onto pc
> now.
> Is there a default one that she could try ?
>
> If no, how can she get back to that pc and gain access to the data ? As
> far
> as I know these data are not encrypted in any way by windows, but are
> almost
> surely stored in the c:\.....\daughter-name\.... folders.
>
> Any help more than greatly appreciated ! I live in 250 km distance from
> her,
> so can only tele-help, so concise and clear instructions needed since she
> is
> absoluteley not computer litterate ( she only wanted to automatically log
> onto the computer !!!)
>
> TIA TIA for help !
>

By default the built in administrator account password is blank (as in no
password).

"Merlin" <Merlin@noway.com> wrote in message
news:usQ5V%23XsHHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>
> "Phil" <Phil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news06A3804-16CB-407E-AC1C-8F8A120C9B2E@microsoft.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> my sister has deleted a user profile on her daughetr's laptop under XP (
>> using config panel -> users -> delete user "daughter-name"). Now that was
>> the
>> only user on that pc except Windows own ones.
>> But !! no one knows pasword for user Administrator ! So cannot log onto
>> pc
>> now.
>> Is there a default one that she could try ?
>>
>> If no, how can she get back to that pc and gain access to the data ? As
>> far
>> as I know these data are not encrypted in any way by windows, but are
>> almost
>> surely stored in the c:\.....\daughter-name\.... folders.
>>
>> Any help more than greatly appreciated ! I live in 250 km distance from
>> her,
>> so can only tele-help, so concise and clear instructions needed since she
>> is
>> absoluteley not computer litterate ( she only wanted to automatically log
>> onto the computer !!!)
>>
>> TIA TIA for help !
>>
>
> By default the built in administrator account password is blank (as in no
> password).

.... but if an administrator password has been set, then simply delete it.

to do this you need to visit

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordah/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

This provides you with an image of a bootable CD (that you need to create on
another machine).

Boot it on your laptop, and follow the prompts (delete the password, don't
attempt to create another one - it won't work).

"Phil" <Phil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> Hi,
>
> my sister has deleted a user profile on her daughetr's laptop under XP (
> using config panel -> users -> delete user "daughter-name"). Now that was
> the
> only user on that pc except Windows own ones.
> But !! no one knows pasword for user Administrator ! So cannot log onto pc
> now.
> Is there a default one that she could try ?
>
> If no, how can she get back to that pc and gain access to the data ? As
> far
> as I know these data are not encrypted in any way by windows, but are
> almost
> surely stored in the c:\.....\daughter-name\.... folders.

<snip>

Something here should help for the password issue:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/lostpass.htm

After that restore the data from the most recent backup. If no backups (and
of course why isn't there a full and complete backup?) then don't use the
computer until data recovery efforts are undertaken.

Have her get Acronis True Image Home version 10, and and external hard
drive. Boot from the Acronis CD and image the system to the external hard
drive to preserve the original status of the data on the drive. Deleted
files are not removed, their space is just marked as available so the more
the computer is used the less chance there is of data recovery being
successful.

From another computer download a couple of these free file recovery
programs:
http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html

Recover and Restore Deleted Files (Line 36)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Copy them to floppy, CD or flash drive. Then on the affected computer
recovery the password, and then run the utilities to see what can be
recovered.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

Phil <Phil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> my sister has deleted a user profile on her daughetr's laptop under
> XP ( using config panel -> users -> delete user "daughter-name"). Now
> that was the only user on that pc except Windows own ones.
> But !! no one knows pasword for user Administrator ! So cannot log
> onto pc now.
> Is there a default one that she could try ?
>
> If no, how can she get back to that pc and gain access to the data ?
> As far as I know these data are not encrypted in any way by windows,
> but are almost surely stored in the c:\.....\daughter-name\....
> folders.
>
> Any help more than greatly appreciated ! I live in 250 km distance
> from her, so can only tele-help, so concise and clear instructions
> needed since she is absoluteley not computer litterate ( she only
> wanted to automatically log onto the computer !!!)
>
> TIA TIA for help !

In addition to the other replies -

If your sister was able to log in as herself, and remove another user
account/profile, your sister's account *is* an administrator on the system.
She can create a new account for you, while logged in as herself.

Depending on what options she chose when deleting the account, the data may
already be gone - in which case, she'll want to immediately stop using the
computer until she can get some data recovery software loaded up. She may
need some on-site help - I'd suggest she look for a good tech/consultant in
the area. But, as MVP Malke says, "....not your local BigBox Store
equivalent."