Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
<silbermaneli@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1126273802.897457.269670@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> a colleague has just left and didnt pass on the password
> on winxp
>
> we need to enter system
It's proably best to ask for the password on the eventuality that the
previous user invoked encryption. If you do anything to replace the
accounts without having the original password, you will *never* gain access
to the encrypted files.
If it is unencrypted, an easy thing to do is to temporarily host the drive
in another machine and copy any needed data. Then, just format the drive,
move it back to its home machine and reinstall Windows - this will take a
few hours but will ensure a clean-running machine for the next user.
You might need to take ownership of the files, but if the files are
encrypted, you will know, and will have to boot with that drive and the
password.
HTH
-pk