Reset Passwords which are auto assigned to user accounts after you upgrade to windows XP

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Windows operating system is most trusted OS. It have great security features, to prevent unauthorized access. But some times these security features may create problem for users. If you are upgrading windows xp then be careful because windows xp may assign auto generated password to user accounts (these account may not have password previously). You will not able log on in to your computer because you don't know user password.

This problem occurs due to windows setup (i.e. Installation or upgrade) not completed properly. Windows setup assigns temporary password during the upgrade process and it suppose to remove this password when setup completed. You can find this temporary password in Setupact.log file that present in the folder where windows xp is installed.

It is very easy to overcome from this problem. There is separate solution for FAT and NTFS based partitions. Steps to reset auto generated password in windows XP for NTFS partitions are written below.

1. Change BIOS setting and make CD-ROM drive as first boot device.
2. Insert bootable windows XP CD in to CD-ROM drive and restart your computer.
3. During reboot “Press any key to boot from CD” message will be displayed on monitor, press any key to boot from windows bootable disk.
4. Press “R” for recovery console when “Welcome to setup” screen is displayed.
5. Select the installation that you need to access from the Recovery Console.
6. You are prompted for the Administrator password. If the Administrator password is set to use a blank password, just press ENTER.
7. Type “type setupact.log” kine on command promt and press ENTER.
8. Search for the following line, where Username is name of account and xxxxxxxxxxxxx is password for account.
9. Please note down password that appears in Setupact.log file.
10. Type exit at the command prompt, and then press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
11. Now you can log on into your system with the password which you retrieves from Setupact.log.

After successful login in to your system you can change password with use of control panel.

For any reason if you are not able to retrieve password from Setupact.log, then find third party password recovery software to reset windows password.