windows Password problem

[walkr2]

My brothers Musky, and  Shawnster, HELP! 

 

What to do when you're trying to help an older sister when she's forgotten her password?  She has a Dell PC which she says has Windows 10 on it. I sort of think that may not be the case because it's kind of old. She has about 25 paper tablets that she claims is where she wrote her password. I tried EVERY number that I could find, none of them worked. So the PC says in order to "reset password", you'll need a USB flash drive. We went out and purchased one. However, once i inserted the flash drive, the message says something to the effect, "this is not a password flash drive!"

 

Obviously, it was referring to a flash drive that a password had been saved on.  So I was going to reboot her hard drive with the program disk, but she said she doesn't have a disk and didn't receive any with her purchase.  I thought that was odd because back when she purchased this PC, Dell was issuing program disks with them. 

 

So now, I'm in a pickle because I don't know how to help her. Do you brothers have any idea as to what could possibly be my next step?  She's very, very anxious to have access to her PC, if you know what I mean! 

 

Thanks as always,

 

walkr2 (Yvonne) 

[Musky]

She may not have gotten a system disk with the Dell, they started installing a recovery partition on their hard drives a while ago. If that's the case, you should be able to tap the "F8" key while the system is booting. Then, at the menu choose the option that reads "Repair your Computer"  and follow the menu to restore the system

 

.This utility formats the operating system hard drive partition prior to restoring the factory image, so she will lose any data and programs that she has added since the system was new.

 

You can also try calling a computer repair tech first as most techs have "live CD's" that have the ability to remove the password, but they do need to know what they're doing to use them. Here is one site that explains how to make and use this kind of disk:

 

http://www.iseepassword.com/reset-windows-password-with-ubuntu-free.html

 

Hope this helps!

[walkr2]

She may not have gotten a system disk with the Dell, they started installing a recovery partition on their hard drives a while ago. If that's the case, you should be able to tap the "F8" key while the system is booting. Then, at the menu choose the option that reads "Repair your Computer"  and follow the menu to restore the system

 

.This utility formats the operating system hard drive partition prior to restoring the factory image, so she will lose any data and programs that she has added since the system was new.

 

You can also try calling a computer repair tech first as most techs have "live CD's" that have the ability to remove the password, but they do need to know what they're doing to use them. Here is one site that explains how to make and use this kind of disk:

 

http://www.iseepassword.com/reset-windows-password-with-ubuntu-free.html

 

Hope this helps!

Ok Thanks Musky!

I will try again tomorrow. We called Dell today and was told they would send her a disk, but at a cost of almost $200.00! I told the tech we could buy a new one at Walmart for a few dollars more!

So thanks again and I will dig in again tomorrow with this new information!

Agape my brother!

[Musky]

Yes, that is way overpriced. Amazon has Windows 10 for $86 with free shipping.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-System-Builder/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482523408&sr=8-1&keywords=Windows+10

 

You just need to check her system's specifications and see if it's a 32 or 64 bit system.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Musky

[ChrisC]

I bought a Windows 10 license and link to an .iso for about £25, iirc.. I couldn't find anything dodgy about it. I did search! (From a U.K. website.)

Edited December 23, 2016 by ChrisTheConfused

[walkr2]

Yes, that is way overpriced. Amazon has Windows 10 for $86 with free shipping.
 
https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-System-Builder/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482523408&sr=8-1&keywords=Windows+10
 
You just need to check her system's specifications and see if it's a 32 or 64 bit system.

Ok, great! When I get a couple of hours to spare, we will return to this journey with all the information you've provided! I'm excited to get her up and running.

Thank you ever so much Musky!

[walkr2]

I bought a Windows 10 license and link to an .iso for about £25, iirc.. I couldn't find anything dodgy about it. I did search! (From a U.K. website.)

Thank you brother Chris!