Windows Offline NT problem

[GoCobbers1]

You have heard this horror story before. Friend says, "Hey your computer smart, can you fix my computer." You reluctantly except, and things go south.

I have a friend who was having problems logging onto their HP Windows 7 computer being that they forgot password to account. I had used Windows Offline NT before without problems, so I figured I would give it a whirl.

Things went seemingly fine as I reset the password to the account in question. I saved it all, exited the boot, and rebooted normally. This is where the new problem arose.

NOW when I click on that users name, rather than get a dialogue box for a password, or it logging me into windows (jeesh that would have been nice) It gives me a small circle with an 'X' in it with the following message:

Windows Security
HResult 0x8007ffff


Sucky.

Doing some research, I see that others have had this problem. One person was able to solve it by using the fingerprint reader to log into the admin account, and then edit and change accounts once inside windows. This may be an option for me.

My pride is hurt right now. I have spent considerable time working on this. Is there any way I can work this solution out, without going back to friend with my tail between my legs?

I should mention, I did try Ophcrack to no avail before going this route.

I appreciate all help in this matter!

 

[Motorheader]

I've run into similar situation when the sytem had their own branded security software that worked in conjunction with Windows login.

Is there another user account available?

 

[GoCobbers1]

That's what I was afraid of.

No there is not another user available.

 

[sm625]

If somebody forgets their password make them reinstall windows. You arent doing yourself any favors by making yourself pay for their forgetfulness.

 

[GoCobbers1]

Won't they lose everything?

Isn't the point of friendship to attempt to help them when you can? I do admit, I wish I would have steered clear this time around.

 

[sm625]

As a friend, you can copy their important document folders onto a thumb drive before letting them reinstall windows.

 

[GoCobbers1]

Not sure how to do that without logging onto computer.

 

[nitrous9200]

any live CD (Ubuntu/Linux distro or something like Hiren's boot CD/UBCD4win) will allow you to browse the contents of the main hard drive, then you can plug in an external disk and copy the my documents/pictures/videos/desktop folders from the internal drive to your external.

If there any programs like MS Office installed and you don't have the product keys, you can copy the windows/system32/config folder over (contains the registry) which will allow you to run a key finder tool and recover some of those keys.

You might also want to try pressing f8 during startup and going into the "repair your computer" mode...you might be able to run a system restore from there and fix the problem. The same thing can be done with a Windows 7 install disc if you have one.
For resetting passwords, ophcrack is good, but if that doesn't work (like in your case), chntpw - http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/ works nicely. It can be installed onto a bootable CD and it is also a part of the ubcd4win boot disc.

 

[amdhunter]

Is it an HP?

HP Protect Tools is causing the problem. Find a way to get that sucker out. We had the issue with a ProBook after a user mangled the system up somehow. The damn thing had a habit of kicking itself off the domain for no reason, and the HP software was the problem.

Use the NT Offline CD to enable the administrator account, and you should be golden.

 

[GoCobbers1]

Thank you for all the responses. Yes it is an hp.

I'm not sure how to enable administrator and what to do when it was enabled from windows offline nt. every time I mess with a username it starts giving me that error I mentioned in original post.

I truly am thankful for all the help. It is funny, I feel like I know computers well until I come around here and am SCHOOLED by y'all.

Thank you for the help.

 

[GoCobbers1]

Is it an HP?

Use the NT Offline CD to enable the administrator account, and you should be golden.

Can you explain this?

Also, it has come to my attention that the finger swipe does not anymore.