Win 98SE Password

Hi -
I wonder if anyone can help. I tried to start up my old computer (Win 98 SE)
and entered the password for the username of 'default' but was refused
entry. It may be that I have got the password wrong as it is a couple of
years since I used the computer, or it may have become corrupted. I can boot
up using safe mode or by entering nothing in the user name and password
login box. This however does not give me all the privileges. If I search for
*.pwl I get two items shown from the Windows system folder.

Would deleting these items enable me to login and have full privileges, or
would replacing these files from another computer which doesn't have
passwords set do the trick?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian.




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I wouldn't delete them. Try renaming them with a suffix like .old instead.
You may be better doing this in Safe Mode and then rebooting. Remember
the.pwl contains ALL your passwords for different applications. When Windows
restarts it will recreate .pwl's for each user name that you have renamed
the .pwl for. It should work, assuming nothing else is wrong, but if you
want to revert, don't ever have two files with the same suffix!
As an aside, user.dat is where all your settings are stored for the
registry, including whatever Outlook (Express) had the last time the PC was
switched off.
Alan
"Brian" wrote in message
...
Hi -
I wonder if anyone can help. I tried to start up my old computer (Win 98
SE)
and entered the password for the username of 'default' but was refused
entry. It may be that I have got the password wrong as it is a couple of
years since I used the computer, or it may have become corrupted. I can
boot
up using safe mode or by entering nothing in the user name and password
login box. This however does not give me all the privileges. If I search
for
*.pwl I get two items shown from the Windows system folder.

Would deleting these items enable me to login and have full privileges, or
would replacing these files from another computer which doesn't have
passwords set do the trick?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian.




---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0620-0, 15/05/2006
Tested on: 5/17/2006 17:36:37
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2006 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com

Alan - thanks very much for the help and info - I'll give it a try!

Cheers,
Brian.


"Alan" wrote in message
...
I wouldn't delete them. Try renaming them with a suffix like .old instead.
You may be better doing this in Safe Mode and then rebooting. Remember
the.pwl contains ALL your passwords for different applications. When
Windows
restarts it will recreate .pwl's for each user name that you have renamed
the .pwl for. It should work, assuming nothing else is wrong, but if you
want to revert, don't ever have two files with the same suffix!
As an aside, user.dat is where all your settings are stored for the
registry, including whatever Outlook (Express) had the last time the PC
was
switched off.
Alan
"Brian" wrote in message
...
Hi -
I wonder if anyone can help. I tried to start up my old computer (Win 98
SE)
and entered the password for the username of 'default' but was refused
entry. It may be that I have got the password wrong as it is a couple of
years since I used the computer, or it may have become corrupted. I can
boot
up using safe mode or by entering nothing in the user name and password
login box. This however does not give me all the privileges. If I search
for
*.pwl I get two items shown from the Windows system folder.

Would deleting these items enable me to login and have full privileges,
or
would replacing these files from another computer which doesn't have
passwords set do the trick?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian.




---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0620-0, 15/05/2006
Tested on: 5/17/2006 17:36:37
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2006 ALWIL Software.
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---
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---
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There is no need to rename the .pwl file in safe mode as recommended nor is
there any reason not to delete it seeing as how you don't remember the
password. Also, a .pwl may contain another password beside the logon
password but it does not contain ALL passwords as stated. For example, if
you use a DUN connection and the password has been saved, it will be lost
Either rename or delete the .pwl file and then reboot. When the logon
screen appears, enter the same user name that was previously used and either
enter a password or a blank password if you do not want to logon at each
boot.

Blank Password: Go to control panel, network, primary network logon and
select Windows Logon. Go to control panel, passwords, user profiles and
ensure the "all user's" box is marked. If you have a password established,
go to control panel, passwords, change windows password, type the password
in the old box, leave the rest blank and OK your way out. If you have
forgotten your password, delete the .pwl file with your user name (mine is
ron.pwl); however, be aware that you will lose all passwords stored in the
..pwl file. If you do not have a password established or have deleted the
..pwl file, when the W95/98 logon screen appears at boot, type a user name
only and hit OK. If the logon screen continues to appear and you have Tweak
UI installed, go to the Paranoia tab and remove the mark from "clear last
user."


--
Regards


Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo



"Brian" wrote in message
...
Hi -
I wonder if anyone can help. I tried to start up my old computer (Win 98
SE) and entered the password for the username of 'default' but was refused
entry. It may be that I have got the password wrong as it is a couple of
years since I used the computer, or it may have become corrupted. I can
boot up using safe mode or by entering nothing in the user name and
password login box. This however does not give me all the privileges. If I
search for *.pwl I get two items shown from the Windows system folder.

Would deleting these items enable me to login and have full privileges, or
would replacing these files from another computer which doesn't have
passwords set do the trick?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian.



---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0620-0, 15/05/2006
Tested on: 5/17/2006 17:36:37
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2006 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com