Forgotten Windows 98 Screensaver Password

I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up a new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

Windows 98 should boot normally even if you have a password set for the
screensaver.

It's when the screensaver activates after the time limit you've set to
activate after the Pc has been left inactive that you have to enter the
password.

I don't know why you can't get into the system, but it's highly unlikely to
be because of the screensaver.

If you want to get rid of the screensaver files, you can boot with a 98
bootdisk and try entering the del *.scr command to delete them.

Screensaver files have the .scr extension.

But I think there is another reason. Perhaps its tha BIOS password, in which
case click this link to find out how to get rid of it;

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/BIOS.htm#reset

Eric,
PC Buyer Beware!
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/

"Dave" wrote:

I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up a new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

Thanks, Eric. When I said I was locked out, I just meant that I couldn't get
back into the machine without shutting it off, which I will try next (that PC
is at home, and I am at my office). I just went through a full, clean-slate
recovery and wish I had set a system password first thing, before touching
the screensaver.

"Eric" wrote:

Windows 98 should boot normally even if you have a password set for the
screensaver.

It's when the screensaver activates after the time limit you've set to
activate after the Pc has been left inactive that you have to enter the
password.

I don't know why you can't get into the system, but it's highly unlikely to
be because of the screensaver.

If you want to get rid of the screensaver files, you can boot with a 98
bootdisk and try entering the del *.scr command to delete them.

Screensaver files have the .scr extension.

But I think there is another reason. Perhaps its tha BIOS password, in which
case click this link to find out how to get rid of it;

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/BIOS.htm#reset

Eric,
PC Buyer Beware!
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/

"Dave" wrote:

I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up a new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required. Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel, password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

Thanks, Ron. I will try that (although the part about opening the registry
key is a complete mystery to me -- I hope I won't need to do it). I had
attempted a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot (which didn't work) and then needed to leave
for my office.

My goal is to have the same password for Windows and the screensaver. I
imagine I should have set up the Windows password first but wonder whether
that was part of the Windows reload process that I missed.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required. Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel, password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

The password in Windows 98 is not functional as a means of keeping anyone
out of your computer.
All they have to do is click on the ignore button and they are in and fully
functional on your computer.
The only thing the password does is give you a custom desktop.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Ron. I will try that (although the part about opening the
registry
key is a complete mystery to me -- I hope I won't need to do it). I had
attempted a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot (which didn't work) and then needed to
leave
for my office.

My goal is to have the same password for Windows and the screensaver. I
imagine I should have set up the Windows password first but wonder whether
that was part of the Windows reload process that I missed.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two
password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required. Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the
screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel,
password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked
up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up
a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

"Richard in AZ" wrote:

The password in Windows 98 is not functional as a means of keeping anyone
out of your computer.
All they have to do is click on the ignore button and they are in and fully
functional on your computer.

That's the way it works out of the box, but that behavior can be
changed. Go to www.dougknox.com, click "Security" in the menu on the
left, then click "Prevent unauthorized users from accessing your
computer" top center of the page.

Read and understand the entire procedure before doing anything, you
could lock yourself out of your own computer.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)

If you run into problems, post back and I (or another person) can walk you
through it. To open the registry editor, go to Run on the start menu and
enter: regedit and click OK. The registry editor displays folders
that are called keys. You navigate in the editor just like you do in
Explorer. Just don't delete anything unless you have instructions for doing
so. You also might like to take a look he
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/registry.html

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Ron. I will try that (although the part about opening the
registry
key is a complete mystery to me -- I hope I won't need to do it). I had
attempted a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot (which didn't work) and then needed to
leave
for my office.

My goal is to have the same password for Windows and the screensaver. I
imagine I should have set up the Windows password first but wonder whether
that was part of the Windows reload process that I missed.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two
password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required. Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the
screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel,
password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked
up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up
a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

I right-clicked on the desktop and followed your instructions. The resulting
change password pop-up actually said "Change Windows Password" (the same
thing that I get when I follow your set up a new Windows password
instructions) and all three of its boxes were empty. Clicking on its "OK"
button resulted in a tiny pop-up with a white "X" in a red circle and an "OK"
button. Nothing else. All I seem to be able to do with "Change Windows
Password" is cancel. In the meantime I have disabled the screensaver's
password protection.

Should I just re-install Windows again? I don't have much to loose except
some more time.

Thanks for your help.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

If you run into problems, post back and I (or another person) can walk you
through it. To open the registry editor, go to Run on the start menu and
enter: regedit and click OK. The registry editor displays folders
that are called keys. You navigate in the editor just like you do in
Explorer. Just don't delete anything unless you have instructions for doing
so. You also might like to take a look he
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/registry.html

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Ron. I will try that (although the part about opening the
registry
key is a complete mystery to me -- I hope I won't need to do it). I had
attempted a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot (which didn't work) and then needed to
leave
for my office.

My goal is to have the same password for Windows and the screensaver. I
imagine I should have set up the Windows password first but wonder whether
that was part of the Windows reload process that I missed.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two
password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required. Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the
screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel,
password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's locked
up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set up
a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.

Try this first.
Go to START - FIND then pick files and folder and type in "*.pwl" (without
the quotes) and OK or Enter
This should display all the password files used.
Either delete them, or right-mouse click and rename them to xxx.old, where
xxx is the file name.
Then Go to START - RUN and type in "sysedit" and OK
Choose the window marked SYSTEM.INI
Scroll down until you find [password] section and put an ; in front of each
line.
Go to the File menu and choose save. (You will have a backup of this file
made when you save the changes)
Now reboot the computer. On the next start, you will have the option to use
a user name and password.
If you leave the password blank and click OK, the computer will not show
this screen again and will not ask for a password again.
Your screen saver password should now be gone.
By the Way, this will not delete your Internet and E-mail logon passwords.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
I right-clicked on the desktop and followed your instructions. The
resulting
change password pop-up actually said "Change Windows Password" (the same
thing that I get when I follow your set up a new Windows password
instructions) and all three of its boxes were empty. Clicking on its "OK"
button resulted in a tiny pop-up with a white "X" in a red circle and an
"OK"
button. Nothing else. All I seem to be able to do with "Change Windows
Password" is cancel. In the meantime I have disabled the screensaver's
password protection.

Should I just re-install Windows again? I don't have much to loose except
some more time.

Thanks for your help.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

If you run into problems, post back and I (or another person) can walk
you
through it. To open the registry editor, go to Run on the start menu and
enter: regedit and click OK. The registry editor displays folders
that are called keys. You navigate in the editor just like you do in
Explorer. Just don't delete anything unless you have instructions for
doing
so. You also might like to take a look he
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/registry.html

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Ron. I will try that (although the part about opening the
registry
key is a complete mystery to me -- I hope I won't need to do it). I
had
attempted a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot (which didn't work) and then needed to
leave
for my office.

My goal is to have the same password for Windows and the screensaver.
I
imagine I should have set up the Windows password first but wonder
whether
that was part of the Windows reload process that I missed.

"Ron Badour" wrote:

Reboot.

DELETING SCREENSAVER PASSWORD. Right-click the desktop and click on
properties, screen saver tab and the change button. Leave the two
password
boxes empty and click OK twice. Click the password protected box and
OK.
On some systems this won't work and a registry change is required.
Open
the registry editor to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control
Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, delete the ScreenSave_Data entry. Then right-click
ScreenSaveUsePassword, select modify and change the value to 0 (zero).

If you want to set up a new Windows password (different than the
screensaver
password so I don't know if you misspoke yourself), control panel,
password,
change windows password button.

--
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



"Dave" wrote in message
...
I booted up a PC that I haven't used in about a year and now it's
locked
up
because I forgot its screensaver password. How can I get back into
the
machine and change the password? Ideally what I'd like to do is set
up
a
new
windows password. Thanks for your help.