Try this, boot into safe mode, press F8 on start up then Go into the control panel, and open up "User Accounts". Create a new account for yourself, and make sure to give it Administrative access. When you restart again into normal mode, you'll be able to access this new account that you just created. Once you do this, you'll have complete access to whatever you need. You can use this to reset passwords on other accounts, in case you locked yourself out, or you can just use it to get to things you might not otherwise be able to get to.
If the Administrator account is passworded, then things get more difficult. Unless there's another personal account on the computer you can access, you're left with only one option, and its not a good one. I do not suggest using this, ever.
Windows XP stores password information in encrypted files called SAM files. A
Google search for SAM file editor will return plenty of results, and you'll find several programs that you can burn to a bootable CD and use to edit these files. I've never personally had to use one of these, so I can't recommend one. Using these editors can render your computer unusable if anything goes wrong. The risk involved in doing this makes an absolute last resort. The tiniest error in this will corrupt files and lock you out of Windows at best; it will destroy your Windows install and force a reformat at worst.
Re: Windows Startup Password
Linear Mode
