I have a Windows 7 PC that decided to forget the Admin password and I can't seem to use any of the suggestions I found here to

[Robert_E]

My PC has been running Windows 7 without any problems for years but now it's complaining about the password not being correct.
I don't have a password reset key.
I tried upgrading to Windows 8 but it said the drive is locked.
No matter what I try, I can't seem to unlock it.
If I boot to a Windows 7 install disk and take a look at the C: drive it's blank and says so.
Yet in the window that shows all the drives it shows that C: has data on it.
So after much trying this and that I decided to re-install Windows 7 and it won't let me do that either.
The drive is formatted NTFS which I believe was the default when using 64-bit OS.
I switched to a Mac as my main computer over 8 years ago but I still have a PC for certain things I can't do on the Mac.
I'm thinking my next step is to FDISK the c: drive but neither of the boot disks for Win 7 or 8 give me the option to run that program prior to install.
As you can see I'm kind of caught here.
The data on the C: drive can be erased as I have my main data on a D: drive which is a physical drive, not a partition.
Can anyone help me with this so I can use my PC?
Thanks in advance.
Robert

 

[Guest]

My PC has been running Windows 7 without any problems for years but now it's complaining about the password not being correct.
I don't have a password reset key.
I tried upgrading to Windows 8 but it said the drive is locked.
No matter what I try, I can't seem to unlock it.
If I boot to a Windows 7 install disk and take a look at the C: drive it's blank and says so.
Yet in the window that shows all the drives it shows that C: has data on it.
So after much trying this and that I decided to re-install Windows 7 and it won't let me do that either.
The drive is formatted NTFS which I believe was the default when using 64-bit OS.
I switched to a Mac as my main computer over 8 years ago but I still have a PC for certain things I can't do on the Mac.
I'm thinking my next step is to FDISK the c: drive but neither of the boot disks for Win 7 or 8 give me the option to run that program prior to install.
As you can see I'm kind of caught here.
The data on the C: drive can be erased as I have my main data on a D: drive which is a physical drive, not a partition.
Can anyone help me with this so I can use my PC?
Thanks in advance.
Robert

link deleted by me.

life is good.
the poorguy

 

[Robert_E]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I was able to initially boot to my original Win 7 DVD and Win 8 DVD but now it won't let me boot to either without complaining that something is missing, even if I change the CMOS to use the DVD as the first/main boot device. It gives me the same error no matter what the boot device is set to.
I tried restarting and turning the computer off and on giving me the same error
Any ideas if there is a way around that with that link you sent as I only have a working Mac

 

[Guest]

what brand pc do you own.
go into the bios and load your default values and save.
upon posting it should tell you what key is the boot menu.


what is the exact message that you are seeing when your pc boots.
are you missing cab32exe files

 

[Robert_E]

what brand pc do you own.
go into the bios and load your default values and save.
upon posting it should tell you what key is the boot menu.
keep pressing that key and boot the live cd / dvd you created from the iso link i sent you.

what is the exact message that you are seeing when your pc boots.
are you missing cab32exe files

 

[Robert_E]

The PC is generic no name and I've tried the CMOS using the CD/DVD as the first boot device. I was initially able to boot from either the Win 7 or 8 DVD and I erased the C drive which had two partitions. When I erased the first (small) partition and tried to install the new OS it told me there was not enough room for the OS so I erased the large partition and that is when the error started with a bootable DVD as the boot device or setting the first HD as the boot drive hoping it would force it to boot to DVD but I got the same error so I'm worried it's not going to boot from any bootable CD or DVD

 

[Guest]

ok so you need to reinstall your OS.

do you have a windows 7 or windows 8 OS cd.

if so then you should be able to boot from that and install you OS.

you do need to go into your bios and make your 1st bootable device your cd/dvd.
save changes and exit.

 

[Robert_E]

I tried booting to the win 7 and 8 DVD's and it won't boot from either no matter what the first boot device is set to in the CMOS

 

[Robert_E]

My sister has a Windows partition on her Mac so I'll ask her to create the DVD from your link and see what happens.
I'll let you know

 

[Guest]

you said that you removed the partitions from your hard drive therefore you no longer have an OS to repair and will need to reinstall OS.

the poorguy

 

[Robert_E]

could you please send the link again? My sister can make that disk on her computer.
Thanks

Robert

 

[Robert_E]

Good day Poorguy

I was able to get my sister to burn the ISO from the link you sent (I found it in an earlier message) but the computer won't boot from that either.
I'm getting a CMOS error that the master boot device is "ATAPI Incompatible" which I have to confirm with the F1 key.
Any idea what that can be caused by?

Thanks
Robert

 

[Guest]

go into your bios and reset everything to defaults and the save and exit.

install your windows 7 / windows 8 OS disc into the cd rom and restart computer.

on startup look for boot menu key and pressing it several times see if it gives any options to boot from.

if it does then boot from cd / dvd rom and then follow prompts.

here is a link that may help with your error.

http/superuser.com/questions/876380/boot-stops-with-primary-master-drive-atapi-incompatible