rescue and recovery password

[laz]

I managed to screw up my windows install enough that a reinstall, or at least repair install seems warranted. I tried doing this from a full XP Pro disk from another computer, but there are still lots of missing files that cause problems.

When I open up rescue and recovery, it prompts me for a password (that I don't recall ever setting and none of my normal passwords work (this *definitely* isn't a stolen laptop - I bought it direct from IBM)). It does this when I use the access ibm button on startup and when I boot from my recovery CDs. When I reinstalled windows after I replaced my hdd I didn't have any problem booting off the CDs.

So, a couple of questions:
-Since I can use windows fine despite the missing dlls and stuff, is there any way to reset the password from there?
-if not, would wiping the disk, including the recovery partition, then booting off the CDs work?

[croooowe]

It sounds as though your "Protect Rescue and Recovery Workspace" option is turned on which would mean the password/passphrase to enter the PDA should be the same as your Windows password/passphrase.

If not, then booting from a CD and restoring from Discs should work fine. You shouldn't need to wipe drive as this process will wipe the drive for you.

[laz]

The password wasn't the same as my windows password - I tried, and I tried all my other normal passwords. I called IBM support and the guy basically had no idea what to do. Eventually he came up with a way to disable it, but my security software got corrupted so I couldn't make the change.

Backed everything up on my usb hdd and reformatted. Everything's back to normal now.

[krcmd]

This is exactly what I went through. I don't need my recovery disk set yet - computer working fine. But will I be able to use it if and when I have to to restore to factory settings, etc. if I can't get past that "IBM Verify Password" window that pops up when I push the Access IBM button on boot up?

Thank you.

BTW: Supervisor, Power on, and Hard disk passwords are disabled in bios.

What password am I missing?