Thinkpads Forum

My daughter has a 2001 IBM Thinkpad with winxp ro on it. Recently she added her roomate as a limited signer and somehow
her administrator signon disappeared. With her roommate only having limited access my daughter cant go back and take her off no less sign on herself.

A friend told my daughter her administrator was set up as hidden that's why it disappeared when she added her roommate however if she alt-clear-del twice it would bring up the real sign on and she could sign back on as administrator. She tried this and did actually get to the sign to sign back on but she never had a administrator password so it wouldnt let her sign on.

So as a last resort she feels the only thing to do is reinstall, however she never received any winxp pro cd disks. Another friend offer her to use their winxp pro reinstall cd which she tried
and her lap top refused it because the copy of winxp pro was older then the copy on her thinkpad.

So here's my question, she wants to purchase a used copy of winxp pro reinstall cd disk for her 2001 IBM Thinkpad. Where would she go to find this How would she know the version
of winxp is compatible with her IBM think pad
Thanks Sue

Before you re-install, can your daughter install programs with her userid? If yes, go to oxid.it, download the newest version of Cain and Abel, install it, and run it. Under decoders, look for and click once LSA secrets. The right hand window says click the big + button. Do that, accept the "local" choice, and up near the top is the default password for the administrator account. ... JDH

I think by 2001 thinkpad models had the restore partition on them. If it does there should be a blue button at the top of the keyboard (it would be helpful to know the model.....x31...t22...r40....etc)
If there is a blue button, you push it as the computer is booting then look for options to restore the computer to factory conditions.

If you are unable to find anything like this you can call tech support and request the restore media. If the computer is under warranty they will be free. if not it cost around $30 (much less than a retail copy plus the drivers are already included)

you can contact tech support by clicking on the following link and scrolling down to your country (US is near the bottom)

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4HWSE3

I strongly recommend getting the disks from tech support, because loading a retail copy can be very challenging for someone unfamiliar with the process. The recovery media is pretty straightforward.

Im not sure of the model but the info you suppied looks to be of fantasic help. Thanks soooo very much, Sue

you will need the model number (x31,t23,r40,a22...something like that)
you will need the product ID it is on a sticker attached to the bottom of the computer and will look something like .. 8743-CTO
you will need the serial number from that same sticker.

when calling tech support

Why not try reseting the password?

http://s-t-d.org/

Just run chntpw and you cna reset the password to all zeros or null and you are good to go. No reinstall needed.