Safe Mode password.

[Valerie]

Win XP Home.

Way back in the good old days some versions of XP did not permit access to Safe Mode without entering an Admin password even if a password had never been set. No password (including leaving the entry blank) would be accepted.

The fix was a Reg Edit which stopped Safe Mode asking for any password at all. Unfortunately I cannot remember what the Reg Edit was.

Anyone got better powers of recall than mine please?

Thanks.

[Guest]

I may be ignorant on the subject but I have never heard of this.

I'm curious what others have to say.

[kali]

I know if you set your password during installation windows you have to enter password to log on even in safe mode. You can set your password after installation. So you will never face this problem.

I don't know your desire reg edit. I think you log on once with your password in sage mode. Then delete your password from User account. Then set your password in normal account.

[GrofLuigi]

Maybe AutoAdminLogon (AKA control userpasswords2 + uncheck the first checkbox)?

It doesn't apply exclusively to safe mode, but since Administrator account is unavailable on Home in normal mode, maybe that's it.

GL

[Ponch]

Way back in the good old days some versions of XP did not permit access to Safe Mode without entering an Admin password even if a password had never been set.

And how would it ask for a password if there is none ? Invent one ?

AFAIK, there was never any change in the way XP behaves on this matter. If you don't set a password for "administrator", there is none.

[allen2]

I think Valerie is speaking about recovery console and not safe mode and the reg entry is explained there.

See there for a more complete guide on how to install the recovery console on hard disk.

[Ponch]

OK for the "Recovery Console" then.

And Allen2's link also leads to this additional info:

This issue may occur if Windows XP was originally installed from a Sysprep image or if Sysprep 2.0 was run on the computer at one time. Sysprep.exe makes changes to the way that password keys are stored in the registry. These changes are incompatible with the Recovery Console logon routine.