Member Avatar for ytest

A neighbor's husband died last year. He ran a business from his house. She gave me one of his disktop Gateway computers (which had a dead power supply) that I replaced. is the motherboard. Upon booting, I notice that it is set to run on a domain. It has WinXP Pro. I am not sure if I have the OS disc. She gave me two WinXP Pro discs, without product keys. How do I convert the setup from domain to a workgroup?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

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A short, practical summary and recovery checklist based on what happened here.

Switching a machine from a domain to a workgroup removes the domain trust for that computer, so logons that depended on the domain controller (domain accounts) will no longer work — the machine falls back to the local Security Accounts Manager (SAM) for authentication. That is why (and later ) saw a working login before the change and then a lockout after. Microsoft documents this behavior and the associated KB guidance. (Microsoft Q&A / KB reference)

Before you change a domain member to a workgroup: create and test at least one local account that is a member of the local Administrators group (give it a known password), verify you can log out and log back in locally, and back up any important data or create a System Restore point. (This is the step was pointing toward when recommending the System Properties route for changing membership.) The normal UI to change membership is the Computer Name/Network ID area in System Properties; just don’t click it until you have a verified local admin account. (Microsoft guidance on joining/leaving domains/workgroups)

If you are already locked out (Administrator in Safe Mode is password protected, etc.), try these in order:

  • Boot Safe Mode and try the built-in Administrator account (XP Home often has a blank Administrator password; XP Pro may have had one set).
  • Use System Restore to roll back to a point before the change if available.
  • As a last-resort recovery, use a well-known offline password tool (e.g., Offline NT Password & Registry Editor / chntpw) to blank the local Administrator password — but read the warnings first: resetting local passwords can make any EFS-encrypted files inaccessible and does not affect AD accounts. (chntpw info and caveats)

Quick checklist: verify a local admin exists and works; back up data; try Safe Mode/System Restore if locked out; use offline password tools only if you understand EFS/data-loss risks; reinstall only if you cannot recover data. Credit to and for safe-mode / reinstall ideas — create that local admin before you change membership next time.

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Member Avatar for Dortz

Do you mean that the computer can only log on as part of a domain? like you are being blocked at the login screen, and cant login using it as a workstation?

Or, do you mean how to reset the way the computer connects to the internet, or how it identifies itself with a network?

If you can login fine, and just need to change the network settings for the computer, you can do that easily from the 'System Properties' menu. It can be found in Control Panel -> System, or just hit WindowsKey+Pause, and it will come up.
Those options are under the 'Computer Name' tab. You will need admin priviledges to do that.

If you cannot login to the computer, that means it requires a domain login to access it. You will need to reinstall. If you can access a user interface in safe mode, I recommend running a program called '.'

It will show a very in-depth version of the system info, and from that, you can learn the key used to install windows on that machine.

Member Avatar for jbennet

you dont ned to reinstall, you can do it from safe mode

Member Avatar for ytest

Well . . . that was a great start; but it ended with disaster. Apparently, there is a different password for the logon after I switched to the workgroup. The pw for tthe domain does not work now, which means I'm locked out.

Thanks for additional suggestions if you have any.

Member Avatar for ytest

you dont ned to reinstall, you can do it from safe mode

It appears that the Administrator logon (via Safe Mode) is pw protected.

Member Avatar for hughv

Gateway computers usually have a sticker with the Product key listed on it.
A reinstall sounds like the easiest fix.

Member Avatar for jbennet

yeah, grab an xp OEM cd, and type in that product key from the sticker on the pc

if the cd has the product key embedded in it, you will need to use something like nlite to change it to the one on the sticker

Member Avatar for ytest

Thanks everyone for your responses. By following , I was able to do the change over without incident after I logged in as Administrator.

Member Avatar for chegel

Do you mean that the computer can only log on as part of a domain? like you are being blocked at the login screen, and cant login using it as a workstation?

Or, do you mean how to reset the way the computer connects to the internet, or how it identifies itself with a network?

If you can login fine, and just need to change the network settings for the computer, you can do that easily from the 'System Properties' menu. It can be found in Control Panel -> System, or just hit WindowsKey+Pause, and it will come up.
Those options are under the 'Computer Name' tab. You will need admin priviledges to do that.

If you cannot login to the computer, that means it requires a domain login to access it. You will need to reinstall. If you can access a user interface in safe mode, I recommend running a program called '.'

It will show a very in-depth version of the system info, and from that, you can learn the key used to install windows on that machine.

I have several computers that were on a previous domain that I just need as workstation on a workgroup. I was able to login, changed domain to workgroup, reboot, and now cannot login?

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