power on password, black screen

[hollyy]

may i please ask for help ...

when i start computer, it begins to start for few seconds then my screen switches
to a black screen - with a white box in the center saying

Power-on Password
almost like skelton key under it
and date on bottom of the screen ...

i tried to redo the computer only it is not recognizing disk in the drive
this does not sound good ... any help please and thank you... : ((

[compdoc]

what kind of computer is it

[hollyy]

ohh, i am sorry it is a compaq presario running windows xp..

the computer was working fine but i was trying to dig some old pieces
of norton out as it was not uninstalling and stopping me from using another'
antivirus program... so i ran disk check after to scan and repair any bad
sectors.. when windows opened - it wanted a password for windows which i did
not remember so i shut it down to look for a program to recover passwords
but when i turned it back on is when this happened ...

it tries to start then switches over .... : ((

thank you for replying to me ..

[compdoc]

you can try to enter into CMOS setup by rebooting the computer and pressing F2, if F2 doesn't work try F1 or Delete. once into CMOS setup you can clear any power on passwords, if that does not work tell me exactly what kind of presario it is and I'll look to see what else you might be able to do.

[hollyy]

thank you very much , but unfortunately it is not working,
when pressing F2 - i am geting the blinking line in the top left corner and on the
bottom of the screen left side is - v01.03
right side is -Compaq
<F10=setup>
then it proceeds to go to the box with power on password, black screen

F1 is doing nothing except going to poweron password, black screen
F10 also goes to power on password , black screen
F8 also goes to poweron password , black screen

i have also tried entering 3 passwords as i read somewhere it may release it but it did not
i also tried entering Compaq three times again it did not work

this is a Compaq Presario FS740 - i purchased it approx 5 years ago
and have never had to redo it , was always able to fix it , is why i did not remember my
windows password .. :(( i use this one for going online and keep the others for doing
any work .

thank you for replying to me and for your help ...

[compdoc]

there is still something else you can try, if you feel comfortable opening the computer, turn the power off unplug it and open it, look for a coin shaped battery and remove it, leave it out for a few minutes and then replace it, remember to put it back the way it was.

now turn the computer back on and see if that helped.

[bobbyraw]

look on the bpottom left or top right when the bios screen comes on and it will tell you what key to press to enter setup. when in the bios go to the security page/tad and remove the power on password option.

[hollyy]

CompDoc

OOhh something is working somewhere ... : ) )
i removed the battery and let sit for 20 mins , cleaned iniside , and replaced the
battery .. when i restarted the computer it is nolonger showing the screen
power on password .. but i am now at the screen where it is asking for my windows
password which i do not remember .. is there a way to get past this ?

i thank you so very much for helping me get this far ...

[hollyy]

BobbyRaw

thank you very much for answering my asking for help ..
i did try pressing the F10 key but nothing was happening it was not accepting anything..
then it would go immediately to the power on password screen ...

after removing my battery the power on password screen is no longer there
but i am not stuck at the windows password screen in which i do not remember
as i put that in years ago and have never used it , so i did forget it ..
i know i should of written it down ...

i now need to get passed this ..sigh

thank you for answering me ....

[bobbyraw]

reboot and press F8 as soon as the bios screen is off the screen. then boot windows into safe mode. if you get a administrator account leave the password blank then go into control panel and reset the password for you account.

[hollyy]

thank you , but will it not ask for my old password to change it to a
new password ? as i do not remember the old password ..

just checking before i touch anything ...

[hollyy]

CompDoc

should i have maked that as solved after your name and reopened another question
as to blackscreen windows password ?

because what u said to do did work and i no longer have power on password

sorry i am new to posting on here ...

if you want after you post i can mark solved and ask for the windows password
separately ?

[jbennet]

here is how to fix the windows password

tap f8 repeatedly while the computer is booting until you get to a menu. Choose "safe mode"

windows will look ugly, and lots of messages will flow fast down the screen. Ignore it, it is OK.

Evenetually you will get to a wierd-looking welcome sceen. There will be an account there which is not usually visible. Its called "administrator".It should have no passoword. Login as administrator and remove your suers password through control panel.

Reboot (this time, dont hit f8, so it goes back into normal mode)

[hollyy]

thank you for trying to help me ..
this is what happened .. when computer boots up i press F8 , then alot of writing which looks like windows system files (disk partitioned) .. then it goes to a black screen with a small windows sign on box , which has my name in it asking for password .. there is no way to get passed this to access anything... when i purchased this computer i had the tech in the store load it for me as he partitioned my drives so windows was separate .. maybe he placed a password in there .. so i tried clicking ok on the bottom leaving the password area blank and it starting loading my windows .. but when it opens what i have now is my
desktop icons with the names under highlighted in blue for some reason and my task bar at
the bottom is 2/3 's white , starting from the left side , thus not allowing me to access the
start buttom ... it goes across the bottom then near the clock it returns back to blue showing my clock ...
i also ran out to the source store and replaced my battery just now as it did say battery low
when it did start up .
the same thing is happening whether i try to boot in normal or safe mode ..
2/3'rds of the task bar has what it looks like is another white bar over top, i can see the
task bar under it but now i cannot get to it .. i can only access the clock
i hope you are able to understand what i am trying to say , and i thank you soo much
for trying to help me

[compdoc]

try what bobbyraw said that should work, but if it doesn't there are some tools out there that will help you reset the password so you can login, you would need to burn it to a cd or if you have a floppy drive you might be able to copy it to a floppy disk.

[compdoc]

CompDoc

should i have maked that as solved after your name and reopened another question
as to blackscreen windows password ?

because what u said to do did work and i no longer have power on password

sorry i am new to posting on here ...

if you want after you post i can mark solved and ask for the windows password
separately ?

yeah probably I dont know, that doesnt matter(to me anyway)

when you boot normaly do you get a login box or do you get the welcome screen

if you get the login box type Administrator in the user field and leave the password field blank , if it lets you log on, then, if I am thinking correctly, you can change the password to your other account through the control panel without having to know the old password

[hollyy]

CompDoc

i did try to do what Bobbyraw was saying , as i booted into safe mode
it opens to a black screen with a little windows sign on box, there is nothing showing behind' the box it is all black , i am not able to access the control panel..
there is nothing there to access ...
so i tried just clicking to sign on leaving the password empty and it went into windows , showing my desk top icons , but there is a white bar partially covering
my task bar only allowing my clock to show .. i am not able to access the start
to navigate to my control panel ... i did try clicking my document folder on the desk top and am able to access inside, was able to remove a few folders which i am using for a class i am taking in animation but this is the only thing i can access
inside. is it possible i have corrupted something in my windows to make that
white bar over my task bar?
i am able to burn to a disk with my other computer (MacPro) which i run parallels
on being a dual operating system. i am also familiar with torrents , is there a program that could possibly repair if this if damaged? i also have a usb key of
1 gig for transferring files , maybe i could run a program thru or find it as a stand alone program , if i am not able to fix my task bar ..
putting a disk in my cd drive , it is opening to a box with just letters asking if it would like me to do each time , but i do not know what these letters are , and it will not allow the cd to open or run.
i have a few programs on my desktop - Wintools.net professional, registry fix, but
when i click them it says program configuration is not correct, and is not allowing
me to open them -
the desk top is all i have access to , i cannot get to control panel or anything

thank you so much for your help

[compdoc]

ok lets just take it one step at a time, I dont think windows is corrupt

first answer this.

when you boot up normally do you get a welcome screen or a login box where you can type the user name and password

[hollyy]

Doc Comp

when i first start my computer , it goes to the screen with windows loading ,
the little bar scrolling under, then it goes to a small Log on Windows screen,
with User Name (which has my name) and a Password box under it ...

the screen behind the little box is totally black ...

thank you so much for your help ..

[jbennet]

yeah, so type your password and hit ok

[compdoc]

Doc Comp

when i first start my computer , it goes to the screen with windows loading ,
the little bar scrolling under, then it goes to a small Log on Windows screen,
with User Name (which has my name) and a Password box under it ...

the screen behind the little box is totally black ...

thank you so much for your help ..

ok where your name is on the small windows screen , is it a field where you can clear your name and type a different name in

[hollyy]

CompDoc

that is correct .. i can clear it and retype where my name is

i had tried my screen name with password but it did not take it
i do not know the password that goes in there for my name as i have never put my name
in the computer, that was done by the tech in the store where i purchased the computer,
as he had set it up for me , he partitioned it, he told me in case something happened i would not loose everything, but he had put my name in the computer ....

i then tried just hitting the ok on the bottom leaving it blank (yesterday)
thinking maybe the guy in the store had not entered a password and it then opened to
my desk top butt all the icons are highlighted under in blue , when i click one of the icons
it says "This application failed to start because the application congiuration is incorrect"
the only thing i can access is my documents folder. The task bar on the bottom has a
white bar going through it - left side up to my clock, it is over top of my task bar.
i am not able to move this white bar and it has blocked my start and everything under it.
not allowing me to access anything .

My cd drive will not read a disk, i do have a usb key but
the only thing i can do is send files to drive F from my documents folder .

thank you so much for helping me ...

[compdoc]

ok lets try a system restore

start the computer and press F8 to get into safe mode
when windows starts if it ask you to logon then log on and then a box should pop up stating that windows is running in safe mode and it will ask you to click yes or no

click no to start system restore then follow the directions on the screen and restore your computer to an earlier date.

[hollyy]

CompDoc
sorry was unable to be here yesterday .. apologies

after following the above , it took me into safe mode , with desktop icons
there was no task bar as well , not allowing me to access system restore.

so i went back and started , clicking my documents folder
on the side clicking my computer, again to the side clicking control panel, to the side performance maintanence, to the side system restore again the page opens white - blank

one more try , back to safe mode , clicking last know good configuration
windows started with little box and to same as before , did not work

i did notice in my documents folder a little icon like a tv with blue scree and behind it
almost like a satelite dish - under was "default" , when i ricght click and look in properties
it say remote desktop control , date created was when all this started
this was not there before , nor did i download this

thank you for taking your time to help me .....

[compdoc]

aha it sounds like a virus or spyware do you have any antivirus and antispyware on your computer, if you do run it.

if not, if you can get on the internet download spybot search and destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

or download it on a different computer and install through a USB if you can get to my computer you should be able to install it

you can also get Hijack this and post the log here
http://www.download.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

if none of this works then I suggest to backup what you need and start all over and reinstall windows fresh

[hollyy]

CompDoc

thank you for replying ...
i ran hijack this and there is nothing unusual or unaccountanted for as i am familiar with hijack this.
i ran unhackme and it came up root kit in - IpConfig (Tcpip and LLInterface) ???
no virus showed.
i ran bps spyware and nothing showed up wrong

i am not able to install or open any thing except the programs i had in folders on my desktop for some reason they open
i am not able to use a disk to reinstall windows , it will not read any disk

i went to useraccounts threw the side things and it opens a white page blank
i also went into where u allow remote and the same thing opens blank and tab at the top
disappears.
System information also opened to a blank page .

I went into doc and settings - my name - and find a file recentuser with a clock on it
this was not there before.
Is it possible i am hacked due to that remoted desktop connector i found ?
It is like i am locked out of everything
Maybe the only thing i can do is replace hard drive as i cannot use any disks.... : ( (

thank you for helping me ...

[compdoc]

if you go into BIOS and make sure the cd drive is first in the boot priority then place the cd in the cd drive and reboot the computer then you should see a black screen that says press any key to boot from cd

press any key and the windows install should start.

[hollyy]

CompDoc

thank you ..
but i cannot get to bios , yes the cd starts but it does not appear on my screen ...
it is not able to read it
i have never seen anything like i have here ....

thank you so much ...

[compdoc]

the only other thing that i can think of is to try and delete all the files that you do not recognize that were created on the day of and the days after all this started to happen with your computer.

I am all of Ideas after that, I have never heard of anything like you have there either

so sorry I really did try to help

[gerbil]

G'day, holly.. I assume you can still access Safe Mode?
Go back in there and see if by either going Ctrl-Alt -Del or rclicking on what there is of the task bar you can open Task Manager...?
You could? Then go to processes tab and stop explorer.exe. Now, still in TM, restart it by going File, New task and entering explorer.exe.... this is to just attempt reloading your UI.
In TM if you wish to get to Control Panel, run control.exe
You can use this feature if you wish to start other pgms like your AV - use the Browse in New Task to get to the executable in the pgm folder.
You can also do this.... paste into that run box in TM this line:
http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe
=Download that file to your desktop.
- to run it dclick combofix.exe and follow the prompts to start it. When finished, it will produce a log, C:\Combofix.txt - post that log in your next reply.
A word of caution - do not touch your mouse/keyboard until the scan has completed. The scan will temporarily disable your desktop, and if interrupted may leave your desktop disabled. If this occurs reboot to restore the desktop.
If you have trouble downloading it you could Run it from the dl box...
Oh, the M$ remote desktop is mstsc.exe and it runs from windows/system32, not Remote Desktop Control. That is a third party software... I would either delete it or rename it.
While you have control.exe running don't forget to reset your account password. [NOT the Administrator password, leave it blank....unless of course you will never ever gforget it... :)]