find & reset admin. password

awhile back i read an article here at TechRepublic about how to find and erase/reset Win XP’S Admin passwords from C:\windows. I thought I printed it for future referance but now can not find it! I am building a new pc with HDD’S from my old pc which booted right to the logon the new pc says it can’t find HDD but it’s in the post and i can get to recovery console but my passwors do not work. They were a promise raid (MIRRORED Array)Promise has told me to pound sand! and MSI told me that even if they were promise ata raid they will have to be reformatted. IJUST NEED TO GAIN ACCESS TO MY PRIMARY DRIVE SO I CAN COPY MY DOCUMENTS & IMAGES TO THE FORMATTED DRIVE WITH A FRESH XP SP2 INSTALL DONE1