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grrr compaq nc6320 is TOO secure!!

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by pimppamsimon

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OK,,, I am cheap and really can't afford to go to a big computer store and buy a brand new PC or Laptop. So I resort to Pawn shops and classifieds for things that I want that are out of my price range. (I live in Vegas...nice things in Pawn Shops) Anyways.... I purchased a Compaq nc6320 and I can't get in it at all.....It boots, but then there is a security screen and the windows xp pro logon. So...I put a new(used)hard drive in hoping to reinstall XP pro and be rid of the logins and so on. But here is the clincher....the Compaq says there is no hard drive. Mmmmm.... Its in there...I put it in there....help....I hate to have to trash this...Im too poor...LOL

3 replies

by thumbsup2

I don't suppose you received the disks that go with the computer, did you? Of course not! If you had, you could use the restore CD to set it back to factory settings. Without that, you're going to have a HUGE problem.

I'm sorry, but going down the path of putting in another hard drive and installing XP without the drivers that go with THAT computer is going to be far more complicated than you realize, ESPECIALLY on a Compaq. Anything can be wrong with the new drive installation, from cable plugged in wrong - bent pin, to jumper settings on the hard drive, to the computer BIOS not recognizing the hard drive because it's too big. Did you even go into the BIOS to have it detect the hard drive? We would need far more information to help diagnose the problem than what you have provided.

You would be far better off putting the original hard drive back in, then using another computer to download and create a floppy disk to "Reset Administrator Password". Of course, this assumes the computer you just bought even has a floppy drive on it so you can put the disk created into the drive and boot from it.

And, by the way, it's not the computer that is too secure... it's Windows that is preventing you from logging in because you don't know the password... a feature that helps secure the computer in case it is stolen and later "pawned". ;)

by pimppamsimon

With the original HD, it was not detected in the BIOS. There is no administrative PW for BIOS..just the XP pro password and a password for a wireless connection. I am not too puter smart, so any and all help is appreciated!! As for the HD i just installed, it also is not detected in the BIOS. And of course, NO floppy....

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