Desktop Computer Packages

How do I reset a Windows XP password or restore the computer all-together?

I bought a new desktop computer at a yard sale during thanksgiving when I was visiting my mother in a different state, now I'm back home and it's password protected. I can log in as administrator in safe mode, but I still don't have access to any of the other user accounts in the control panel. So I can't delete them. I don't mind all the files being deleted since they weren't mine anyway.. so what do I do?

Public Comments

1. System Restore will help.
2. easy way out is to reformat your hard drive and start again. Are all accounts password protected? Some preinstalled software specialist leave a "demo" account so the can access your pc with administrator access for testing , if so you can access you pc from there and delete the accounts. Then start again creating your own accounts.
3. Login as administrator, go into explorer, find and right click on the user id and then choose properties. At the bottom, uncheck the boxes that say read only and/or hidden. You can then either delete them right there or go in to control panel and delete them that way. However, since it's a hand me down PC, I would reinstall the OS if you have the CD and key. If not, just remove the ID's and any programs you don't want through the control panel option. You'll want to cleanup the PC as well once you've removed the ID's. If you're not sure how, just re-post. You'll get lots of help! :)