Dell Dimension C521--how do i reset or delete a user account and password?

Question

Hello, a friend of mine gave me his Dell Dimension C521 tower.It runs on windows vista home premium, 2GB of RAM, 250GB of HDD memory. He told me that the problem he's been having is that he can't get access the user account that appears at start-up. He also told me that he took his computer to someone so that they can get rid of some viruses the computer had. From what he told me, he says that he couldn't remember the password to his computer, i told him to press the CTRL + F11 to restore the computer to Factory Settings, it doesn't go to that method, instead, it tells you that windows had an error with software or hardware or whatever and it gives you two options : Repair windows or start windows normally, either choice i picked it started the same. The MAIN problem is this user account that requires USERNAME and PASSWORD to log on, is there any program(s) or any way to fix this? By the way, i pressed the f1 to go to the computer settings, i went to the admin password, setted up a password ,me thinking that THAT would solve the problem and thinking that i will logon with that password, i just made things more complicated, I really need help with this, it's really annoying and i don't know what to do.

Answer 1

your system only has a utility partition not a recovery partition



the utility partition only does system diagnostics and does not do a factory reset



you need to use the recovery discs to do a reinstall of the system

there's a minimum of 2 recovery discs

a> the operating system disc

b> the drivers disc



ask for the media, if your friend doesn't have the discs

then you'll need to get an OS and try to find the drivers from the Dell site using the

service tag / express service code (usually on a small black sticker)

Answer 2

I tried all of these and cannot get past the password code.

I removed the cmos code using the jumpers but this is not what

I am trying to do. I wrote down the password and confirmed it

but now it will not accept the confirmed password.

Answer 3

Try this - click on the "start" button, then click "control panel", then "user accounts".........................you should be able to change any account and eliminate passwords, etc. If that does not work, look at the Windows website for a solution and if needed, send Windows an email - they will help you via the telephone