I have a friend's laptop running Windows XP SP3 which refuses to log in.
It has a single user account (besides Administrator) without a password.
Now, however, the Welcome screen shows the account as if it had a password, and any attempt to log in (even to Administrator, or to a non-existent username) results in the error message The system cannot log you on now because the domain D2NPL961 is not available. (D2NPL961 is the computer's machine name; it is not joined to a domain)
Safe mode doesn't change anything.
The Windows Classic logon dialog (Ctrl+Alt+Del) does not show the Domain dropdown.
I tried editing the registry offline (in ERD Commander) and making the domain name in Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon blank, but that didn't change anything.
I tried DreamPackPL, but it didn't affect anything. (Apparently, the error is too early in the logon process)
I tried setting the screensaver for the logon screen to cmd, and I was able to confirm that the machine name is D2NPL961, but I was unable to elevate to admin and do any good.
In the screensaver, the runas command produces the error 1056 An instance of the service is already running; I don't know if that's normal in this situation.
I'd like to try a repair install, but I cannot get administrative privileges.
Has anyone seen this before, or know what might be wrong?
Alteratively, how can I elevate to admin without logging on?
EDIT: To make it clear, the problem here is not a password.
Answer
I booted the system to a Windows XP CD and performed a repair install from the CD.
It's now working fine (AFAIK).
I still don't know what happened, though.
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