How to fix NTDETECT Error in Windows XP

Once in a while you might find this error after booting the system. The error usually states that NTDETECT missing or corrupt. So how do you fix it? For novice users it might be a tough problem that may result in re-installation of OS. All in all it’s just a matter of repairing this file or copying the file back. So how do you go about it?

a)Insert the Windows XP boot disk in your drive.

b) Restart the system using this boot disk (Boot from the CD/DVD drive).

c) Wait for the setup to complete and then choose from the options given “repair from recovery console” option.

d) On the recovery console mode choose the drive to repair which is of course mostly by default is Drive C.

e) Enter the Administrator’s password; in case if the Administrator’s account has no password just press the enter key.

f) Change to the CD/DVD drive directory from Drive C: by typing this command C:\ cd D: - meaning change from directory C to D which is for the CD/DVD Drive.

g) When in CD/DVD drive change to Directory i386 by typing this command D:\ cd i386 and press enter key.

h) In this directory copy a file known as NTDETECT.COM to the hard drive C: by typing this command
D:\i386 copy ntdetect.com C: and press enter key

i) The file is already copied now by getting the message that “1 file(s) copied successfully”.

j) Change back to directory C from D:\i386 and press enter key
In directory C: run the Check Disk utility to verify your drive by tying this command
C:\ chkdsk /p and then press enter key

It will check for errors and repair them if any found.

k) The system is ok. Type EXIT command – C:\ exit and press enter key.
The system restarts and boots ok.

For more and comments please let me know.
8ZAPRD7Q3MZ7

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How to deal with forgotten passwords in Windows Operating Systems Platform

Once in a while you may be challenged in logging into your pc when you forget the password. It might be even more trickier and cumbersome when you can’t remember the Administrator’s password.

Am I speaking sense? I bet at time or severally you have met this challenge and if not probably in the near future you would. Recently I had a challenge in that I could not log in to a certain PC since the passwords were forgotten and more so the Administrator’s password. This meant that I had no chance of getting in the system and reset all passwords. Wow! it was a nightmare for me. I had to research and look into ways to get into the system. So what is the solution to this problem?

Just get password recovery tools and be able to amend, do away with (delete) the passwords without a lot of problems. There are several password recovery tools available online for purchase as well as others for free.

One of the tools that truly and immensely helped me in solving this problem is the Hiren’s Boot Disk. It has what it takes in recovery of passwords in order to alleviate you from hassles of data loss through hard disk formatting.

To get this tool just click here Hiren’s Boot Disk. Download this tool and use it appropriately. Thanks to this tool a million times for its innovation. However there are other tools you can download to use.

Hiren's Boot Disk has some extremely good features (tools) bundled in it that would of great help besides password recovery tool. These extra tools are:

Partition Magic Pro 8.05 Best software to partition hard drive Acronis Disk Director Suite 9.0.554 Popular disk management functions in a single suite Paragon Partition Manager 7.0.1274 Universal tool for partitions Partition Commander 9.01 The safe way to partition your hard drive,with undo feature Ranish Partition Manager 2.44 a boot manager and hard disk partitioner. The Partition Resizer 1.3.4 move and resize your partitions in one step and more. Smart Fdisk 2.05 a simple harddisk partition manager SPecial Fdisk 2000.03t SPFDISK a partition tool. eXtended Fdisk 0.9.3 XFDISK allows easy partition creation and edition GDisk 1.1.1 Complete replacement for the DOS FDISK utility and more. Super Fdisk 1.0 Create, delete, format partitions drives without destroying data. Partition Table Editor 8.0 Partition Table and Boot Record Editor

Disk Clone Tools

ImageCenter 5.6 (Drive Image 2002) Best software to clone hard drive Norton Ghost 11.5 Similar to Drive Image (with usb/scsi support) Acronis True Image 8.1.945 Create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning. Partition Saving 3.60 A tool to backup/restore partitions. (SavePart.exe) COPYR.DMA Build013 A Tool for making copies of hard disks with bad sectors

Antivirus Tools

McAfee Antivirus 4.4.50 (3012) a virus scanner (with ntfs support and easy to use menu)

Recovery Tools

Active Partition Recovery 3.0 To Recover a Deleted partition. Active Uneraser 3.0 To recover deleted files and folders on FAT and NTFS systems. Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro 6.10 To Recover data that has been deleted/virus attack Winternals Disk Commander 1.1 more than just a standard deleted-file recovery utility TestDisk 6.10 Tool to check and undelete partition. Lost & Found 1.06 a good old data recovery software. DiyDataRecovery Diskpatch 2.1.100 An excellent data recovery software. Prosoft Media Tools 5.0 v1.1.2.64 Another excellent data recovery software with many other options. PhotoRec 6.10 File and pictures recovery Tool.

Testing Tools

System Speed Test 4.78 it tests CPU, harddrive, ect. PC-Check 6.5 Easy to use hardware tests Ontrack Data Advisor 5.0 Powerful diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of your computer The Troubleshooter 7.02 all kind of hardware testing tool PC Doctor 2004 a benchmarking and information tool CPU/Video/Disk Performance Test 5.7 a tool to test cpu, video, and disk Test Hard Disk Drive 1.0 a tool to test Hard Disk Drive

RAM (Memory) Testing Tools

GoldMemory 5.07 RAM Test utility Memtest86+ 2.11 PC Memory Test

Hard Disk Tools

Hard Disk Diagnostic Utilities Seagate Seatools Desktop Edition 3.02 Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools Western Digital Diagnostics (DLGDIAG) 5.04f Maxtor PowerMax 4.23 Maxtor amset utility 4.0 Maxtor(or any Hdd) Low Level Formatter 1.1 Fujitsu HDD Diagnostic Tool 7.00 Fujitsu IDE Low Level Format 1.0 Samsung HDD Utility(HUTIL) 2.10 Samsung Disk Diagnose (SHDIAG) 1.28 IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.11 IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool 2.11 Gateway GwScan 5.12 ExcelStor's ESTest 4.50 MHDD 4.6 WDClear 1.30 Toshiba Hard Disk Diagnostic 2.00b SeaTools for Dos 1.10 HDD Regenerator 1.51 to recover a bad hard drive HDAT2 4.53 main function is testing and repair (regenerates) bad sectors for detected devices Ontrack Disk Manager 9.57 Disk Test/Format/Maintenance tool. Norton Disk Doctor 2002 a tool to repair a damaged disk, or to diagnose your hard drive. Norton Disk Editor 2002 a powerful disk editing, manual data recovery tool. Hard Disk Sentinel 0.02 Hard Disk health, performance and temperature monitoring tool. Active Kill Disk 4.1 Securely overwrites and destroys all data on physical drive. SmartUDM 2.00 Hard Disk Drive S.M.A.R.T. Viewer. Victoria 3.33e and 3.52rus a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics HDD Erase 4.0 Secure erase using a special feature built into most newer hard drives

System Information Tools

Aida16 2.14 a system information tool, extracts details of all components of the PC PCI and AGP info Tool (3012) The PCI System information & Exploration tool. System Analyser 5.3u View extensive information about your hardware Navratil Software System Information 0.60.32 High-end professional system information tool Astra 5.41 Advanced System info Tool and Reporting Assistant HWiNFO 5.2.5 a powerful system information utility PC-Config 9.33 Complete hardware detection of your computer SysChk 2.46 Find out exactly what is under the hood of your PC CPU Identification utility 1.15 Detailed information on CPU (CHKCPU.EXE) CTIA CPU Information 2.7 another CPU information tool

MBR (Master Boot Record) Tools

MBRWork 1.07b a utility to perform some common and uncommon MBR functions MBR Tool 2.2.100 backup, verify, restore, edit, refresh, remove, display, re-write... DiskMan4 all in one tool for cmos, bios, bootrecord and more BootFix Utility Run this utility if you get 'Invalid system disk' MBR SAVE / RESTORE 2.1 BootSave and BootRest tools to save / restore MBR Boot Partition 2.60 add Partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader Partition Table Doctor 3.5 a tool to repair/modify mbr, bootsector, partition table Smart Boot Manager 3.7.1 a multi boot manager Bootmagic 8.0 This tool is for multi boot operating systems MBRWizard 2.0b Directly update and modify the MBR (Master Boot Record)

BIOS / CMOS Tools

CMOS 0.93 CMOS Save / Restore Tool BIOS Cracker 4.8 BIOS password remover (cmospwd) BIOS Cracker 1.4 BIOS password remover (cmospwc) BIOS Utility 1.35.0 BIOS Informations, password, beep codes and more. !BIOS 3.20 a powerfull utility for bios and cmos DISKMAN4 a powerful all in one utility UniFlash 1.40 bios flash utility Kill CMOS a tiny utility to wipe cmos Award DMI Configuration Utility 2.43 DMI Configuration utility for modifying/viewing the MIDF contents.

MultiMedia Tools

Picture Viewer 1.94 Picture viewer for dos, supports more then 40 filetypes. QuickView Pro 2.58 movie viewer for dos, supports many format including divx. MpxPlay 1.56 a small Music Player for dos

Password Tools

Active Password Changer 3.0.420 To Reset User Password on windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista (FAT/NTFS) Offline NT/2K/XP Password Changer utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password. Registry Reanimator 1.02 Check and Restore structure of the Damaged Registry files of NT/2K/XP NTPWD utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password. Registry Viewer 4.2 Registry Viewer/Editor for Win9x/Me/NT/2K/XP ATAPWD 1.2 Hard Disk Password Utility

NTFS (FileSystems) Tools

NTFS Dos Pro 5.0 To access ntfs partitions from Dos NTFS 4 Dos 1.9 To access ntfs partitions from Dos Paragon Mount Everything 3.0 To access NTFS, Ext2FS, Ext3FS partitions from dos NTFS Dos 3.02 To access ntfs partitions from Dos EditBINI 1.01 to Edit boot.ini on NTFS Partition

Dos File Managers

Volkov Commander 4.99 Dos File Manager with LongFileName/ntfs support (Similar to Norton Commander) Dos Command Center 5.1 Classic dos-based file manager. File Wizard 1.35 a file manager - colored files, drag and drop copy, move, delete etc. File Maven 3.5 an advanced Dos file manager with high speed PC-to-PC file transfers via serial or parallel cable FastLynx 2.0 Dos file manager with Pc to Pc file transfer capability LapLink 5.0 the smart way to transfer files and directories between PCs. Dos Navigator 6.4.0 Dos File Manager, Norton Commander clone but has much more features. Mini Windows 98 Can run from Ram Drive, with ntfs support, Added 7-Zip which supports .7z .zip .cab .rar .arj .gzip, .bzip2 .z .tar .cpio .rpm and .deb Disk Defragmenter, Notepad / RichText Editor, Image Viewer, .avi .mpg .divx .xvid Movie Player, etc...

Other Tools

Ghost Walker 2003.793 utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP DosCDroast beta 2 Dos CD Burning Tools Universal TCP/IP Network 6.2 MSDOS Network Client to connect via TCP/IP to a Microsoft based network. The network can either be a peer-to-peer or a server based network, it contains 91 different network card drivers

Dos Tools

USB CD-Rom Driver 1 Standard usb_cd.sys driver for cd drive Universal USB Driver 2 Panasonic v2.20 ASPI Manager for USB mass storage ASUSTeK USB Driver 3 ASUS USB CD-ROM Device Driver Version 1.00 SCSI Support SCSI Drivers for Dos SATA Support SATA Driver (gcdrom.sys) and JMicron JMB361 (xcdrom.sys) for Dos 1394 Firewire Support 1394 Firewire Drivers for Dos Interlnk support at COM1 To access another computer from COM port Interlnk support at LPT1 To access another computer from LPT port and too many great dos tools very good collection of dos utilities extract.exe pkzip.exe pkunzip.exe unrar.exe rar.exe ace.exe lha.exe gzip.exe uharcd.exe mouse.com attrib.com deltree.exe xcopy.exe diskcopy.com imgExtrc.exe undelete.com edit.com fdisk.exe fdisk2.exe fdisk3.exe lf.exe delpart.exe wipe.com zap.com format.com move.exe more.com find.exe hex.exe debug.exe split.exe mem.exe mi.com sys.com smartdrv.exe xmsdsk.exe killer.exe share.exe scandisk.exe scanreg.exe guest.exe doskey.exe duse.exe biosdtct.exe setver.exe intersvr.exe interlnk.exe loadlin.exe lfndos.exe doslfn.com

Windows Tools

SpaceMonger 1.4 keeping track of the free space on your computer WinDirStat 1.1.2.80 a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Windows. Drive Temperature 1.0 Hard Disk Drive temperature meter Disk Speed1.0 Hard Disk Drive Speed Testing Tool MemTest 1.0 a Memory Testing Tool S&M Stress Test 1.9.1 cpu/hdd/memory benchmarking and information tool, including temperatures/fan speeds/voltages PageDfrg 2.32 System file Defragmenter For NT/2k/XP WhitSoft File Splitter 4.5a a Small File Split-Join Tool 7-Zip 4.62 File Manager/Archiver Supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS formats Off By One Browser 3.5d an independent web browser that runs completely self- contained Ghost Image Explorer 11.5 to add/remove/extract files from Ghost image file DriveImage Explorer 5.0 to add/remove/extract files from Drive image file Drive SnapShot 1.39 creates an exact Disk Image of your system into a file while windows is running. Active Undelete 5.5 a tool to recover deleted files Restoration 3.2.13 a tool to recover deleted files GetDataBack for FAT 2.31 Data recovery software for FAT file systems GetDataBack for NTFS 2.31 Data recovery software for NTFS file systems Recuva 1.22.384 Restore deleted files from Hard Drive, Digital Camera Memory Card, usb mp3 player... Partition Find and Mount 2.3.1 Partition Find and Mount software is designed to find lost or deleted partitions Unstoppable Copier 3.56 Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data. HDD Scan 3.1 This is a Low-level HDD diagnostic tool, it scans surface find bad sectors etc. HDTune 2.55 Hard disk benchmarking and information tool. Express Burn 4.16 CD/DVD Burner Program to create and record CDs/DVDs, also create/burn .iso and .nrg images Data Shredder 1.0 A tool to Erase disk and files (also wipe free space) securely Startup Control Panel 2.8 a tool to edit startup programs NT Registry Optimizer 1.1j Registry Optimization for Windows NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista Registry Editor PE 0.9c Easy editing of remote registry hives and user profiles DefragNT 1.9 This tool presents the user with many options for disk defragmenting JkDefrag 3.36 Free disk defragment and optimize utility for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista Startup Monitor 1.02 it notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup IB Process Manager 1.04 a little process manager for 9x/2k, shows dll info etc. Process Explorer 11.31 shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded Pocket KillBox 2.0.0.978 can be used to get rid of files that stubbornly refuse to allow you to delete them Unlocker 1.8.7 This tool can delete file/folder when you get this message - Cannot delete file: Access is denied, The file is in use by another program etc. HijackThis 2.0.2 a general homepage hijackers detector and remover and more RootkitRevealer 1.7.1 Rootkit Revealer is an advanced patent-pending root kit detection utility. Silent Runners Revision 59 A free script that helps detect spyware, malware and adware in the startup process Autoruns 9.37 Displays All the entries from startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys, Explorer shell extensions,toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, Scheduled Tasks, Winsock, LSA Providers, Remove Drivers and much more which helps to remove nasty spyware/adware and viruses. Dial a Fix 0.60.0.24 Fix errors and problems with COM/ActiveX object errors and missing registry entries, Automatic Updates, SSL, HTTPS, and Cryptography service (signing/verification) issues, Reinstall internet explorer etc. comes with the policy scanner CurrPorts 1.55 displays the list of all currently opened TCP and UDP ports on your computer Unknown Devices 1.2 (3012) helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are PCI 32 Sniffer 1.4 (3012) device information tool (similar to unknown devices) NewSID 4.10 utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP Smart Driver Backup 2.12 Easy backup of your Windows device drivers (also works from PE) Double Driver 1.0 Driver Backup and Restore tool DriverBackup! 1.0.3 Another handy tool to backup drivers CPU-Z 1.49 It gathers information on some of the main devices of your system CWShredder 2.19 Popular CoolWebSearch Trojan Remover tool SmitFraudFix 2.387 This removes Some of the popular Desktop Hijack malware Winsock 2 Fix for 9x to fix corrupted Winsock2 information by poorly written Internet programs XP TCP/IP Repair 1.0 Repair your Windows XP Winsock and TCP/IP registry errors CCleaner 2.15.815 Crap Cleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool EzPcFix 1.0.0.16 Helpful tool when trying to remove viruses, spyware, and malware Content Advisor Password Remover 1.0 It Removes Content Advisor Password from Internet Explorer Password Renew 1.1 Utility to (re)set windows passwords WindowsGate 1.1 Enables/Disables Windows logon password validation WinKeyFinder 1.73 Allows you to View and Change Windows XP/2003 Product Keys, backup and restore activation related files, backup Microsoft Office 97, 2000 SP2, XP/2003 keys etc. ProduKey 1.35 Recovers lost the product key of your Windows/Office Wireless Key View 1.20 Recovers all wireless network keys (WEP/WPA) stored in your computer by WZC Monitor Tester 1.0 Allows you to test CRT/LCD/TFT screens for dead pixels and diffective screens Shell Extensions Manager (ShellExView) 1.35 An excellent tool to View and Manage all installed Context-menu/Shell extensions Ultimate Windows Tweaker 1.0 A TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista TweakUI 2.10 This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows Xp Xp-AntiSpy 3.97 it tweaks some Windows XP functions, and disables some unneeded Windows services quickly PC Wizard 2008.1.871 Powerful system information/benchmark utility designed especially for detection of hardware. SIW 2008-12-16 Gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings. Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6 (3012) Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software. SpywareBlaster 4.1 (3012) Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Ad-Aware SE Personal 1.06 (3012) find and remove spyware, adware, dialers etc. (a must have tool)

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Dealing with 'Forgotten Passwords' in Windows XP for Notebooks

Have you ever forgotten your password to log in to your machine? Yeah sure of cause this is common to many users. Honestly I do occassionally due to administration of many accounts as well the continous change of passwords. It's not a new thing to many PC or Notebook Users since more than often we would find ourselves locked in this situation.

Description There are multiple levels of password security built into a Notebook computer. Windows Login Windows Administrator Power On Drive Lock During logon you may be required to enter one or more of these passwords if you have created a password for one of these security levels during a previous session. If you have forgotten or lost one of these passwords, you will have to use one of the following methods to access the computer depending on the password that is being requested. NOTE: Passwords are great for preventing access to your computer, but they can be a major problem if they are forgotten. It is a good idea to write down all of your passwords and keep them in a secure place. Solution Windows Login The Windows Login password is needed to access Windows from the Login screen if a password was set for that user. Use one of the following options to reset a Windows login password. Option 1: Login as another user If there is more than one Windows user enabled on the PC, their login can be used to reset the login with the missing password. Use the following steps to reset the password. NOTE: This option can only be used if the other user account is enabled as an "administrator" account. Login to the other user name. Select Control Panel from the START menu. Select User Accounts. The next step varies by version of Windows you are using. Windows XP Home Select the User's name that needs to be reset. Select Change Password and follow the directions. Windows XP Pro Select User Accounts. Highlight the User's name that needs to be reset and follow the directions provided at the bottom. Option 2: Startup in Safe Mode The Windows Administrator account is accessible from Safe Mode. Any user account can be reset from the Windows Administrator account. Use the following steps to access Safe Mode and reset the user account with the missing password. Hold the Power Button in for 5 seconds to turn off the computer. Wait 5 seconds and press the Power Button again to start the computer. Press F8 after the HP or Compaq logo screen, but before the Windows logo screen is displayed. Select Safe Mode from the Windows Advanced Options Menu. Select the Administrator account. NOTE: If Administrator is not listed as one of the options, type Administrator into username: of the login screen. NOTE: HP does not create an Administrator password by default. If the Administrator password was created, it will need to be entered to login as Administrator. If the Administrator password is lost or forgotten, see the Windows Administrator options below. Select Control Panel from the Start Menu. Select User Accounts. Select the User's name that you wish to reset the password for. Select Change Password and follow the on-screen instructions. Option 3: Delete additional user accounts If the notebook boots into a non-administrator account, this account and additional accounts may be deleted using the following steps: Start the notebook and allow Microsoft Windows XP to completely load. If Microsoft Windows XP opens to a user account, click Start, Log Off and then click the Log Off button. At the Log On to Windows screen, press Ctrl + Alt + Del keys in sequence. In the username field, type administrator In the password field, type the administrator password. NOTE: HP does not create an Administrator password by default. If the Administrator password was created, it will need to be entered to login as Administrator. If the Administrator password is lost or forgotten, see the Windows Administrator options below. Click Enter. Microsoft Windows XP should be logged on to the Administrator account. Click Start, Control Panel and then click User Accounts. Select the account to delete. Click Delete the account. Select to Keep Files or Delete Files. Click Delete Account. The account has been deleted. Repeat Steps 9 through 11 for additional accounts. Windows Administrator The Windows Administrator password prevents non-administrator Windows users from changing the Windows configuration or adding new applications. Some applications will not run unless the user is the Windows administrator. Because of this limitation, by default the administrator password is not set on HP Notebook PCs. If you have set the Windows Administrator password, make sure you write it down and put it in a safe place. If you forget the password, the solution is to re-install Windows. Power On The Power On password is set in the System BIOS options. It prevents unwanted users from accessing the computer. By default, most Notebooks do not set the Power On password. If you set the Power On password in the System BIOS options you will be prompted for it immediately after you power on the Notebook PC. If this password is forgotten, a repair at a Notebook certified repair center is required to reset the computer. Drive Lock The Drive Lock password protects the data on your hard drive through encryption. If your computer is stolen, the data on the hard drive is inaccessible without the Drive Lock password. This password can not be reset. If it is lost or forgotten, the hard drive must be replaced. Please contact Notebook approved centre to order a new hard drive. More than often this service is not covered by the warranty.

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