Need help!! Changed XP Domain / Workgroup setting now it doesn't let me login!

[zeep]

So my girlfriends (corporate) laptop is bluescreening more and more lately. It seems the HD is dying. Anyway, i wanted to backup het documents and such on my pc.
I went to System properties, Computer name. Normally it's connected to the corporate Domain so i clicked Change and entered the name of my local Workgroup (which greyed out the Domain name). XP asked me for an account and passwork that had the rights to make that change, i entered her login and password and XP accepted it and prompted for reboot.

After the reboot the Domain field was gone in the login screen which is probably normal, her user name was there as always and i typed her password but XP doesn't accept it and i can't login. I'm panicing at the moment and she's not all too happy with my 'trying to help'. I'm not sure why XP doesn't accept the password now which IS correct and the same as it was before, but i guess it has to do with the switching from Domain to Workgroup.

I immediately tried rebooting with F8 and let xp restore the Last Configuration That Worked but it didn't undo the change i made.

My gf is pretty pissed as am i right now. How the hell can i either login or undo the change i made? She can't login on the network at work tomorrow because of this and the IT department is gonna be pissed. There are documents on her laptop that are important. She also manages her Boss' email.

Oh man, i need help.

*moved from vanilla OT

 

[Mr. Apocalypse]

Can you access the laptop's administrative share?

The problem with moving XP from a domain to a workgroup, is that it doesnt let you use any of the domain log in accounts, so unless you can access te local administrator acount, you are kinda screwed.

You might be able to use a bootable linux type thing (like Knopix) to copy the the files, but you need to learn a bit about how to mount knopix so that you can write to the hard drive/external drive.

 

[MP_Lord_Kee]

Dunno if it could work in your setup but have you tried the for the name something like this:
domain\name (never remember which way that slash go..)

Anyhow, hope ya get it to work again.

//K

 

[Hadmar]

Unless there exists some kind of hack I'm unaware of you are screwed as far as the pissed IT department goes. Was the account you entered for the change from domain to workgroup a local account or her domain account? If local try to log on with it. Your other options to get the files are a Linux life CD as mentioned above or a BartPE CD.You can also remove the HD from the laptop and connect it to your PC but you need a converter for that. How much more the pissed level rises from that is a different topic and I wouldn't recomend it.

Take the laptop to the IT guys, that must happen sooner or later anyway.* And it will teach them not to give users admin rights on their laptops.


*edit*
*Or get the files and wait till the HD realy dies - if it does - to cover up what you did.

 

[zeep]

Can you access the laptop's administrative share?

The problem with moving XP from a domain to a workgroup, is that it doesnt let you use any of the domain log in accounts, so unless you can access te local administrator acount, you are kinda screwed.

You might be able to use a bootable linux type thing (like Knopix) to copy the the files, but you need to learn a bit about how to mount knopix so that you can write to the hard drive/external drive.

I'm trying to reach her friend at work who might know the admin account name, my gf thinks she may know the pw. Chances are he doesn't know it though.

Unless there exists some kind of hack I'm unaware of you are screwed as far as the pissed IT department goes. Was the account you entered for the change from domain to workgroup a local account or her domain account? If local try to log on with it. Your other options to get the files are a Linux life CD as mentioned above or a BartPE CD.You can also remove the HD from the laptop and connect it to your PC but you need a converter for that. How much more the pissed level rises from that is a different topic and I wouldn't recomend it.

Take the laptop to the IT guys, that must happen sooner or later anyway.* And it will teach them not to give users admin rights on their laptops.


*edit*
*Or get the files and wait till the HD realy dies - if it does - to cover up what you did.

The account i entered for the change was her domain account. All the accounts on her laptop are domain accounts. I know that the administrator account isn't called Administrator but i don't recall what it is. She has a pretty good idea what the admin password is so i only need to know the logon for that now.

I'm not sure if i can use BartPE because my xp is SP1 and hers is SP2, i fear for incompatibilities and such but it does seem like my only option for now.

I think what i need now is just some bootable cd -like BartPE- that allows me to read the hd so that i can see the name of the admin account.

Making her take the laptop to the IT guys will surely cause some problems, apart from her losing faith in me. ( Considering the hd is presumably dying i think my best bet may be to connect the hd to my pc before it fails completely. I'll have to see what converter i need for that because i don't know.)

 

[Hadmar]

BartPE is its own OS running from a CD from which you can access NTFS file systems, you don't change anything on the HD and don't have to fear SPx incompatiblitys. Try it and forget about the adapter.

Depending on how the domain is used sooner or later the IT guys will have a look at what's wrong with the laptop and once that happens they will know about the change to a workgroup unless a virus erases everything or so (not a suggestion). A connection to the domain and a domain account with the necessary rights is needed to re-add the laptop to the domain. What they make of the workgroup thingy is up for speculation but it can only get worse in case they figure out someone removed the HD from the laptop. Hence BartPE.

 

[zeep]

Thanks for the tips guys, really appreciate it. I've spoken with her friend at work and he gave me the local administrator login / pw so at least she can get to her documents now. As you said Hadmar, i can't re-add the laptop back to the domain so IT is going to know anyway. So i swallowed my pride and gave her the laptop to take to work..

BartPE i will definitely keep on standby in case something like this happens again.

On a side note i have experienced something weird in the network properties after i logged in as administrator: I went into the LAN TCP/IP properties and set a 192 ip for my network but then when i then checked it's ip adress it was a 169 range ip. Repairing didn't help, it wouldn't take as long as windows normally would for a 169 ip but it wouldn't get the 192 ip range i entered either. Also, it would say the 169 ip was manually entered. Checking the TCP/IP properties again did show the 192 adress i entered there, still going to Status -> Support (details) shows a 169 range. What can have caused this?
I hate not understanding stuff.

 

[Mr. Apocalypse]

With the admin password you could re-add it to the domain if you could dial in, or VPN in.

 

[Harrm]

Would a static IP not work in this case?

--Harrm