[SOLVED] Joining a Windows domain, Difficulty: Hard

whuppins

Just like how you shouldn't drive drunk, you shouldn't go around messing with network settings when you're running on very little sleep.

I have an XP Pro machine that up until a few minutes ago was part of a domain. I changed it to be a member of a workgroup, without realizing that doing so would force me to log in to the machine locally. I don't know any of the user names/passwords for the local box, including Administrator. Is there any way to get it to rejoin the domain if I'm unable to actually log in to Windows?

stigweard

Grab a utility to wipe the password from the administrator account and then login and re-join the domain. If you aren't the domain administrator, you still won't be able to do it. You also might have a few other 'minor' problems like needing to re-add your domain user to the local administrator group, and recovering your profile data.

whuppins

Where can I find such a utility?

AtomBomb

Have you tried administrator with no password to log on to the local machine?

whuppins

Yes. The local administrator account thing is not going to happen. I think that account's name was even changed from Administrator. I either need to force it to authenticate through the domain, or find a way to reset that account's credentials.

Djeet

I haven't had to do what you're trying to do but some light googling shows:

If you have the installation cd keys this method is documented in several places.

This offline password reset utility is well regarded.

And if you can find the password hash, there are places online that will decode them.

I'd probably try the offline utility first. The online password recovery service I'd baulk at, but I found it on petri.co.il, which I find normally to be a pretty good source for quick Windows IT fixes/tips.

whuppins

I've had trouble with those linux boot disks in the past, but that util worked like a charm. Thanks so much!