Forgot / Lost my User Password (Windows XP)?

Infopackets Reader Sandie R. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

You are always so helpful with the tips you give in your newsletter! I hope you can help me. Three years ago, I purchased a used HP Pavilion desktop computer with Windows XP installed on it. After 1 year of usage, I decided to upgrade and packed away the old computer.

The other day, I was doing some spring cleaning and decided to unpack the old computer and fire it up. Unfortunately, I forgot my Windows XP user password, and now I can't login. Is there anything I can do to get past the password? Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can offer! "

My response:

You can salvage your old user account by logging on as the "Administrator" user. Once you're logged in as the admin, you can reset your old user password. The Administrator user (by default) is similar to a "superuser" and has the highest access level to reset any user password.

If you don't know what your Administrator password is, you can reset that by rebooting into Safe Mode. See:

Can't login to Admin Account (WinXP)