I tried rebooting drive and after initial splash showing XP, bios and then opetion to F2 or F12, the montor goes blank with a single cursor flicker then nothing. CTR-alt-del brings me back to splash page then I can go to system SETUP, and have also raqn diagnostics. I get harddrive info and statistices etc...then it SAYS bad sector at )11221111xxxx) the says in cannot go further.
Question: can I repair and save my data? 2. if I reformat or ru the XP installation CD will that corect it (plus erase the data?)

Next, I have an exact model computer (Dell Optiplex) and it is working fine. I took the harddrive out of that machine replacing harddrive on the above presumed bad drive PC and the system now boots up and go to the username password page.

NOw get this....the admin passwords are exactly the same for both machines and harddrvies. Yet when I get to the password it doesn't recognize it!!

What gives!!!!! is ther a way to remove the password through the system startup or dos?

Thanks and I aplogize for the lengthy post!! Welcome to the CH forums.

It surprises me that folks who use passwords do not have password recovery\deletion software to hand for when passwords go belly up.

Here is one site which claims its PROGRAM will recover/delete passwords, there are many more.

Note: I have not tried this program so cannot comment on its efficiency.

If you can get one of your systems to perform then run CHKDSK /F on the defective drive. This may give you time to recover files with minimal loss but be aware that your hdd is dying and think about replacement.

Good luck.Thank you Dusty,

I will look into the password recovery program you suggest. And I will purchase a NEW HD ASAP!