Can't get Computer Name (XP)

By adn_cube
in Microsoft (Windows)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Neowinian

adn_cube

Posted
Posted

Hello to you all, first please excuse my english for it's not my former language.

I just did something very stupid at work this morning.

We have a client computer under Windows XP Pro.

The network configuration on this computer had some things wrong (IP Adress, DNS, wins etc...) and our DPC had some problems to fully accept that client.

Ok, no problem, we move the client OUT of the domain, and we put it back in, clean. That should do it.

This computer is, for now, in NO domain. More exactly on the standard local group named WORKGROUP.

So we just have to log in back locally with the local administrator account we used before, restart our network configuration from the beginning, and put it back on the domain, this time correctly.

But...our administrator account to locally log in...is made of :

A login :

(the same one for ALL the computers of the company

A password :

made of the 3 same letters (always) and the LAST numbers and letters of the COMPUTER NAME.

Some of you perhaps see where I am coming...

I did NOT write down the name of the computer...(my boss is very happy atm...)

So I don't have anymore the local password, and of course I didn't add my administrator login as a local login... /clap

My question is :

Is there a way to see the computer name (the one you see when you right click on Computer / Network Identification), without starting the OS ? The problem is that the name is crypted while generated, I mean it follows no law. Techs are supposed to stick it on the laptop, but they forgot this one.

I tried a lot of things, even the safe mode doesn't show me the computer name.

Is there a way I remove the hard drive, put it on another computer, and find the name of that damn computer again ?

Because now...the computer is not usable anymore...

I hope the explaination of my problem is ok...feel free to ask me for details, and thanks by advance if you can help me.

adn_cube

http://www.eskwad.com

http://www.e-skwad.com

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/395342-cant-get-computer-name-xp/
Share on other sites
Rookie

Turge2000

Posted
Posted

When you boot up the system and it prompts you for the password, what do you see? The classic window logon screen, or the XP Welcome screen?

If you don't see the classic logon screen, press control-alt-delete twice and it should come up.

On the classic logon screen, you should see Username, Password and possibly Logon To (Maybe Workgroup, or domain). If you click the down-arrow beside Logon To, it should show you the computer name.

Veteran

k22

Posted
Posted
  Turge2000 said:
When you boot up the system and it prompts you for the password, what do you see? The classic window logon screen, or the XP Welcome screen?

If you don't see the classic logon screen, press control-alt-delete twice and it should come up.

On the classic logon screen, you should see Username, Password and possibly Logon To (Maybe Workgroup, or domain). If you click the down-arrow beside Logon To, it should show you the computer name.

586782848[/snapback]

yeah but since he is off of the domain it doesn't have a logon to field

Neowinian

adn_cube

Posted
  • Author
Posted

k22 : Ok I checked again. I hit F5 during boot up, and whataver I choose (even Safe mode with Command Line) it shows me the User and Password window. The system won't show me any prompt :(

Turge2000 : That was true when the computer was configured to reach any of our domains. Effectively we could see the "third window" aka Domain Names or "This Computer" with the "so valuable" computer name when we choosed to locally log in.

Since the computer has been set to log on his own Local Group, no way to get this third window anymore. Of course, for the system now, there's no need to :(

Furthermore, I tried to log with a boot disk onto wich I copied NTDetect.com, Boot.ini and NTLDR from another XP. The boot never occured correctly, and never shew me any prompt... Murphy's law...

Hopefully the DATA on this comp is not so important than it seemed, so if I can't find a solution we will just reghost it and WRITE DOWN that damn name once for all.

Neowinian

adn_cube

Posted
  • Author
Posted

TheReasonIFailed : I tried that first, but it didn't work, probably because of the initial problem of the computer, the fact that it couldn't be fully recognized by the DPC.

It's a client with his own IP Adress, not dynamic, so there is no trace of its activity on any log, on any server (just checked), so no way to solve its IP Adress.

I know, it seems complicated...it's just so dumb... :(

And now that it works locally, when I let it on the window asking for the Login and Pass, I can't ping its IP from another computer !

Dunno if it's linked to the fact it works locally now, and that it's not anymore supposed to log on a domain...

There is still activity behind the network card.

Rookie

MerlinTheCat

Posted
Posted

Should be quite simple -

1. Attach the pc to the network an boot it up, just leave at the log in prompt.

2. Go to another pc on the network and browse through network neighbourhood or network plces\entirenetwork into the workgroup, any pcs that are a member of the workgroup should be displayed here.

Neowinian

adn_cube

Posted
  • Author
Posted

MerlinTheCat :

  Quote
Should be quite simple -

1. Attach the pc to the network an boot it up, just leave at the log in prompt.

2. Go to another pc on the network and browse through network neighbourhood or network plces\entirenetwork into the workgroup, any pcs that are a member of the workgroup should be displayed here.

!!! I try that asap !!

Community Regular

AxelStone

Posted
Posted
  MerlinTheCat said:
Should be quite simple -

1. Attach the pc to the network an boot it up, just leave at the log in prompt.

2. Go to another pc on the network and browse through network neighbourhood or network plces\entirenetwork into the workgroup, any pcs that are a member of the workgroup should be displayed here.

586783027[/snapback]

or nbtstat, or look for barts pe disk. Make one and have winternals plugin installed on it. That way you can pull the name out of the registry.

Enthusiast

teh h4x0r5

Posted
Posted

Alternatively, you could reset the admin password with a windows resetter linux live disc. For obvious reasons, I cannot give you the link to download this with, but the NFO is as below and the ISO itself is 2.51MB:

  Quote
Windows Admin Hack allows you to reset the administrator password on Windows 2000 & XP.

The ISO must be burned onto a CD or Flash drive.

When you boot the PC with the CD, a mini version of linux starts which allows you to reset the administrator password to whatever you want.

If you still can't find it and want it, PM me. ;)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Raid 1 - How does it copy?

      By ShadeOfBlue · Posted

      If you look at all RAID implementations that exist, you're going to find exceptions. However, all the modern consumer varieties tend to have some things in common (by default). I'll stick to describing those. When you add a disk to a RAID array, metadata is stored at the end of the disk. It records the array the disk is part of, which other disks are in the array, etc. This is called the RAID superblock. If you create a RAID 1 array, your operating system will see them all as a single disk that is very slightly smaller than a single disk (due to the superblock). Everything you write to the RAID disk gets written identically to each of its member disks by the storage controller. Technically, disks are read/written in blocks (each block is multiple sectors in size), but this is all transparent to the user. Every file you create or change or delete is created/changed/deleted on every member disk simultaneously. This is true whether you have 2 disks in the array or more than 2.  If one disk completely fails, you can still operate just fine off the remaining disk(s) (but see the caution below). If you remove one disk and attach it to another PC, it should work fine. The partition information and everything is all at the front of the disk, just as expected. The superblock will just appear as some extra junk at the very end of the disk, outside any partition. In some scenarios, where it is recognized as a RAID member disk from another PC, there might be an extra step before it will let you use it, but it's all very doable. Caution:  Blocks are read from the disks in a staggered fashion. For example, with 2 disks, all the odd blocks are read from one disk and all the even blocks are read from the other. By working together like this, read speeds can be practically doubled. But this comes with a huge drawback. If a disk doesn't fail completely, but instead develops bad sectors, you may not realize it. The bad sectors may happen to be in blocks that are never read on that disk. In some cases, people have had bad sectors develop on one disk, then had the other disk fail, and only then realized that the remaining disk has bad sectors and corrupt data. Every backup method has its pros and cons. Never trust just RAID, or just an external HDD, or just the cloud. Use multiple methods to backup important data.
    • Microsoft explains why Windows 10 users should upgrade to Windows 11

      By Orrelix Organimus · Posted

      Evidence that it affects "most" people negatively? Based on what? The fact that their are millions of users in fact show me the opposite, that "most" are quite happy.
    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By snowy owl · Posted

    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By Sulphy · Posted

    • Here's your first look at Raycast for Windows, now in beta

      By binaryzero · Posted

      Raycast ftw.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      Kavin25 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      Leonard grant earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pcdoctorsnet earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rising Star
      Phillip0web went up a rank
      Rising Star
    • One Month Later
      Epaminombas earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      537
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      205
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      167
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      151
    5. 5
      Som
      127
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!