# Do Compaq WinXP installs have default admin passwords?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-compaq-winxp-installs-have-default-admin-passwords/419225>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 14, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-compaq-winxp-installs-have-default-admin-passwords/419225 "2007-09-14T20:35:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-compaq-winxp-installs-have-default-admin-passwords/419225/1 "2007-09-14T20:35:23Z")

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A compaq laptop is being put through the repair function from the CD, because it stopped fully booting. The user (my brother) is being asked for an admin password he doesn’t know, because he’s never used one before. He has tried just pressing Enter, too.

Is there a default, or is there some other issue we’re not understanding here? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-compaq-winxp-installs-have-default-admin-passwords/419225/2 "2007-09-14T20:50:36Z")

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has your brother tried his password?

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**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-compaq-winxp-installs-have-default-admin-passwords/419225/3 "2007-09-14T21:00:45Z")

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I found that it can be a real pain to access the system using the recovery console and suggest using a tool called BartPE. With it, you make a bootable CD loaded with tools and it should allow you to access and hopefully diagnose what’s wrong with the computer. Here’s the thread I started when I had a similar problem:

> **[Pre-loaded winXP: when is Administrator password set?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=412178)**
>
> I have a laptop PC that was purchased at Best Buy with windows XP pre-loaded. From the beginning, I’ve been using a windows user I created when I first started using the machine, and don’t remember ever having to set the “real” Administrator user’s...