So I got this Acer tablet PC off of craigslist for a couple of hundred dollars. I figure I can use it for basic email in the kitchen/public spaces in the house. However while it boots up just fine, turns out there some sort of username/password thing going on that I can’t get pass. Turns out the reason the guy was selling it was basically the same thing. He bought it at an action of some business that went under and couldn’t do anything about it.
So now I’m stuck with this thing…I can’t believe that there isn’t some way for me to get it working. Normally I’d just install Windows XP and be done with it, but this doesn’t have a CD drive. It does have USB, but I’m not sure how to use that to install an OS. I could probably find a copy of Ubuntu that I could load off of an USB device, but will that work for a tablet? According to a quick look at the Acer web-site, these things are only designed to work with Microsoft XP Tablet edition…which you can’t buy from Microsoft. Do I now just have a $230 paperweight? Any suggestions at all?
Thanks for any and all help.
Have you tried logging in as “Administrator” with no password? You can then get in and set or eliminate the password. That might be a place to start. It worked when I had a similar problem a while ago…
Is the username/password a Windows security control, or is it something else?
If it’s a Windows password, then you may be able to login as Administrator with no password (if the login screen doesn’t let you, try ctrl-alt-delete at the login screen to get to one where you can type in a login name.
If it’s a BIOS password, you may need to clear the BIOS settings, which you probably have to open up the computer for and close a jumper to do. It should be documented somewhere online.