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GMitch
Asked: 2011-05-20 07:15:00 +0800 CST

Logging onto Windows local computer without local or network account

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I have a Windows 7 Professional machine that has accidentally been removed from the active directory on the domain controller. Therefore the network does not recognize this machine and the machine cannot recognize the network. I understand that I need to log onto the local Windows machine in order to add the computer back to the domain. However, the local administrator has been disabled from that Windows machine.

Is there a way to work around this? In other words, how can I get back into the local machine without having to wipe away the OS and start over?

windows active-directory windows-7

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You could try taking the network cable out, reboot it and try logging it on off the network, if you have logged on recentley to it with an admin account then it should have cached the password.

    Failing that take a look at http://www.pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/, this has worked for me in the past

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  2. You could boot from a rescue/installation-cd and get into the command prompt then run this to enable the Administrator:

    net user administrator /active:yes
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  3. When there are no other administrator accounts, I believe Windows 7 re-enables the built-in one. Try booting in safe mode. Failing that, there is likely a boot disk out there that can handle this.

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