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Preventing lost of data when resetting passwords in Win XP (part 1)

As an administrator, you should understand the difference between resetting passwords and changing passwords.

You also need to be familiar with the potential consequences of each of those actions.

Normally, any user can change his or her own password. Of course, doing so requires that a user remember the original password. But resetting a password is different. You don't need to know the previous password. By default, only administrators can reset passwords.

Knowing the difference between changing and resetting passwords takes on a new importance in Windows XP, thanks to a new security feature, which can also cause a lot of trouble. Resetting a password will cause the loss of access to certificates, private keys, Web page credentials, and file-share credentials. The password protects all of these areas. But if you don't know the original password, you won't be able to retrieve your data if you reset the password.

The best way to prevent this loss of access is to create a password recovery disk, which you can do in both Windows XP Professional and Home Edition. With this disk, you can reset the lost password and regain access to the lost data. Next time, we'll tell you how to create a password recovery disk.