Julie,

The first part is possible...all you need to do is boot from a CD or boot disk and you can install any OS, regardless of what's on the drive and not having the Windows password. That being said, YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING on the drive. It will be gone, kaput, bye by now...thanks for playing.

Now, onto the second problem - and this could actually become the resolution to the first question as well...

Most laptops will have the Certificate of Authenticity attached to the case somewhere which will have the valid License code for that installed copy of XP. A local computer repair shop should have a copy of XP lying around that they could reinstall from using your valid License. You see, having a "non-original" copy of XP is not a problem or a violation of copyright laws if you're using it to install/reinstall the operating system you own as indicated by the COA affixed to the machine.

But, before they (or you) reinstall the OS, Google around a bit for articles on recovering XP from a lost password. One that I've used in the past is:

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub00...

As for the level of difficulty, it's not rocket surgery by any stretch of the imagination - just be patient and you'll be fine.

Let me know if this helps...

Take care,
Ric

Hi Ric

Thanks for your quick response. I managed to find a boot cd and tried this but I think I need change the settings to tell the pc to use the cd rom as the first boot device, but I don't know how I can do this if I don't have the password. Is it possible? Thanks for your help.

Best regards,
Julie

If you go into Bios (I think its F2), you should be able to specify the order of booting. CDRom should be first though, maybe your laptop is configured not to be.

I recommend you dont change any other settings in BIOS if you dont know what you are doing.

Then follow ric's post.

if your bios is password protected, you need to reset the bios. this may seem pretty scary, but it's not hard at all. it requires opening the case and fiddling with the motherboard. just remeber 3 rules:
1. unplug the computer from the power outlet and try to turn it on (you should see a brief flash of life then the computer goes back off) this discharges any big capacitors.
2. touch the outside of the case before touching anything inside (so you don't static shock anything)
3. remember wher you've unplugged something from so you can put it back.

that said, once you have your computer open, look for a large button cell battery (it should be about the size of a nickel) and pop it out. then, nearby there should be a jumper pin. this is the hard part, because finding jumper pins are a bit like finding Waldo in those puzzles. what do they look like?
here's a picture:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f288/V...
also they should be connected with a little plastic thing as in the following connector:
http://www.neobitz.com/images/mods/Neobi...
note that in the first picture it says CMOS, you want to look for the same thing on your motherboard, it's usually only 3 pins long and should have a connector over 2 of them already.
what you want to do is take that plastic thing out and try to start the computer. shut the computer back down and replace the plastic connector and restart again, the bios' passwords should be removed. (you can't do this on a laptop)

in some configurations, the plastic connectors sits on pins 1&2 of 3 pins, you may need to put in on pins 2&3 to reset the bios.
DO NOT TAKE A JUMPER OUT AND PUT IT IN ON ANOTHER PART OF YOUR MOTHERBOARD keep the jumpers with the same group of pins.

don't forget to replace the button cell battery, otherwise you'll have clock issues.

here's a much better picture of pins with a jumper
http://www.smartcomputing.com/images/sma...

Julie,

As nidhi described, the way to select the boot device is through the bios. nidhi suggested <F2> but it could also be the <DEL> key, or another one for that matter.

Usually, however, the computer will do you a favor and show you what it's looking for when you first start the machine and it's performing the POST (power-on self-test) routine. Granted, it will be a brief message, and as soon as you see which key, press it.

You'll get an old-fashioned DOS looking screen and you may need to hunt around the options a bit before you find the one where your boot disk order is listed.

oracleofDelphi is giving you some great advice if, in fact, the bios has been password protected. Hopefully that won't be the case in your situation.

Let me know if you have any other hurdles...we'll be happy to help out!

Take care,
Ric