XUBUNTU XFCE 4 Operating system

[Hondo]

A friend of mine just bought a laptop off an online auction. It came with Xubuntu and xfce 4 installed. He wants to install Win XP but when tries to run setup, he is blocked by the request for the administrator password, which he doesn't have.

Is there a way around this?

[Mark]

Is it a BIOS password?

[Hondo]

No, it's the administrator password for the software os, like an xp pro administrator. I think I found a way to bypass it on a forum. Linux doesn't seem to be all that secure, except to those that want to use it.

[Mark]

No, it's the administrator password for the software os, like an xp pro administrator. I think I found a way to bypass it on a forum. Linux doesn't seem to be all that secure, except to those that want to use it.

:laugh: So true!

[tmx]

I'm not sure what that password thing is, but it seem more like it is applied to that specific machine rather than part of the Ubuntu, normally to install xp I just boot up the cd.

If XP was so secure I wouldn't need to run antivirus and antispyware all the time.

[Hondo]

You can start the machine and run various applications and games but to install any additional software you have to enter the admin password. It requires the password before it will allow setup.exe to start running.

[Mark]

Sounds like a problem with XP?

[Steve Boyd]

As far as I remember, when you install XP for the first time on a clean machine it asks for an Administrator password to create the Administrator account. You can enter any acceptable password (at least 8 characters with upper case, lower case & numbers). If the installation stops at this point it is because XP thinks that XP is already installed & is looking for the Administrator password that was set when it was first installed. If this is the case try formatting the hard drive & restarting the installation.

[Hondo]

There was no problem with the xp installation. The problem was getting the existing Linux system to allow the setup file to run.

The problem is now solved, xp is installed, and I know how to bust into a Linux system if given physical access.

[Mark]

I'm somewhat confused. You're trying to run setup.exe on Linux. In what way would you expect a Windows file to be able to run on a Linux operating system? :mark:

[veeten]

I'm somewhat confused. You're trying to run setup.exe on Linux. In what way would you expect a Windows file to be able to run on a Linux operating system? :mark:

it's done all the time, Mark. They're called emulators, basically programs that allow for Windows-based applications to be run on a Linux OS and vice versa.

examples like Cygwin, VMware, WINE, and so forth. Many are free to download and use. :)

[Mark]

it's done all the time, Mark. They're called emulators, basically programs that allow for Windows-based applications to be run on a Linux OS and vice versa.

examples like Cygwin, VMware, WINE, and so forth. Many are free to download and use. :)

I'm aware of VMware (all too painfully aware) but it doesn't explain why he was trying to run setup.exe under Linux? When you'd be wanting to reboot and do it?

[veeten]

There was no problem with the xp installation. The problem was getting the existing Linux system to allow the setup file to run.

The problem is now solved, xp is installed, and I know how to bust into a Linux system if given physical access.

I take it that it was a question of resizing the Linux partition to allow for the creation of a Windows partition, leading to a 'dual boot' for both OS' on the same HDD.

Not that hard, used to do that on occasion. :)

[Hondo]

Clarification:

He bought the laptop at auction. It came, used, with the Linux already installed and working. He wanted to get rid of the Linux and us XP. When XP is installed, as you know, you can reformat the entire hard drive and blow out what ever is in there prior to installation. The existing Linux system on the computer allowed only the administrator to add or delete applications, software, etc. He did not know the user name or password for the Linux administrator, so the Linux system would not allow anything to be added, or deleted, including XP.

I learned how to get into the Linux root, locate the user name, and reset the password. After that, XP was allowed to set up, load, and did it's thing with no problems.

Linux is now gone and XP is installed.