I tried to disassociate my IBM Thinkpad (with Windows XP) from the
office network and
checked that it is now only being using at home now. After I did that,
and rebooted the laptop, my old used id/password does not work
anymore. What do I do?

The problem is that your computer is more than likely in what is known
as a windows "domain".  The way it works is that when you are in the
office your type in your username and password and it is checked by a
server in your office called a "domain controller".  Since you aren't
in your office now when you type in your username/password, it can't
be verified with the domain controller since its not connected to it. 
What you need to do is at the login screen there are 3 boxes, 1.
username 2. password 3. domain.  You need to switch the last one to
say "log onto (your computername here)"  Then rather than trying to
log onto the "domain" you are doing what is called logging on
"locally", IE no server involved.  BUT, you will have to know a 
"local" username and password combination to log in with.  You might
luck out and the administrator username's password might be blank
still (the default).  So use "administrator" as the username and leave
the password blank.  If by some chance you dont know what the "local"
administrator's password is you have 2 options.  1.  ask whoever set
up the computer what the administrator password is for it or 2. use a
password hack tool to find out or reset the password.

Thank you - but when I get the login screen, there are only two boxes
- 1. "User name" and 2. "Password".
Clicking "Options" only takes away or reinserts the button to "Shut Down..."
??

It sounds like you were attached to a domain, but no longer are.  If
your account on that computer was a domain user account, when you
disassociated your computer with the network, that account was
probably removed.  The only way to log in now would be to use an
account that is locally on the computer.  If the computer was setup
well, the only account that would have that ability would be
Administrator.

You would need a username and password to login and create a local
account for you.  It would probably be best to contact whoever runs
your businesses network because only they would have that.

Ryan

Does the user "Administrator" password protected? If no, CTRL + ALT +
DEL twice at the login screen and login as admin. And maybe you need
to take over the ownership from your old account:

Search from google:
://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&q=windows+xp+%22take+over+ownership%22&spell=1

Try the password retrieval tools for Windows XP on the web.....
what ever your Administrator password be......it can be retrieved.

To Sumerise for you.  Once the Laptop has left the office "domain" the
account with rights to access the local machine were lost.  Unless you
know the a local machine user name and password, "Administrator" being
the best choice, you are going to have to rebiuld the Laptop.

It is possible to pull the data off the laptop by removing the
harddrive and connecting it to another PC/laptop with specialist
adapter cables and drive recovery software.  Alternativley you could
take the laptop in to a PC hardware store and they'll do this for you
for a fee.

All of this isn't as expensive as it sounds, but is by far the
quickest and easiest way of getting your data back if this is
critical.  If not, then no problem, find the original
installation/recovery CD's and you're away.

while booting press F8 and login to safe mode. Then login as
administrator. go to user accounts and change the password of the user
to which u r not able to log in. if you dont want any password u can
remove it. If you want windows to automatically  boot into that
account without prompting for the password, go to
start-->run--->control userpasswords2
in the window thus opened, uncheck the option users must enter a
username and.............
when u apply the changes, you will be asked which username to
automatically login. enter it correctly

You will need to reset your administrator password.  There is no easy
way to do this.  I have provided URL's that will help you create a
password reset disk or CD .  You will either need a floppy disk or CD
to complete any of these steps.  I have created this before and it
works like a charm.  Just be sure to follow the steps and save your
changes.  Otherwise it will create a loop of you trying to reset the
password and then it doesn't reset.

This link will detail multiple options...  It also provides an
overview of the problem you have described.
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Simple steps to follow
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Cheers

There used to be a hack on the earlier versions of XP where you could
enter "administrator" for user and a password (the same one every
time, even if it's incorrect) between 15 and 20 times and it would
eventually grant you access. You had to be logging in via the classic
login box (if it's set to use the XP graphic style, hit ctrl+alt+del a
few times to switch to the classic style). I believe it was fixed in a
later SP but if you haven't updated, this might still be an option.

Jem Tallon

Forgot to mention that previous hack only worked on XP Home. So again,
it's a limited solution but it might be useful.

Theres a program called winternals erd commander 2003 that will let u
in. Dont worry it is bootable from disk. U can buy it from
www.erdcommander.com but it will cost.( I founr a copy that fell off
the back off a truck and onto the internet if u know what i mean.) but
to get that address we will have to talk off line. P.S. this disk will
let u in any computer.

Sucks to be you!

First of all, I feel very sorry for you.

I have one question for you: 
Did you bother to keep a password reset disc when your thinkPad did work?

post another comment if you need to contact me.

yours truly, 
Darkmage202-ga