i just recieved a computer,a old one,that i want to use.it has 98 on it.the person i got it from passed away.is there anyway i can bypass the login screen or how to find his password to login? i guess i always could just wipe the drive and install something else.its a pentium2 like 9 10 yrs old.

If you are talking about the 98 login password you dont need one unless you are on a network. That is what it is for. It is to login and identify a computer on a network

The reason it is there is because there is a network card in the system. You can always click CANCEL and proceed.
Or you can delete and recreate the *.pwl files.
But you will still have the 98 login prompt because there is a network card in the system.

There is a registry hack to make this go away.
Just click CANCEL and press on

hmmm i mean the login screen after 98 boots up.its got a user name,but like i said i dont know the password cause the guy i got it from passed away.could i maybe use like a live linux disk to delete the *pwl files?

If you are using Windows 98 and not NT or Windows 2000 with the Windows 98 interface it should be as easy as pressing Esc. The log-in controls the user profiles not the security of the operating system. If you are using NT or windows 2000 you have a different problem altogether.

Windows 98 can request a password potentially at three different times.
One is a Windows network login, one is a user account login and the third would be a screen saver password.

I understand that the person that you got this from is deceased.
Otherwise this might be potentially touchy ground. Still might be.
At least you are honest about it and said it twice.

How far does it get? Does the system ever boot to the Windows desktop with the icons? If it does it is probably a screen saver password.

If not, what does the login box look like?
Is it somewhat rectangular in shape with a place only to type a login name and password or is it more squareish that looks like it cound have multiple users in a list box?

it boots up to a login screen thats rectanguler and you can put in a user name and password,it doesnt get to the desktop with icons.the username is already there but needs a password to start the desktop.

the guy that passed away had acouple of puters that his close friends got.i got this one,and the other ones are a little newer and they have the same problem.these were all cops and the guy that passed away all of a sudden was a 911 dispatcher,so its all legit.

Your best option would be to take them to a local computer tech who can easily reset the passwords and would probably charge very little for doing so.

The problem here is that we have no way of knowing if your ownership of the computer is legitimate and even if it were discussing how to defeat security measures is against the forum rules.

ok thnxs Enthusiast i got it figured out finally.but im not the theiving type since my wife works for the police department,i understand your rules though and your concern,thnxs to everyone that helped and you Enthusiast :-)