XP/Linux question
 

Hi all. Was dual booting XP Pro and Linux (Ubunto.) I've forgotten my Linux password. Any work-around? Thanks!

Does your boot manager allow you to modify the Linux boot parameters? If so, try booting in single user mode by adding the parameter 'single' to the boot parameters, which will get you a root user account without a password prompt. You can then use the passwd command to set a new password for your non-root account.

The other option if you have a bootable installation CD where you can mount your root partition as the root bot the cdrom boot, is to boot from that cd then when yuo get to the command prompt, use the passwd command as above.

Well, my first instinct would be to boot with an Ubuntu disk, back up all of your data, then just install Ubuntu over everything else and forget about WinXP altogether. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, or an MS hater, or a linux fanboy. The truth is, dual booting doesn't accomplish all that much unless you have mission critical apps on the Windows side. Or games, which are mission critical to some.

Just my $0.02 worth.

If all you need is to run some windows only apps (That is not games) I strongly recommend using VirtualBox. Just install windows in VirtualBox in your Linux system and whenever you need to run some windows app just start up VirtualBox and boot your virtual windows installation. I've setup a system this way for my parents (They need windows for their book keeping system) and it works great. No need for dual boot anymore.

As for your problem, as dogzilla said you can tell the boot loader to start linux in single user mode. If I remember correctly, with ubuntu you press ESC when booting to bring up the grub menu, press 'e' to edit the selected boot option and at the end of the line starting with 'kernel' add the word single to the end of the line. Then press 'b' to boot and you should wind up at a prompt where you can change your password.

Regarding switching to Linux only, depending on how many Windows programs you need you can also use WINE. I'm currently running Fedora 9 with WINE for the few PC games I play and it works a treat. You can check the AppDB to find out whether or not your mission critical programs will run.

if you have forgotten your root password:

get a linux live CD like Knoppix and boot that
mount your /dev/hda or whatever your root partition is
edit /etc/passwd and/or /etc/shadow to remove the root password. The password is in the second field.

If this value in /etc/passwd is "x" then you are using shadow passwords, in which case the password is in /etc/shadow. Jurst remove everything between the first and second colon in ":" in /etc/shadow.

Don't forget to unmount your drive before rebooting.

You can also google for "remove root password"