press F8 when you turn on your computer a menu should appear before vista
loads.
choose safe mode, see if you can login with the administrator account and
reset the password

if you're requested for a username/password before the F8 menu or windows
vista you have some other protection program on your computer

"hawkeyesox" wrote:

>
> My parents laptop with vista basic locked-up. They could not clear it so
> they turned the power off. When they rebooted, it came up with a black
> screen. Then they turned the power off and pulled the battery. Now it
> comes up with the black screen and is asking for a password (this is
> before the vista logo appears). They are over 80 and have no idea what
> the password is. Any ideas on how to get this computer up and running?
>
>
> --
> hawkeyesox
>