When computers and devices are administered on a network as a unit using same set of rules and procedures, their group is known as Domain. Whereas, when all the individual computer systems are connected to a network and send or share data, the computing is referred as workgroup. But sometimes, after you change a Windows based computer membership from domain to workgroup, you might receive some errors. When trying to start the system, you fail to log on with the previous login details (username and password). This might force you to reformat the drive and reinstall Windows as the solution. Therefore, to restore the lost data, backup is required. However, if backup fails to restore, you can use Data Recovery tools.
You might receive the below error message when trying to log on the computer, for which you have changed the membership from domain to workgroup:
“The system could not log you on. Make sure your user name and domain are correct, then type your password again. Letters in passwords must be typed using the correct case. Make sure that Caps Lock is not accidentally on.”
This error is encountered in Windows Vista, XP and Server 2003 and 2000.
Cause
Since you have changed your computer’s membership from domain to workgroup, it cannot accept the username and password that were available for log on to a domain. It requires log on specifications that a local security database of a local computer could validate. Thus, you need to provide the log on information that the user database of local computer (or Security Accounts Manager) holds. Without providing the required log on specifications, you cannot access the stored data.
Solution
To fix this log on issue, you should follow these steps:
You can boot the system using ERD (Emergency Repair Disk) and use System Restore Point that allows you to restore the computer system to the point at which you added it to the domain. Next, you need to log on the domain and change the log on details for account in local Administrators group.
If you don’t have an ERD, you should reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Next, you need to restore lost data from backup. You have an option to backup data by performing parallel installation of Windows before actually formatting the hard disk.
In any case, if your data backup cannot give the required results, you should use Disk Recovery applications. These are powerful and comprehensive
Data Recovery Software built with safe technology to recover lost data.
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is an advanced
Disk Recovery tool that supports Windows 7 (currently in RC1), Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000. It is a read-only application that provides advanced features like Drive Cloning, Disk Imaging, RAW File Recovery and Drive Status. It supports FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file system drives.
