Hello. Two days ago I was told that a user changed their password and then forgot it, and I was assigned to fix it. I tried guessing the password a few times to save me some time and it was unsuccessful. I went to the DC and reset the password to what I wanted it to. When I got back to the computer I tried to login with the new password and I got the message: "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed." I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I think it might possibly be because I guessed the password incorrectly so many times. I looked this issue up for almost an hour and everyone was suggesting to leave the domain and then rejoin it. I can not do this because it is not possible for me to login. The owner of the business said he either did not make an administrator account when he first started the computer, or he did not know the password. So my problem is that I can not possibly log in to the domain, and I get the error: The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed. I have tried going to the command prompt to change the administrator password but every thing I do to get to the CMD requires me to log in. If you do not fully understand what I mean, feel free to post. Any help is sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance. Trey

As you have found, this error indeed deals with the computer account...nothing to do with the user using the incorrect password many times. Either the computer account was tampered with, or a system restore was performed and taken back to a date where the computer account password was different that what it is now. Your focus should be to log into this computer using a local admin account. You may try to disconnect the network cable and try logging on the domain with the last known good password for that domain user. Hopefully, you'll get in with cached credentials. There are a few unsupported ways to change the local admin password for that computer. you'll need to do some research if this is your final option. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Thanks a lot for the reply, JM.I have tried unplugging the network cable and logging in to the account with the password I recently changed and I got the same result. I will try it again in the morning tomorrow just to make sure though. As for the unsupported ways to change the admin password, I know how to do with the the command prompt but I do not know a way to get to it without logging in at all. Any more help is much appreciated.

If you do a search on tools for resetting Windows Local Admin accounts, you'll find many methods, some of which use Linux bootable CDs to to the job. I have used a few in the past myself. Check out this link which has alot of ideas and options for resetting the local admin password. Again, keep in mind that if you do use tools you find on the internet, proceed at your own risk. http://4sysops.com/archives/three-ways-to-reset-a-windows-vista-admin-password/ Also, have you just considered rebuilding this workstation from scratch? It may be the easiest and quickest method. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

The account is enabled. Still having the same problem. I see an option to reset the account, would that help at all?

There is no such option to "reset" a user account. You could change the password. Why dont you just create a new account and log in with that one just to see if you encounter the same issue.Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Thanks again for the help, JM. I successfully reset the administrator password and I know what it is now, but when I try to log into it I get this error: "Your account has been disabled. Please see your system administrator." I still have no possible way to log in.

Have you checked to make sure that the account is not disabled? You would open the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC, and search for that user account. If the account is disabled, just enable it. Otherwise, since the computer is now on the domain, you should be able to log in with another account. You can also create a new account on the domain if needed. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

What I meant was going to the AC->Computer->computer name->reset account. I have tried both changing the password and creating a new account. When I try to log into the new account I get the same error.

The error "The trust relationship between this workstation.." has to do with the computer account. By unjoining then rejoining the computer back to the domain, that should have solved that issue. Since you were unable to login the workstation, you had to reset the local admin account on that workstation to login. The second error, "Your account has been disabled." would appear to me that the domain account you are trying to log into the domain with is currently disabled. Open the ADUC console and locate that user and enable the account. Otherwise, I suggested to use another domain account to log in.Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

I found the solution in a very weird way. I started up the computer, pressed F8, and selected repair computer. It showed that I had to log in, and the username was one that I had never seen (because it is a computer at work that I did not set up). So I started Windows normally, logged in to that account, enabled the administrator account, and that fixed everything. It's probably the craziest solution but it worked. Thanks a lot, Jm, for all of your time.