Heh, another victim of the "work computer" syndrome then!
Mine was a ballache; couldn't install stuff, lots of media files wouldn't play as I couldn't install codecs, and although DVD's worked the screen saver was locked to come on every 15 mins and require the password to get rid... annoying when watching a film!
I do have the password for the admin account on my work machine (amazing what you can pick up looking over the IT man's shoulder as he types
), and VLC off a memory stick will open most things (but still have the screensaver prob); however, I found a far more cunning way around the problem.
Step 1: Buy a replacement HDD thats twice the size of the standard one (mine was 40Gb standard, so bought an 80).
Step 2: Plug new drive into desktop PC via IDE 2.5"-to-3.5" convertor and partition it into 2 equal partitions.
Step 3: Plug original drive into desktop via USB caddy thingy and copy the whole lot onto the first partition on the new drive.
Step 4: Stick new drive in laptop, run a Windows setup disk and install to the second partition.
Step 5 (clever bit): Once you've done step 4, the machine will boot your personal OS by default. Panic ye not... from your OS, run notepad and re-write the C:\boot.ini file that gives a choice of OS on startup:
[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional [work]" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional [personal]" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Now laugh merrily as your hitherto-restricted work machine is now "yo bee-atch"!
... now you can install games, media players, and all those useful little bits of software that the IT muppets won't put on for you. The beauty of replacing the HDD is that, should it all go to pot, you can whip out the drive, stick the original back in and hey presto, IT people won't know any different