ok they changed their admin password and cant remember so not all they can get to is guest account, btw its windows XP home. they have some irreplaceable pictures (of her kids and such)and would like to get access to. few questions, would a recovery disk delete these files? is there a way to do it without a recovery disk(i dont think they have one) would my recovery disk work(mine is gateway theirs is a HP) thanks in advance for help Kevin
i forgot to add that i found this site: http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305 anyone tried this before? thanks, kevin
i've found that if u boot into safe mode then u can choose the admin account which doesn't have a password. with that u should be able to change the password
Hey Kevin, If they changed their admin password, then it'll still have the admin password even in safe mode. When you boot from the recovery disk, in WinXP, you can choose either destructive or non-destructive recovery. However, to boot from the disk, I'm pretty sure you need the password to an account with admin privileges. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't, but there's no harm in trying ;-) I can't say for sure. I've never heard of this before, so it might not work. Basically, you need either the admin password or the password to an admin account. You have to realize that Windows was designed to foil this kinda stuff, cause a hacker could just pop in a windows cd and get access to all you files. There are programs that can recover your admin password by cracking the hashes, but most of them (if not all) you have to buy. Are there any other accounts on the computer that they can access other than the guest account? EDIT: Spelling
This free utility is suppose to reset all your log-in passwords. I never had to use it, but I did make a bootup cd just in case I ever need it. The only drawback is any file in your computer that are encryted will be lost after you reset your password. This is just something to try if nothing else works. My recommendation is do an image backup of your system partition, before doing any work on it. As long as you have a backup, you can always keep troubleshooting the problem. http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
seb32, no the only other account is "Owner" but they cant remeber that password either. jony218, im not sure how to do an image backup. and are there and important encryted files that would be lost? or do u mean any like passworded zips and such? also, i think she said that her recovery was on another partition, would i be able to do a repair from that? thanks kevin
I have a pavillion with the same specs that you have. When you do the reformat the computer will run the recovery drive to reinstall all of the programs that came with the pc.
Hmm, okay, but what I'm curious about is how the logged into the Administrator account normally, because usually it's restricted so that it can only be logged in under safemode or when doing recoveries, etc. Files encrypted by Windows (system files, saved web passwords) would be. Basically, anything that Windows encrypts by itself would be lost, but any program that asked you for a password to encrypt should be fine. As for the backup, I'm not sure how you'd be able to do it without any passwords, help from someone who knows would be appreciated. On my new laptop, there is something called a recovery partition. Basically, instead of using a recovery disc, you just select it as a boot option. How you access it depends on the computer, but it has the same basic features. But, as I said before, I don't think you can do a non-destructive recovery without the admin password. I think that you best bet in a situation like this is to use a program that can recover the pass for you, I'll have a look around for a free one and if I find one that I test and it works, I'll let you know.
If it's in XP home, then the only other option is to use the "classic" interface, which is where you type in your username and pass, unless they're using some kind of 3rd party program. Either way, the Administrator account still wouldn't be accessible, unless they made another account, say named "Admin", this would make things a bit easier. Could you do a quick test on that computer? (You can do it from the guest account). Go Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, then type in net user, and let us know what users come up on the list?
jony218 - Thank you and to anyone else who searched this topic that software works. Just take your time and read ALL instructions. Its a bit confusing. I tested it on a laptop of mine that I like to test things on. Worked great. This is great for anyone buying PC's at public auctions or online auctions. Here's that same link: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
