HELP! Forgot W2K admin's passwd

[Alex99]

I installed Win2K on a PC, and have not used it for several months. Now I forgot the Administrator's password. I can't get into the PC. Can anyone help? If not I would have to blow it away and reinstall. Thanks in advance.

[Jon]

There are programs out there that can retrieve admin passes but border along the "Warez/Crackz" type sites that are prohibited in these forums so I'm not at liberty to discuss where to find these things.

Personally, I don't think those programs work that well under most circumstances so you're probably going to have to reinstall anyway.

[Tbone1]

Try going to safe mode. I believe there is no password needed
to get in then go change your password.
But I think you need to now the old 1 to change it. At least you'll
be able to get in.

[engjohn]

I know a for sure way to get the info you need...

You need 2 programs.

NTFSDOS PRO (NOT the demo version)
and
L0phtcrack (that is L "ZERO" phtcrack - Demo Version)

L0phtcrack (demo) can be downloaded for free get the 2.5version.
NTFSDOS on the otherhand costs about $300.00

If you aquire the programs through your own resources, I can help you figure it out.

I have done this many times...

PS. I am in NO WAY supporting or suggesting the use of WAREZ sites.

[ken257]

engjohn is right on the money there as I have done the same things several times for clients that forget there Admin password for NT. It's not that hard and if you do a little searching in google you should find all that you need.

[thefly]

You don't need ntsf to dos if the partition you want access to is fat 32.

l0pht is a security tool for auditing passwords for nt/win2000 it is considered a "virus" by many anti virus programs. For instance Mcaffee.

Never the less, it is a tool. Not a virus in anyway.

I've used this tool in the past to "audit" the sam files on nt server 4.0 it works pretty well as long as the admin password is fairly conventional. If you've used acii codes your busted. Because l0pht does not deal with "all" acii codes only some of them.

Anyway, good luck. You shouldn't have much of a problem fixing that problem.

[Alex99]

Thanks for replying everyone. My partition is NTFS. Anyways, I've decided to just reinstall, since I don't need any data off of it. It might not be quickier then your suggestions, but easier. I've taken notes of all your advice, in case I will really need it in the future.