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forgotten windows xp login PW

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Metlcub

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
My sister went on vacation, came home and forgets her user info to get in WIN XP. I've tried admin admin but that didnt work, is there another way you to get in windows and reset her PW?
 
There are downloable bootable disk images (or USB) that you can run to reset the password. I do not recall the name right now but

Admin with NO PASSWORD is usually the default not admin admin
 
Ultimate Boot CD has a load of tools on it.
I've used it on corporate machines that I've locked myself out of (After removing the machine from the Domain) and it works.

I'm not sure if it's going to end up in a grey area if I explain the tools but Ultimate Boot CD will do what you need (And much... MUCH more)
 
Yeah, we can't really discuss it beyond that -- sorry.
 
Oh ok, yea my sister is mad, she's like Just reinstall if you got to, but I need all my kids pictures etc on it.. I'll work on it tomorrow.
 
Oh ok, yea my sister is mad, she's like Just reinstall if you got to, but I need all my kids pictures etc on it.. I'll work on it tomorrow.

If you only need the data you can always take the hard drive out and put it in another working computer. Chances are the home folders won't be encrypted (You would have to do more than put a password on it being Windows XP) so you can just backup the data and put it back after a reload.

I like to reload my machines every 12 months at the latest just to keep them "fresh" it could be a good chance for your sisters machine too.
 
If you only need the data you can always take the hard drive out and put it in another working computer. Chances are the home folders won't be encrypted (You would have to do more than put a password on it being Windows XP) so you can just backup the data and put it back after a reload.

+1. There should not be a reason that at the very least the data won't be recoverable with a minimal amount of effort. You could even boot with a Linux live CD distro and most likely the Windows partition will be automatically mounted at boot and you could copy any data she needs to an external USB drive or something like that if you don't feel like fiddling around with moving the HDD over to another machine.
 
For future damage prevention, create an administrator account on the system with a password that you know. In case this happens again, you can easily reset it without reinstalling.

I do this for every family/friend computer I work on, for that exact reason. I explain exactly why I'm doing it, as well.
 
You can use "Offline NT Password and Registry Editor." Burn the file to a disc, and run it on the PC, it will let you remove or change the password.
 
Aren't the default Administrator credentials "Administrator" with no password? That's what I remember using. Painfully easy to "break in" to XP, by the way. :)
 
^^^^ This...

It's case sensitive so the capital A is needed.

If that fails...
- Google-Fu -> CIA Commander
- Download the iso
- Burn to CD or USB jumpdrive
- Boot from said device
- Overwrite the forgotten password with whatever you want
- Boot to XP and login with the new password
 
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/


You could also do it by mounting the registry hive and doing it manually. But UBD is much easier.

We use this at work when encryption breaks from root kits. I wouldnt call this a "grey" area because this is knowledge that can be used for good. And save someones data if they dont understand how windows works completely. Hes working on his own computer.
 
The Grey area comes in because even though in THIS case the OP owns the computer - many visitors to the site may not.

Most members past the first few posts can be trusted but I would bet my bottom dollar there's a whoooooooole lot of guests that come past and see things like this.


That said - the information is solid =)
 
ITs not a grey area unless you post tools that allow you to BYPASS the password requirement (also easy to do)

Resetting the admin password (and yes on home package PC cases usually is Administrator with no password) is NOT a "hack" it is a recovery tool.

Not a grey area at all IMHO. If the PTB say I am wrong so be it. It has been discussed here before and not disapproved though.


EDIT: Here a couple of threads (XP password reset does not pop up very much anymore since its outdated but...) Note that senior members or higher were providing help in the situation. Lets not get into the keylogging and encryption bypassing threads I found in these search results.

If we are going to take the "moral" (not that it is immoral to reset an admin password) high road and say doing something NOT illegal is wrong on the forums as far as computers are concerned then we have to revisit a LOT of things the forums do allow discussion of (like keylogging a computer you own but others use)

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=699379&
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=688386&

FYI with a technet/MSDN account Microsoft provides a tool to reset admin password as well. Its mentioned in one of the threads I found :)
 
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