Unknown password for account (but have admin password)

[David Smithz]

Hi there,

One of the accounts on a Windows XP home edition is unknown. However, I have
been asked to backup the contents of a hard drive.

I can log into one of the accounts (with admin privileges) but there is
another account on the hard drive which I do not have the password for.
When I try and access the associated files (my docs etc.) for the user who I
do not have a password for it tells me access is denied?

It is probably simple, but how do I get round this?

Cheers

 

[philo]

Hi there,

One of the accounts on a Windows XP home edition is unknown. However, I have
been asked to backup the contents of a hard drive.

I can log into one of the accounts (with admin privileges) but there is
another account on the hard drive which I do not have the password for.
When I try and access the associated files (my docs etc.) for the user who I
do not have a password for it tells me access is denied?

It is probably simple, but how do I get round this?

If you take ownership you should be able to access those files...

However once you take ownership I'm not sure what happens if the original
user wants to access their account

 

[Enkidu]

Hi there,

One of the accounts on a Windows XP home edition is unknown. However, I have
been asked to backup the contents of a hard drive.

I can log into one of the accounts (with admin privileges) but there is
another account on the hard drive which I do not have the password for.
When I try and access the associated files (my docs etc.) for the user who I
do not have a password for it tells me access is denied?

It is probably simple, but how do I get round this?

If you are an admin, you should be able to reset the other user's
password. I'm assuming that XP Home is the same as XP Pro in this
respect. I do know that there are difference in this area between Home
and Pro,

Cheers,

Cliff

 

[GateKeeper]

If you log on as Administrator (not just an account with Admin
privileges), you should be able to take ownership of any folder on the
computer, and change (or remove) passwords for any account on the computer.

To switch to the Administrator account, restart the computer, and keep
hitting F8 until you see the startup options. Start up in Safe mode, as
Administrator. Usually the password is blank.

 

[David Smithz]

If you take ownership you should be able to access those files...

However once you take ownership I'm not sure what happens if the original
user wants to access their account

How can I take ownership of the files.