Forgot Admin Password

[Guest]

Hello,

My name is Eden Richardson and I am the only administrator for our newly
installed Windows XP Home Edition.

About two months ago, I forgot the password for my admin account and I am
totally locked out of my own account. I was the only admin on the computer so
now nobody has admin privileges. We can't install any programs, edit system
time and date or view certain internet pages, or any other system changing
tasks. I may not be able to upgrade my computer either.

There are 4 user accounts on the computer plus a guest account. I'm sharing
an account with one of the other 3 users and would like to get back into my
own account.. I didn't get a password reset disk and hints aren't working. In
fact, I believe I know what I intended on setting my password but I think I
typed it incorrectly when resetting it. Once I get inside my account, I
intend on getting a second admin on the computer to prevent this problem from
happening again.

If you know anything about retrieving admin passwords please e-mail me at
(e-mail address removed) or respond to this post ASAP.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you respond to
this message.

Awaiting responses,

Eden Richardson

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My name is Eden Richardson and I am the only administrator for our
newly installed Windows XP Home Edition.

About two months ago, I forgot the password for my admin account
and I am totally locked out of my own account. I was the only admin
on the computer so now nobody has admin privileges. We can't
install any programs, edit system time and date or view certain
internet pages, or any other system changing tasks. I may not be
able to upgrade my computer either.

There are 4 user accounts on the computer plus a guest account. I'm
sharing an account with one of the other 3 users and would like to
get back into my own account.. I didn't get a password reset disk
and hints aren't working. In fact, I believe I know what I intended
on setting my password but I think I typed it incorrectly when
resetting it. Once I get inside my account, I intend on getting a
second admin on the computer to prevent this problem from happening
again.

If you know anything about retrieving admin passwords please e-mail
me at or respond to this post ASAP.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you
respond to this message.

Boot into safe mode and logon as the user named "Administrator" --> it
likely has no password.

Change your password and any others needed once you get logged into safe
mode as the actual (and hidden in normal mode) administrator in Windows XP
Home.

Reboot and log back in as your user with the new password.

 

[JS]

In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do this by repeatedly tapping
the F8 key as the computer is starting up. This will get you to a menu.
Navigate using your Up arrow key; the mouse will not work here.
In Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account.
The default password is a blank (no password).

Once your in then:
Click Start/Run/type in: Control Userpasswords2 and press OK
Next click on the Advanced tab and then click Manage Passwords.

JS

 

[BruceM]

I can't believe you would post that in a public forum. A MVP at that!

 

[Malke]

I can't believe you would post that in a public forum. A MVP at that!

Why not? I don't see anything Shenan said that is Super Seekrit and
Dangerous. In fact, let's really give you a tickle with this:

If you reset the built-in Administrator account's password in Home or
have Pro and don't remember the password, use NTpasswd to change the
built-in Administrator account's password to a blank.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

You are either a troll or someone who doesn't understand computer
security. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the latter,
so read this:

Any computer running any operating system can be accessed by someone
with 1) physical access; 2) time; 3) skill; 4) tools.

None of the tools needed are Seekrit, either. They are free, easily
found and obtainable, not difficult to create and use.


Malke

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Boot into safe mode and logon as the user named "Administrator"
--> it likely has no password.

Change your password and any others needed once you get logged
into safe mode as the actual (and hidden in normal mode)
administrator in Windows XP Home.

Reboot and log back in as your user with the new password.

I can't believe you would post that in a public forum. A MVP at
that!

Post what?

What can easily be found on multiple web pages with a Google search?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=forgotten+password+in+"Windows+XP+Home"

What can easily be found pposted in these newsgroups dozens of times with a
Google Groups search?
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=forgotten+password+in+"Windows+XP+Home"&num=100&scoring=r

In fact - what I posted is just the tip of what you can easily do/easily
find. Most home machines probably have not been properly secured. People
treat them like toasters... Get them, plug them in, make a mess and
possibly burn down the house. ;-)

See this Microsoft Knowledge Base article for the same info:

How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or if your password
expires
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305

Particularly:

"Method 2: Log on as an administrator to reset the password

Step 1: Log on as an administrator

Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional
a. Restart the computer.
b. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE two times, and then type the
name of the administrator user account.
c. In the Password box, type the administrator password,
and then click OK.
Note: If the administrator password is set to a blank password,
do not type a password before you click OK."

Good Luck!

 

[BruceM]

Ouch!!!
Perhaps you can also explain ghow I can crack Vista as that's in google too?
haha.........
Just didn't think it was really needed to be posted as he did give his email
address as well.
No trolling intended........
Ouch!!!

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Shenan did not give instructions on how to crack XP. Windows XP Home is
purposely designed to install with a blank password Admin account. If one
wishes to give the Admin account a password after XP is installed they may
do so.

 

[Guest]

Hello,

Thank you for helping me get into my own admin account.

The instructions that you gave me were clear, easy instructions to follow
and I'm glad to be able to get into my own admin account.

Do you have any idea how to change a user account picture? When I try to
change a user account picture I get a message stating "object required" and
there are no pictures to choose from. When I try to browse and select my own,
nothing happens. When I downloaded Windows XP home the computer selected one
'default' picture for everyone but I would like to make each account unique.

Please let me know if you have ideas on how to get this to work. Thank you
again for all your help.

Kind Regards,

Eden Richardson

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Try this. Click the Start Button and select Run (or hold down the Windows
Key and press R)
In the Run command box paste the following and click OK

regsvr32 %windir%\system32\shimgvw.dll