Forgot administrator password for XP Pro

[ekc8946]

Hi my friend created a user account on his pc...but dont remeber the pasword.

so at start up the log on windows is showing up....but like i said cant go
further due to lost of his password.

anything i can do to help him...all the blogs from internet didnt work so
far...( i di try safe mode, command prompt,etc....let me know please

tx

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi my friend created a user account on his pc...but dont remeber the
pasword.

so at start up the log on windows is showing up....but like i said cant go
further due to lost of his password.

anything i can do to help him...all the blogs from internet didnt work so
far...( i di try safe mode, command prompt,etc....let me know please

tx

If it's XP Pro, at the Welcome screen press control+alt+delete twice, and
at the login prompt use Administrator as the user name and leave the
password blank. This will often get you into the built-in Administrator
account, where you can reset the password. If there is an unknown password
there, there are a number of password reset boot CD images available on the
net.

However, there is a risk in this. In XP Pro, encryption is available, but
it is tied to the account credentials. If those are changed externally -
if you reset the password from outside the account, as described above - the
credentials are no longer valid, and any files that were encrypted can no
longer be decrypted. In other words, encrypted data is lost, permanently.
It doesn't matter if you remember the password and change it back to that.

The only way around this is to re-import the credentials that you had
remembered to back up at the time, but this isn't mandatory and many people
don't do it.

So, you need to ask your friend if he possibly encrypted anything before
resetting the password. If he did, you need to ask if the credentials
were backed up. If they weren't, which is unfortunately often the case, the
next question is whether he really needs that data. If he does, do NOT
change the user password. To use the machine, go to the Admin account and
create a new user account, which you can use while you figure out the old
password.

HTH
-pk

 

[ekc8946]

hi patrick...we cant just go any further. there the Icon with admin and pwd
required...i did alt ctrl del ut no change...even tried to log on as a
ghost...nothing to do.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

hi patrick...we cant just go any further. there the Icon with admin and
pwd
required...i did alt ctrl del ut no change...even tried to log on as a
ghost...nothing to do.

So there are passwords on all the accounts, and you don't know any of them?
In that case, you pretty much do have to use a password reset utility.
These are often based on Linux boot CDs. You'll download an ISO image to
another system, burn that to CD or DVD, and then boot your XP system with it
and run the PW clear routine. It's easy and quick.

You can start here:
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

The warnings about encryption apply. Do NOT clear the user password if you
even suspect that files are encrypted. If he wasn't using the Admin
account. clear that one and create a new account and migrate whatever you
can.

HTH
-pk

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi my friend created a user account on his pc...but dont remeber the pasword.

so at start up the log on windows is showing up....but like i said cant go
further due to lost of his password.

anything i can do to help him...all the blogs from internet didnt work so
far...( i di try safe mode, command prompt,etc....let me know please

tx

Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which
cannot be deleted) and use Start > Run > "control userpasswords2" to
modify the desired account(s).

By design, the only way to log into the Administrator account of
WinXP Home is to reboot into Safe Mode. For WinXP Pro, pressing
CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome Screen will produce the standard login
dialog box. Unless the owner deliberately set the Administrator's
password via the Management Console (_not_ the Control Panel), it's
probably still blank. WinXP Pro asks the installer to set the
Administrator's password during installation, but WinXP Home doesn't.

Failing that, Linux-based password cracking utilities abound on
the Internet, freely available to anyone who can use Google.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[ju.c]

Resetting a Forgotten Password Tutorial


NOTES

- The built-in Administrator account is found on the
Welcome screen only if there are no other accounts
available, other than Guest, or when the computer is
booted into Safe Mode.
- To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" make sure
that there are no accounts logged in.
- The built-in Administrator account can create and
change passwords for all users, but cannot restore a
forgotten one.
- When a password is changed, that account will lose
all encrypted files, personal certificates and stored
Internet Explorer passwords or network resources.
- Press "CTRL-ALT-DEL" twice to get the classic Windows
logon box. Type: Administrator. If this account has a
password, enter it. Otherwise, leave the it blank.
- Recovering a password is much more difficult. Using
a cracking program can take weeks!


RESET A PASSWORD USING THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT

1. Boot into Safe Mode.
2. Log on using the built-in Administrator account.
3. Open: Control Panel -> User Accounts.
4. On the Users tab, select a user name, the password
to change and click Reset Password.


RESET A PASSWORD AT THE LOGON SCREEN WITH THE COMMAND PROMPT

At the logon screen, press Shift+F10 to open a Command
Prompt with adminisrative priviledges and type:

net user {username} {password}

{username} = The Account's User Name
{password} = This will be the new password


RESET A PASSWORD USING MICROSOFT'S ERD COMMANDER

1. Download a 30 day trial from here:

Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset 5.0 $65 64 MB
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...69-0554-4595-8AB4-C34B2860E087&displaylang=en

2. Install it, run it and burn the image to a CD.
3. Boot the CD and run the Locksmith Wizard, found under
Start -> System Tools.
4. The Locksmith Wizard is very easy to use, just select an
account and input a new password. Too easy!


RESET A PASSWORD USING OFFLINE NT PASSWORD & REGISTRY EDITOR

Bootable CD (Freeware):
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

- This disc can set, reset or unlock the password of any
user account.
- You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
- Works with Windows NT/2k/XP/Vista.


RESET A PASSWORD USING NT PASSWORD HACK

This will blank the Administrator password (Freeware):
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/tools/ntpassword/ntpasswordhack.zip


RECOVER A PASSWORD USING THE LOGIN RECOVERY WEB SERVICE

Login Recovery is a service to recover passwords for Windows NT,
2000, XP, 2003 and Vista (Fast = $30, 3-day wait = Free):
http://www.loginrecovery.com/index.php


LINKS

How to reset the Administrator's password:
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

EFS, Credentials, and Private Keys from Certificates Are
Unavailable After a Password Is Reset:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290260/en-us

Administrator and User Passwords in Windows XP:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm


ju.c