My administrator died. help!

[Michael]

The administrator of our school network died and we can't get into his
computer running XP Professional. Amazingly, I can't find any documentation
that addresses this problem.

So, what do you do if the administrator password is lost?

 

[S.Sengupta]

Hi!
please look here:-
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
regards
ssg MS-MVP
pronetworks.org

 

[sqr]

Follow these steps.

1. boot the machine with a win9x boot disk which has NTFStoDOS pro on it.
(this program will let you mount any NTFS partition)

2. retrieve the *SAM* file which is in the windows\repair directory. This is
the NT/2K/XP security file which
stores all of the passwords for the OS. The attributes on this file are
system and hidden. They may have to be changed.

3. Get the program @stake LC4 from http://www.atstake.com/products/lc/ .
Install it and it will retrieve all of the passwords which are stored in the
SAM file even if Sysprep has been used.

This method takes a bit of work but is well worth the effort when it comes
to retrieving important data.

Another method is the use a Linux LILO boot disk.

These are the two methods I use to do exactly what you want.

HTH.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Michael,

See:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Malke]

The administrator of our school network died and we can't get into his
computer running XP Professional. Amazingly, I can't find any
documentation that addresses this problem.

So, what do you do if the administrator password is lost?

Sorry to hear that. If you think he changed the default Administrator
password (usually blank) - and he certainly *should* have if he was any
good - then you can try the offline nt password cracking tool, located
here:

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

It works quite well. Otherwise, just format the drive and reinstall
Windows.

Malke