User account password corrupted (by kids)

[Guest]

A friend of my daughter thought it would be funny to change the password on
her computer at the time her 9 yr old brother walked past and slammed his
hand on the keyboard. So now there is an unknown password on her computer.
There is only one user account on her computer and the password is unknown?
Unfortunately we didn't make a password recovery disc (didn't even know they
existed till today)
Can anyone help ??

 

[TaurArian [MS-MVP]]

EFS, Credentials, and Private Keys from Certificates Are Unavailable After a Password
Is Reset
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=290260

Windows Home XP
1. As windows is loading up press F8 repeatedly until the Windows advanced screen
comes up.
2. Select safe mode (the version of windows you want to use click XP wait until it
loads the welcome screen.
3. Select Administrator and it will log you on as administrator without a password
(provided a password was not created in this hidden account during setup).
4. Go to Start - Control Panel - User Accounts.
5. Select your name and click change the password.
Then you should be able to change the password, shut down the computer and restart in
normal mode and use the new password you just created.

****

If you have XP Pro on your computer:-
1. At the log in screen “ ctrl-alt-delete “ twice.
2. In the User Account, type Administrator
3. Leave the password blank and press enter.
(Most likely a password wasn’t created in this hidden account during setup).
4. Go to Start - Control Panel - User Accounts.
5. Select your name and click change the password.
Then you should be able to change the password, shut down the computer and restart in
normal mode and use the new password you just created.

If you decide to set a password it is recommended that you create a Password Reset
Disk by clicking on "Prevent a Forgotten Password" link in the left pane. The Wizard
will guide you through.

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password Expires
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;321305

lists a few more options
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/lostpass.htm

Useful tools - Nir Soft at www.nirsoft.net
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html#password_utils

Forgot your NT admin password?
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

 

[Mike Fields]

A friend of my daughter thought it would be funny to change the password on
her computer at the time her 9 yr old brother walked past and slammed his
hand on the keyboard. So now there is an unknown password on her computer.
There is only one user account on her computer and the password is unknown?
Unfortunately we didn't make a password recovery disc (didn't even know they
existed till today)
Can anyone help ??

Both hands ?? Don't you have to retype the password to confirm
the new one when you are changing it ??????

Be sure and read the other post that pertains to the Encrypted File
system (EFS) if you are using it and backing up any encryption
keys you may be using.

mikey

 

[Bruce Chambers]

A friend of my daughter thought it would be funny to change the password on
her computer at the time her 9 yr old brother walked past and slammed his
hand on the keyboard. So now there is an unknown password on her computer.

That's simply not possible. Well, OK, it's remotely possible, but
exceedingly unlikely. It would have had to have happened in exactly the
same way (same key sequence entered by the "slam") twice, and then the
<Enter> key would have had to have been deliberately pressed for the
password to have been changed. Why not just admit that the "friend of
your daughter" simply forgot the new password? It happens all the time.

There is only one user account on her computer and the password is unknown?
Unfortunately we didn't make a password recovery disc (didn't even know they
existed till today)
Can anyone help ??

Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which
cannot be deleted) and 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.


--

Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[coal_brona]

Hi,

The problem can be solved using Active@ password changer. This is a
small yet powerful utility that is capable of resetting lost or
forgotten windows password. That should really help.

http://www.password-changer.com/

 

[Guest]

I've got a variation on the theme.........my Sony laptop has a fingerprint
scanner, so I can log in alright, but it's been so long since I used the
keyboard, I forget what I used for that entry method !!

If I use any of the reset products or services, I'm worried that on my XP
SP2 system that resetting my password will allow me access my
account......but then deny me access to all my files and data.

Am I right in this??

I should point out I know next-to-nothing about PC's....but am not afraid to
try !!

galwaytt

 

[jg]

if you login with the finger print scanner, you should be able to click
windows start button, control panel, user accounts
then the user accounts windows pop up, you should be able select your
own password account to change the password


That way you won't lose any files
failing that decrypt **all** your files and then force password change