Help w/ lost admin password

[markf]

I am trying to help a non-profit community organization. The first step seems to be figuring out how to retrieve the Administrator user name and password for their windows computer, which they have lost.

 

They are using some flavor of windows, I don't think vista, probably XP. I have been asked to help and thought to check here for any advice on how to recover the forgotten/lost Administrator user name and password.

 

Any help much appreciated

[SandmanNinja]

When I use to set up networks and work stations, I would ALWAYS make another account that had admin rights. That way, if someone lost their admin username/pw I could walk up and in 5 seconds "be a hero".

 

Failing that... hmm...

 

What version of Windows are they running? That's really important.

Also helpful would be if they know the Service Packs that have been put in place.

 

The version of Windows is displayed when the computer boots and they press Control Alt Del to log on.

 

Here are some links that might prove useful:

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

 

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305

(this one has step-by-step instructions, but you need a windows xp CD)

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305

 

If it was set up by someone fairly compenant, then there should be a recovery disc or boot disc to be had. If not, the 2nd link has a link to a program that costs US$35 that can recover the password. I have recovered Windows 2000 passwords with ease, but that was a few years ago and Win2000 is long out of favour.

[bev.lynn]

The first thing I would do is check to see if the default administrator account that windows creates has been altered. When you install Windows, it automatically creates an account "Administrator" and sets its password to blank. So if you forget your user account login and/or password then try this:

 

Start system and when you see Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press ++ keys twice and it'll show Classic Login box. Now type "Administrator" (without quotes) in Username and leave Password field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.

Now you can reset your account password from "Control Panel -> User Accounts".

 

Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.

 

If this does not work then I would try SandmanNinja's suggestions.

[shaneis]

I'm assuming that they have data on the hard-drive that they need? Do they have the original Windows Install CD? Do they need to continue using Windows, or are they prepared to use something else? The following tools to be used are free, although you will need a blank CD. Access to an ADLS line would help a lot too.

 

First-off, to back-up their data and reset the password for the Windows partition...

 

Backup: You can use an Ubuntu Linux Live CD to do it all. Download it from here - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download (get the Ubuntu 8.04 32-bit version), burn the ISO to a CD. Put the CD into the offending PC and reboot to the live CD. Select "Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer". Once it loads up from the CD, you will be able to see the hard-drive that Windows is installed to (Click the menu "Places", and your hard-drive will be something like "40GB Media" or "40GB Volume"). Click on it and then navigate to the Windows "My Documents" folder. You can now plug in an external HD and back-up (copy) all their data onto the external HD. Right-click on the icon for the external HD (it will be on the left hand side of the Ubuntu Desktop. Select "Unmount", let it unmount and unplug the USB cord from the PC.

 

Now, to reset the Windows password: Follow the instructions here - http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/how-to-reset-a-windows-xp-password-with-ubuntu/

 

When you're done, you'll have access to your Windows PC again and also have a CD that will enable you to trial Ubuntu Linux. Maybe have a look at it and see what you think about it as an alternative for the organization you're helping. It will give them a lot of free software, vastly improved security, extremely simple updating and a $0.00 outlay... something that an non-profit organization may be interested in.

 

PS: Little mistakes like lock-out from your PC are much less likely using a desktop Linux system. Similarly, the way Linux uses permissions and multi-tiered administration avoids general users having the access and ability to make changes to the system. Very handy if you have a number of computer illiterate users accessing a PC unsupervised. Another bonus, many ISP's host the Ubuntu updates and free software repositories and provide access to these for their customers at no cost to your monthly quotas...if that's an important budget issue to the organization you're helping.

Edited February 11, 2009 by shaneis

[markf]

Thank you all for the great advice. I am going to try and go over there this afternoon and get a better handle on what operating system and etc they have. Not sure I can help but I'm going to try.

[markf]

I went to the http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_admini...r_password.htm site and then used http://www.loginrecovery.com

 

I made a disc and went the organizations office and followed the instructions. I sent the info in to loginrecovery.com and they have decoded the passwords! We can pay about $25 for instant access or wait 72 hours and get it for free. So it looks like thanks to you all this is going to work.

 

Now once we get the Administrator password we will be able to move on to the next step of fixing their problem.

 

Thank you!!

[SandmanNinja]

Good stuff! Glad it ended up on a positive note.

Thanks for filling us in.

[shaneis]

Yep, good to hear. Do make sure you change the Admin P/W too...knowing that site has your login details makes my foil-hat tingle!

 

Going back to my faraday cage now...