windows account password

[deltafoxtrot]

My daughter has forgotten her password to access her account on her computer. (she hasn't used it for several months, and has tried everything she can think of with no luck) Can anyone tell me how to get into it without the password?

Thanks

[stevef]

Check PMs, deltafox.

[Spudwiser218]

Running XP?

You can reset her password by logging on to the admin account. This requires knowing the password to that though. If it is the case that you don't know that password then you can reset it by loading up in safe mode.

Best of Luck

[Shunter]

Err, safe mode doesn't help you. You still have to login! A lot of off-the-shelf computers simply don't have an admin password set. Grossly irresponsible of manufacturers, but that doesn't usually stop them. Press ctrl-alt-del twice at the welcome screen to get the traditional login box, the try Administrator as the username, with no password. Worth a shot.

A utility like this (http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/) can reset or remove users' passwords. Read the instructions though, it's a very powerful tool.

[deltafoxtrot]

Thanks everyone for the input.

We did try safe mode and the admin thing but to no avail.

She decided to reinstall windows- she had little on the HDD so it wasn't too bad to lose it!

She also put a password on again, much to my annoyance (teenagers eh!!) and hopefully has written it somewhere in case this ever happens again.

Thanks again

DF

[Saab Dastard]

The best Windows password "recovery" tool is a Linux bootable CD or USB drive (or even floppy) with a couple of tools to access the SAM on almost any version of Windows NT. Trinux or Knoppix are the most common versions.

I have used it successfully up to and including XP and Server 2003 (not domain controller), and it will probably work with Vista - though I haven't tried it myself (yet). Not sure about 64-bit versions of Windows either, although it should work on 32-bit versions running on 64-bit capable processors.

It works by extracting the Security Accounts Management (SAM) database from the disk, allowing the password for any account (including administrator) to be changed and the modified database written back - even on NTFS partitions.

Given this tool and physical access to any (non DC) Windows PC / server, it is possible to gain complete access in a few minutes - longer if the CD / Floppy is configured non-bootable in the BIOS, necessitating the preliminary step of re-setting the BIOS password via the appropriate hardware or software mechanism.

Use with care!

SD