Password over-ride

[Rwy in Sight]

A friend (she points out she is blond) has forgotten the password to launch her netbook. Is there a way to override the system at amateur level or she has to turn over the netbook to a professional service center?

Rwy in Sight

[390cruise]

Hi

I was in that situation with a desktop.(XP)

I followed a suggestion on these very pages that worked well.

1)Turn the machine on
2)Press F8 over and over again while machine boots up
3)Find that machine is operating in 'Safe Mode'
4)It is now possible to view admin pages,delete password.
5)Shut down then start up a password free machine

390

[BOAC]

390 -it depends on which 'password' we are stuck on. If it is a bios password, she will never get to 'F8' territory. A bit of googling is then required to sort it out..

[AnthonyGA]

If the password is the password to Windows, and if it is the administrator password, the only way to get past it within Windows is to reinstall the operating system. There are programs that can sometimes help to get past a password by booting in place of Windows, but each version of Windows has become more secure, and so these programs may only provide a partial solution, with some or a great deal of information still lost. Windows can be further secured optionally in ways that make all these programs useless, but it's unlikely that she has done that.

If the password is to the BIOS, there's no way to get past it without resetting or erasing the BIOS password. Some computers provide a way to do this, by removing a battery or moving a jumper, others do not. Those that do not require that the BIOS be physically replaced, e.g., with a soldering iron, and that is a significant undertaking.

It's important not to forget passwords. Systems are inaccessible without them, by design, and every generation of computers makes it harder to gain access without a password. In many scenarios, access is already impossible.

[Saab Dastard]

If the password is the password to Windows, and if it is the administrator password, the only way to get past it within Windows is to reinstall the operating system.

No. No, and No again!

It is incredibly easy to hack the SAM database on a Windows box, up to Windows 7, and erase the administrator (or other account) password. Can also be done on Windows servers - not domain controllers - provided you have the right storage array drivers for the system disk.

Petter Nordahl-Hagen has a great tool (bootable Linux CD) for this, and there are many other password cracking / blanking tools.

Here's a few:

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor Review - Password Recovery Software Review - Password Crack ISO Download (http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/gr/offlinentpwed.htm)

SD

[Mike-Bracknell]

^^^WHS. Petter's disks are invaluable :ok:

[Phil Squares]

IIRC there is a Microsoft work around for this. (I know because it happened to me). Basically, it's easy if you have a guest account. I can't remember the exact details but in the guest account you can get to the control panel and then change the password on the protected account.

It took a bit of searching on google and Microsoft, but it took about 30 minutes to fix.

Try here if it's a Vista OS Administrator Account - Vista Forums (http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67567-administrator-account.html)

[mixture]

If the password is the password to Windows, and if it is the administrator password, the only way to get past it within Windows is to reinstall the operating system.

There is an old saying when it comes to IT security...

"Physical access to device / network under attack equals game over".