Reset Administrator Password

[bullhlms]

There is a simple way to reset the Admin password in XP. I found a reference to it at another site, acquired it and used it successfully. If anybody needs it, tell me how to send. "Winkey.rar"

 

[BuckeyeComputers]

the easiest way is just to post the link here so they can retrive it themselves

 

[bullhlms]

BuckeyeComputers, If there were a link I could post, that's exactly what I would do. The program, with directions, was mailed to me as a courtesy, and I don't want to abuse the sender.

 

[BuckeyeComputers]

Sorry it didnt specify that in your first post, suggestion would be to create yourself a homepage somewhere like geocities or something upload it there then post the link

 

[bullhlms]

Thanks BuckeyeComputers, I'll try to do that.

 

[fastlanwan]

Is the following the basic procedure used? if not does the proceedure work on both fat32 and ntfs?

To regain Admin access fat32 only:
1. Using Win 9x boot disk start the PC.
2. locate c:\Windows\system32\config folder and delete these three files: SAM, SAM.SAV, and SAM.LOG.

Deleting these files will delete all accounts along with passwords, so you must recreate all users again. However, the Administrator account will continue to exist but without a password.
A+ N+ Sec+ SME/Sec+

 

[wolluf]

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?spid=96&sfid=2866

 

[bullhlms]

fastlanwan, no, that is not the procedure. See below.
wolluf, I tried to follow some of them, but they got to be too much for me, so I chickened out.

Below are the instructions. (The program was compressed with rar.)

"Unrar this file to a floppy and boot to your XP CD. When it asks for
>additional drivers in the blue screen, press F6 and load the driver from
>the floppy. Then just follow the prompts to reset the password, which will
>automatically be set to 12345."

 

[fastlanwan]

I'll check it out on another forum. It I get anything worth while I'll post it here.

A+ N+ Sec+ SME/Sec+

 

[bullhlms]

fastlanwan, I'm sure some users will be grateful.

 

[bullhlms]

fastlanwan, I know it works on NTFS; that's what I have.

 

[fastlanwan]

"I know it works on NTFS; that's what I have."

I thought you hadn't tried it, so how do we know it works on ntfs ? I assume your talking about the rar'd file. A+ N+ Sec+ SME/Sec+

 

[bullhlms]

fastlanwan, Yes the Rar, as I said initially:
"I found a reference to it at another site, acquired it and used it successfully."

 

[fastlanwan]

Per MS, "If you have not created a password reset disk and you have also forgotten your Administrator password, you cannot log on to your existing Windows installation for security reasons." This applies to all startup modes.

To create a reset disk whether part of a domain or not see

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321305

for instructions. If your already locked out then it's too late.

Obviously there are way to hack into it but none authorized by MS. A+ N+ Sec+ SME/Sec+

 

[njxbean]

yo, if you do not have important data in the winnt folder simply do a clean install. i had this problem, but i realised that the only data that was important was the server data, outside the winnt folder. doing a clean install will only overwrite the data in the winnt folder leaving all other data intact. this is probably the best and easiest bet.

 

[fastlanwan]

If your refering to the i386/winnt32 /unattend, that does a system and dll file overlay. A clean install is a format then install not a overlay. A+ N+ Sec+ SME/Sec+

 

[njxbean]

no just a regular clean install of the system. im not talking about formatting the computer.

 

[bullhlms]

njxbean, When I did a clean install in Jan, ALL of the applications and ALL of the updates I had installed were deleted.
Even following the clean install, I was unable to access the command console because I could not provide THE ADMINISTRATOR's password.
I think that was because I had an OEM install, but it could have been due to a severe malfunction which deleted 30G of files in August.
Running the program I have described above reset the admin password with no problems.

 

[njxbean]

you choose clean install. but do not choose the recreate the ntfs partition.

 

[njxbean]

when you do a clean install it should prompt you to give a password for the admin account. of couse you will have to re-install all the updates and any programs on that computer, but the data will be intact. this was the right solution for me because it was a file server with little software on it. but i guess in other situations the reset utility may be a better option