Forgotten Local Admn Password 2

[CBell]

HI, I have a WIn 2000 Server that we have forgotten the local admin password, is there an easy way to get into the system without re-building the OS? Also, this machine was never attached to our network so going thru th network won't work either.

THanx,

Chris...

 

[GlenJohnson]

Have you tried a blank password? Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
gjohn76351@msn.com

"Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force."
Samuel Johnson (1709-84), English author, lexicographer.

 

[CBell]

That did it..... Thanx... chris...

 

[Jpoandl]

I know that your problem is solved. But you are usually better off just rebuilding the OS when you forget the password. However, there are some third party software packages that will allow you to recover the password.

http://www.atstake.com/research/lc3/index.html

Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2000

If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out

http://www.esavio.com

 

[GlenJohnson]

Get a good password on that thing and right it down and lock it up. Make sure there are at least 2 people who have access to it. Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
gjohn76351@msn.com

"Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force."
Samuel Johnson (1709-84), English author, lexicographer.

 

[caddnima]

or you can create another user account that has the same rights as the administrator....

so that when you lost the administrator you have another one to access it....

 

[GlenJohnson]

If it's a new machine, you might want to think about changing the administrators name to something like Frank (Insert whatever name here), and create another adminsitrator accound with very little rites. Anybody trying to hack almost always goes for the admin account first. Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
gjohn76351@msn.com

"Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force."
Samuel Johnson (1709-84), English author, lexicographer.

 

[Guest_imported]

DO a Windows 2000 installation,then choose to repair instaed of fresh installation.This will clear up an old password and ask you to put a new one.This does not destroy any applications nor whatever you have on your computer.
This is the solution.
masirem@mopipi.ub.bw
TECHNICIAN (UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA)

 

[AllanBowker]

Gold Star to Glen Johnson! Class 1 Solution.
Sorry to the rest of you but I'm not so sure that your other solutions would work.

It is possible to hack Windows security by booting off a floppy disk to DOS or NTFS. (Yes NTFS boot disks are possible!)

Rename the logon.scr file as logon.old in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder and copy the CMD.EXE file as logon.scr

Remove the bootup floppy disk and restart your server/PC.

When you have a CTRL+ALT+DEL screen appear leave the PC on and leave it alone for the next 15mins or so.

When the default screen saver kicks in (logon.scr) it will open a command prompt window instead. All that is left for you to do now is run the user manager program from this window and chage the admin's password or even add/remove accounts.

This has worked for me many times on NT4 boxes and not yet tried it on Win2k. Maybe someone can let me know if it's OK on Win2k?

 

[weberdude]

I tried the logon.scr thing in windows2000 professional and it did not work for me. However what I did, was from the command prompt that was renamed to the screensaver, I loaded LC3 (WinNT/2K Password Cracker) and cracked the SAM that way. In order for LC3 to access the SAM you must have admin access. However since the command prompt was loaded by the system and you launch LC3 from the command prompt which was loaded by the system in effect the LC3 was launched by the system and was able to access the SAM.

If you need a more detailed explanation or instructions let me know.

You can also use a program called NTFSDOS which mounts a NTFS drive in DOS so you can read NTFS partitions. Then you can copy the SAM file onto another computer and crack it with LC3. Because the copied file SAM is on another computer (it can be in any directory) it is not in use so you do not need admin rights. I hope this helps.