How can I retrieve a username, and password from Windows 98? 1

[Guest_imported]

If it helps I can log into my son's account, but I cant remember my name or password. My son's account has alot of parental restrictions, that I had installed for him.

Basically I need to be able to get through the restrictions my son has, and get the main username, and password. Is this possible or do I have to wipe the whole drive.

Thanks, Jason

 

[cdogg]

In Win98, you can reset your password by doing the following:

1) At the Windows Password Prompt, hit cancel.
2) Once Windows has finished loading, go to Start->Find Files and Folders.
3) Type *.pwl in the Named field. Make sure "Look In:" says C: and click Find Now. Delete the PWL file that has your username.
4) Restart Windows.
5) Enter the same Username you've been using at the Windows Logon prompt along with what you want your password to be.


Windows should log you on and remember this password. Post back if this doesn't work...

~cdogg

 

[paulwood]

Cdogg's suggestion should be OK, but you will lose all other cached passwords for your account as well, so make sure you know them all. If you can't, or fancy seeing what is in the pwl file, try PwlTool which will read the contents, honest! A limited demo is available from

http://soft4you.com/vitas/pwltool.htm

and the full version is only $40. You can get all other sorts of password tools like Zip, Office, etc. from the same author.

 

[cdogg]

Paulwood,

I always thought the .pwl file is used for your Windows password only (in order to preserve user settings such as the desktop, wallpaper, etc...)

It shouldn't involve any other cached passwords with any applications installed in Windows. At least that's my understanding. Feel free to explain if I'm wrong.

~cdogg

 

[paulwood]

Cdogg, the best thing I can say is read this

http://soft4you.com/vitas/pwl.htm

Hope it helps.

 

[reghakr]

On the Win98 CD in the \TOOLS\RESKIT directory Microsoft provides a Password List Editor named pwledit.

This will allow you to see if there is more than just the standard Windows login password.

reghakr

 

[cdogg]

paulwood,

I read the documentation at the link you provided. I agree that PWLTool is the way to go to recover passwords in PWL files. However, it doesn't appear that this documentation supports the idea that "cached passwords for your account" would be lost if a PWL is deleted.

Perhaps, it is not clear what you mean by "cached passwords". Cached passwords for what application? As far as I know, the PWL file in the Windows directory is only used by Windows for specifying desktop settings, Start Menu shortcuts, Wallpaper, etc...

Now, it does make sense that if I have Windows remember DUN passwords, that this information is stored in the Windows PWL file (and would be lost). However, most ISP's like AOL and Compuserve use their own files for caching passwords. The same goes for Internet Explorer 5.xx (remembering passwords you entered at websites).

So, unless I'm using a generic ISP that requires you to manually set up a DUN node, then I should have nothing to worry about by deleting the PWL file and letting Windows create a new one next time I logon.


Sorry about the novel above, but hopefully this is clear.


~cdogg

 

[paulwood]

In fact only Microsoft software uses the pwl file since Microsoft hasn't given the encrypting details to anyone else. This does mean however that if you use IE for browsing, the pwl file will have the ip address, username and password of sites you have visited. You may be more organized than me, but I don't always make a note of these It also includes DUN passwords, so whilst I may have been over-cautious in warning, it doesn't hurt to let people know the possible extent of what they are doing.

 

[cdogg]

I don't believe IE uses the PWL file in the Windows directory. If it did, then I would have one there. If we back up for a second, I'll point out that on my Win98 system, I don't use PWL files at all. In other words, I have only one user profile (the default) in Windows. If I do a search on my harddrive for *.pwl, nothing is returned.

If what you're saying is true about IE, then there would have to be a .pwl file on my hard drive. CORRECT??


~cdogg

 

[paulwood]

The previous posts have been made with my best understanding of what happens, and my experience bears them out so far. It is possible to turn off password caching either using poledit or directly hacking the registry, whether this results in no pwl files, I cannot say, since I have yet to see a Win9x system without at least a default.pwl file, but then I mostly work with networked computers. To activate the caching, one would have had to allow Windows (and IE) to remember passwords, if this was declined, then no caching would happen.

If caching is still happening without a pwl, I for one would appreciate learning how (I don't claim infallibility!). Maybe it would be worth starting a new thread to get a straw poll of members to see if this can be resolved?

 

[cdogg]

Yes, I agree. I have IE setup to remember passwords and it works successfully. Yes, there aren't any PWL files on my system either due to the way I have Windows configured (no hacking the registry involved). Win98 will not use any *.pwl files if you use "Windows Logon" and don't specify a password at the initial windows password prompt - using a blank password.


paulwood, most likely IE uses another type of file to store passwords. I believe the only things that are stored in Windows PWL files are DUN passwords, Network passwords, and of course your windows password.

That's why I suggested just deleting it and letting Windows recreate it, since the user most likely won't notice any differences in his applications (such as IE, AOL, etc...). You can always go through the trouble of using the PWLTool, but it seems much quicker just to delete it and recreate it.