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Lost my Windows 2000 password! 1
- Thread starter LoonyD
- Start date
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1
- #2
butchrecon
MIS
Is the data in the Windows folder or is it in another location? Is the drive shared that you know of? If the info is in another folder you can reload Win2K and when the install is over get the info then. If you think the folders have been shared then you can just boot it up. You dont have to logon. Go to another PC and pull it over the network. Are iether of those options viable? James Collins
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP
email: butchrecon@skyenet.net
Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP
email: butchrecon@skyenet.net
Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.
- Thread starter
- #3
- Thread starter
- #4
butchrecon
MIS
When you reinstall Windows, It will not overwrite the desktop. The desktop is stored under the Documents and Settings folder on the root drive under the PC anme at the time. So when you reistall windows you will not have to replace the WINNT folder by installing in a WINNTNEW folder. That way all files are left intact. It then becomes an issue of finding them. James Collins
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP
email: butchrecon@skyenet.net
Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP
email: butchrecon@skyenet.net
Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.
rfraser
MIS
- May 14, 2008
- 4
- 0
- 0
This was recently posted on techrepublic. I haven't tried it myself:
USE CMD.EXE TO RECOVER FROM A FORGOTTEN PASSWORD
Forgetting the administrator password may seem like a catastrophe, but
it doesn't have to be. We'll outline several possible solutions to the
problem. If these don't work, however, you'll need to reinstall the
system.
The first resolution applies to computers that have another account
that is a member of the Administrators group. If this is the case, log
on with that account and change the password for the administrator
account.
Another method that relies on Windows 2000's logon behavior allows you
to bypass logon and change the administrator account password. Here are
more details about utilizing this method.
When Windows 2000 boots, it displays the logon prompt for a while and
then (if no keyboard or mouse activity occurs) starts the LOGON.SCR
screen saver. If you can access the system's files, you can replace
LOGON.SCR with CMD.EXE.
When the logon timeout occurs, Windows 2000 launches (in the context of
the system account) the command console rather than the screen saver.
Use NET USER to change the administrator password or launch the
Computer Management console (COMPMGMT.MSC) to accomplish the task. If
you choose the former, issue the command NET USER ADMINISTRATOR
<password> where <password> is the new password you want to assign to
the administrator account.
How you replace the LOGON.SCR file with CMD.EXE depends on whether the
system uses FAT or NTFS. With FAT, you can boot from a Windows 9x or a
DOS boot disk. But for NTFS systems, you might need a solution such as
Winternals' NTFSDOS to access the file system or access the system
across the LAN. Regardless, once you have access to the
%systemroot%\System32 folder, rename LOGON.SCR to LOGON.BAK and then
copy CMD.EXE to LOGON.SCR.
USE CMD.EXE TO RECOVER FROM A FORGOTTEN PASSWORD
Forgetting the administrator password may seem like a catastrophe, but
it doesn't have to be. We'll outline several possible solutions to the
problem. If these don't work, however, you'll need to reinstall the
system.
The first resolution applies to computers that have another account
that is a member of the Administrators group. If this is the case, log
on with that account and change the password for the administrator
account.
Another method that relies on Windows 2000's logon behavior allows you
to bypass logon and change the administrator account password. Here are
more details about utilizing this method.
When Windows 2000 boots, it displays the logon prompt for a while and
then (if no keyboard or mouse activity occurs) starts the LOGON.SCR
screen saver. If you can access the system's files, you can replace
LOGON.SCR with CMD.EXE.
When the logon timeout occurs, Windows 2000 launches (in the context of
the system account) the command console rather than the screen saver.
Use NET USER to change the administrator password or launch the
Computer Management console (COMPMGMT.MSC) to accomplish the task. If
you choose the former, issue the command NET USER ADMINISTRATOR
<password> where <password> is the new password you want to assign to
the administrator account.
How you replace the LOGON.SCR file with CMD.EXE depends on whether the
system uses FAT or NTFS. With FAT, you can boot from a Windows 9x or a
DOS boot disk. But for NTFS systems, you might need a solution such as
Winternals' NTFSDOS to access the file system or access the system
across the LAN. Regardless, once you have access to the
%systemroot%\System32 folder, rename LOGON.SCR to LOGON.BAK and then
copy CMD.EXE to LOGON.SCR.
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