I have a lap top with one admin and one user account on it, both password protected, but I can't remember the password. The user either changed it, or I didn't use the normal one. Either way I can't gain access to the accounts. How can I get around this?
The Forgotten Password Wizard helps you create a password reset disk that you can use to recover your user account and personalized computer settings if you forget your password.
If you have a computer administrator account
Open User Accounts in Control Panel.
Click your user name.
Under Related Tasks located on the left side of the window, click Prevent a forgotten password.
In the Forgotten Password Wizard, follow the instructions as they appear on the screen.
Linney's suggestion of using a local console boot is the only way I know of other than direct manipulation of a copy of the SAM and then replacing it.
Given a choice of doing that, trying to make a readable floppy image on either that machine or another and booting from it, re-installing Windows, or shooting myself in the foot, I would try everything but a direct manipulation of the SAM or using a gun first, and then if none of those worked I would take the option to shoot myself in the foot before messing with the SAM
Here is another thing that should work. It's a security hole in NT. Rename the "logon.scr" to "logon.bak", then find "usrmgr.exe" and rename it to "logon.scr"... wait for the screen saver to start, and it will start Usermanager with admin rights. Then you can enter and reset the admin password.
Information on additional password tools (from various sources), such as:
NTAccess can replace the administrator password of a Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP system by rebooting the computer with a special set of boot disks. This is useful if you forgot the administrator password and cannot access the Windows NT/2000/XP system. ($70)
ERD Commander 2002: When your Windows XP/2000/NT system won't boot, ERD Commander 2002 boots the system using the ERD Commander 2002 product CD, right out of the box. Once booted,the easy-to-use ERD Commander 2002 windowing environment provides numerous powerful tools to diagnose and repair a wide array of problems which could prevent a system from booting. And it provides built-in network support so that you can move data safely off and on($400).
You can always delete the SAM file located in WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG from DOS with the above mentioned NTFS reader/writer from Sysinternals. (Or try using the Recovery Console if that will do it). Once this is done and the system rebooted, you will be able to
logon with the Administrator account with a blank password. Or just piggyback the drive in another NTFS or FAT32 machine and delete it from windows. Once this is done and the system rebooted, you will be able to logon with the Administrator account with a blank password.
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