I didn’t see it mentioned but I have had pretty good luck with this for changing lost passwords: http://www.dmzs.com/tools/files/

Cheers!
GM

a generic help site for microsoft for neophytes:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/bott/suppsec.asp

hi i need help imediately i just got back from a trip and i forgot my widnows password and the administraor one also please help me i want my pictures and music back i dont care for the rest or if i can saveit all it will be great but lease answer back im going crazy without my computer.

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!! You saved my a**. Couldn’t get into my Windows XP computer for love or money.

Or you could just reboot into safe mode. Then just log in under administrator account (in safe mode it will not require a pw) and got to user accounts and change the pw!

All of the above mentioned ways did not work on my comp. I fould this site, (its an updated version of Thomas Mathiesen’s program to recover Windows password)

Hope this helps for the people who can’t get it working: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

I bought a new PC with pre-installed Windows XP-Home edition. To activate will cost a lot of money, I have a Windows 98 CD I dont know how to install W98. Please help.

i need to reinstall my windows XP ,shall i lose
all my files that are there in the other drives

This might sound confusing, take your time an READ what I wrote before getting irate … here goes … you could however switch the drives. Seeing that most people use the cable select option on the HDs this would be easy.

Put drive HDA on the slot where the HDB is, HDA(Now) becomes HDB(After switch) then reinstall XP on HDA. HDA then becomes HDB … follow me? now access to all data on what was HDA(Now HDB) is accessible without loosing the data … then again you can simply place HDA in an external case, install XP on the drive you now placed as drive HDA(Most times cable select) and access all data on it.

I hope this was understood.

Running Windows Xp Home on Gateway Laptop. IE is erroring out will dial up and log in but will not open home page Lost ability to log in to network drive useing DSL also. Is they a way to reinstall Windows XP Home over Windows Home with out setting up menu, like we use to do witn Windows 98.

Help!!

Daughter has forgotten her XP password and I have forgotten the administratot password, what now??

I’ve looked at the above links but all the Thomas mathieson site says is downloading, linux, am I missing something obvious? Appreciate any help, thanks.

Alan

Hi - it’s sorta related - hoping someone can help?!?
I’ve just formatted and reinstalled windows on my OS partition (due to a constant bombardment of BSoD)…now I find I cannot access any of my previous ‘private folders’ (my doc’s etc), as I thought I’d just use the same login name and it’d be fine…obviously not

is there a way i can gain access as i desparately need the files

thanks for any help!
jacob

You can just open up your computer, and remove the battery (its similar to a watch battery). Wait for 5 minutes or so, then put it back in, and turn on your computer. It will run normally without password, and from then you can set/create user/password. Let me know how it goes.

sorry..i posted up a reply in response to the initial problem of forgetting admin password. It wasnt a reply to the post right before mine.

Hi everyone! I have a strange problem having to do with Windows XP user accounts. I restarted my computer one day and it looked like the Windows I had first installed: basically my main user account admin was renamed to “Valerie Anne.GEORGE” - all of my old documents and settings were made READ ONLY and when I try to take them off read only it won’t respond. So in the actual documents section it has two Valerie Anne folders, but when I go to change the user, it doesn’t work, since there is only one account option. [for “Valerie Anne” - which is actually Valerie Anne.GEORGE]

I’m fairly certain that I’ve gotten the virus’, all I have to do now is fix the user account problem. You guys all seem to know what you’re doing, so I was wondering: Do you have any ideas?

(I really want to have full access to my files under my proper login!)

The problem with all the above is that they all destroy internet saved passwords when you change ythe password.

This is a free tool that I found today that finds out the old password and works with EFS and keeps internet explorer passwords.

It takes only a few hours (sometimes as little as 5 minutes) and requires no installing.

It also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn.

the url of this site is:

http://xpcracker.mine.nu/xpcracker

Sometimes the server will be off so it will not be available during bank holidays.

It is free as well.

If you find any bugs then use the response form on the site - the owner personally sent me a reply!

Sorry if this sounds like advertizing but it just really impressed me!

This is a free tool that I found today that finds out the old password and works with EFS and keeps internet explorer passwords.

It takes only a few hours (sometimes as little as 5 minutes) and requires no installing.

It also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn.

the url of this site is:

http://xpcracker.mine.nu/xpcracker

Sometimes the server will be off so it will not be available during bank holidays.

It is free as well.

If you find any bugs then use the response form on the site - the owner personally sent me a reply!

Sorry if this sounds like advertizing but it just really impressed me!

I wonder if anyone can help me with this…..
I’ve a hard drive that recently seems to have corrupted the boot sector. It’s working fine as a slave, but the password protected profile wont let me access the files behind it. Any help?

Lost/forgot my admin password - XP Home on an HP laptop. Tried #6 above it worked like a charm. Is that a security hole that was fixed in SP2? I believe I’m still running SP1 on that particular laptop. Anyway, I just rebooted into safe mode, and bingo - nothing was password protected. Changed my admin password, rebooted again into Normal mode and it worked perfect. Thanks Fresh!

dear sir…

accroding to my OS of “Windows XP Professional”. my pc game is not working any more after the installation of the OS. how do i do to make it works again. example the EA.GAME of Need 4 Speed Undergroung2 that it can working with OS of Windows Me

p/s: my grafic cards if G Force 2 64mb.
Pentium 4 processor 1.8

regards
jeffry

I just recovered an admin password by:

reboot into safemode by pressing F8 while starting
log in with username: administrator and a blank password
go into control panel and change the appropriate password

and that’s it. I am not sure what all of the password cracking progs are for as this worked fine for me.

Graham

Graham
it worked only because no one did set the admin password on your computer. and that’s dumb, really dumb … would give root to any 8 years old idiot kiddie
jesus, ppl should not be allowed to use computers without adult supervision

hacky, you are right about that…

sulaiman, your trick will not work with most modern PCs since they have Flash memory motherboards which don’t need a battery backup. Further, many if not all laptops have the battery welded in.

Hi,

I have Windows Xp installed on my laptop and my son was playing with my laptop and put in the Windows Xp cd by mistake (so he says) and now I have one copy of windows xp installed and another one in the process of installing.
I have tried to use the CDkey that I have but it keeps telling me it is invalid.
I don’t want to install windows xp because I already have it I am just trying to uninstall the one that is in the process of installing.
It is really slowing down my laptop and I have tried everything.

DEAN, what do you mean it’s in the process of installing? just click cancel, so long as it hasn’t started re-partitioning you should be fine. A word of advice also: don’t let your son use the admin account, giving root access to someone who dosen’t know what there doing isn’t a good idea… as to the original post, rebooting would work, or you could download the live edition of some linux distro and change everything from there.

I have a query. I want to keep my work files private on my Win XP computer so I set it up so that you have to log on to use the computer. There is only one user account (mine, the administrator, requires a password) and i have disabled the guest account.
However, I recently found out that someone else has been using my computer and I know that they do not know my password. Is there any other way they could have been logging on? Is there any other way to make my computer more secure? Any comments you have would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,
My son locks his computer with an XP password. How do I get to know this password so as to check on what he is upto?

help me please i have just ridden my pc of a number of viruses . i am running win xp but am missing the restore disk and my system is missing some files my system restore wont open neither will my media or help options WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT

please tell me so easy boot from cd and reset
windowsxp admin password

i need bootable cd that work

thank you for help me

Windows XP home, she changed the pw and now we cant log in. Tried F8 on startup but it will not give me Safe Mode. Will try the battery thing. Any other suggestions?

Okay, he battery thing prob wont work on my comp. Have a 2001-02 motherboard so it PROBABLY has flash memory. I tried doing the safe mode thing, but im running HOME EDITION thus it has no safe mode, I cant find my windows xp disk and Im not to upbeat about the whole running a floppy with all my pw’s through a FREE internet server. So got any suggestions? Oh yeah another thing…I have a preset usernamem thus I cant set it as administrater and I cant bring up console as far as I know, if you have any suggestions please tell me that includes if you know how to bring up console from the username screen.

I need a password for recovery console for xp on my gateway. I don’t remember ever entering one in the past and I have read that there is a different password than the one on windows itself. Any suggestions? Reason for password is that I was getting this error: windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \winnt\system32\config\system
Please help…thanks!!!

Yo guys whats up, I lost my admin passwords, i have two admin accounts, one when u load up using safe mode, and another with all my other accounts. All those hack tools up at the top are just too confusing for my head to take in, i was wondering if anyone can help me understand them or teach me how to use them the correct way. And i am willing to use remote viewing, so if anyone is up to the task of helping me and my bussiness out then please do email me at paintball271@tonal.org

Hi Shashanx,

my neighbour installed a user-account with restricted rights on his notebook with XP home and after that he managed to delete the admin account.
I never thought that this is possible but it is.
Now he asked me to help and I found your site and some of your links point to solutions to recover lost passwords.
Before I start to use them now my question: does it make sense to use those? As far as I understand they target to NT.
And the user-account is pw-protected but accessible. But how can I use a pw-cracker for an admin-account if no admin-account is existing? I did a boot in safe mode but there is also just the pw-login for the user.

This is so wierd. As far as I remember there is a CD-writer on this machine so we can do backup the data if the user. In case there are important data of the Admin we can’t access I think of removing the HD to another machine, do a backup of the data and then re-install from the recovery-CD if possible, otherwise re-formating and re-install.

But maybe you have a better suggestion?

Thanks in advance
Wolfgang

Just a note to those who are interested - I solved it with this great tool:
home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
Bye

Greetings All…Same Problem, I forgot my password to my Computer, tried the “removal of the battery” solution, and now my computer does not boot up at all! Humm, any suggestions? I am running Windows XP Pro, Monitor shows messages “monitor is working”, and then the monitor will go into “sleep” mode, when I turn the computer on. Looking forward to hearing from someone….Thanks!

i for got my admin code how can i get it or change it

I have a unique prob. After hours or repair and file restoring to a damaged OS (XP home), my old accounts are visible on log on screen, but when clicked this is what happens…
“loading personal preferences”, then immediately “saving preferences” and “logging off”. My accounts exist but I cant logon…what is the deal?

Thanks

Someone has installed an Admin account on my system. Mine was the only Admin account, and the Super Admin( that’s accesible from Safe mode) is password protected. I recently changed my password, and this was done after. The person had no access to my computer when I was logged in. None of my passwords have been changed. How was this done? I thought this was impossible with XP.

hi, i have window xp professional, i have not forgotton password, but it not letting me login, the login is ‘administrator’ and the password was ****, i have used the same password all the time, and now it is not letting me login, i cannot even get to window page with start button, i also tried rebooting, installing window xp but still not letting me login. what should i do as this is frustrating me now. hope you can help. charan.

I found a site with a lot of information about password recovery.
password-crackers.com
I have not had a chance to try out the programs but there are many to choose from.

i did a restore to an earlier point to my suprise i dont remember the password to the computer at that point is there a way to find password or reset the restore point

thanks for that. i found it on google and cant remember my pass.

i never had password when i bought the pc, now its asking me 4 a
password? what should i do .tried everything , pls help

IF YOU HAVE YOUR COMPUTER SETUP TO AUTOMATICALLY LOGON AND YOU WANT TO RESET THE PASSWORD DO THE FOLLOWING: OPEN THE CONTROL PANEL AND CLICK ON USER ACCOUNTS. CLICK ON”Change the way users logon or off” THEN REMOVE THE CHECKMARK WHERE IT SAYS: “Use the welcome screen”. CLICK APPLY OPTIONS AND THEN PRESS ” ctrl+alt+del” CLICK ON RESET PASSWORD. TYPE THE OLD PASSWORD AND THEN TYPE THE NEW PASSWORD.

Lamer Note: You must know the old password for this tweak to work.

hi,
i want to bypass the questions asked during the installation of Windows Xp.Can anyone tell me how to do that

thank you very much, you save my soul….. Now I can see world again.
I do not need to format my PC..

sir
i los my password so i cant oppen so plz

hey, i forgot my XP password, and now i have to sign onto guest.. i already tried logging into safe mode but it didn’t work.. any ideas how to reset it or get it back?? pleasee

Im totally F****d, i forgot my password for addministrator and i cant change it because i havn’t got administrator right . what the hell can i do ? HELP ME PLEASE i cant get on my email or any thing please help me ?? i really would just like to no a way i can get on it without having to know the password if that isnt possible i really dont know what else to do but buy a new computer but im not made of money so i cant do that till christmas I NEED MY COMPUTER BACK.

Restart your computers.
Start hitting the button F8.
On the menu that appears on screen choose : run on safe mode and then press enter.
You then will see in a minute or two several usernames.
Choose the username Administrator.
Wait a few minutes and then go to control panel.
Choose users and change the passwords.
Is it clear?
Ok.
Glad to help.

hi there. would appreciate it if someone could help me here.
just yesterday my notebook was working fine. i am running windows xp pro. after trying to install the new isdn box, on restart it prompts me to enter usename and password. i have never entered a user name and password on this computer. it tells me to press ctrl-alt-delete and then enter user name and password, in fact i have never seen this command before. no password works, and admin does not work. i have tried several different things… and looked all over the net. it seems as if this screen is an end all be all— i have to enter some password or i cant go any further. can someone please help shine some light on what happened. this changed from one minute a perfectly working notebook to the next a locked notebook - i cant understand it. any help as quickly as possibly would be appreciated. thanks in advance j a y ha ze

Hi
I have Windows 2000 and I also forgot my addministrator password so now i can’t get in anything,I tried the safe mode and it still won’t let me in.

What should i do now?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You!

I forgot to mention that this is my Laptop computer and its Windows2000 Pro……not sure if that makes any difference.

The safe mode doesn’t give me …..any choices for the username Administrator.

hi im really in a bad case here i fogot my admin password and i cant install anyting beacuse i dont have adminstartor privlages im only 12 so i would aprreacitae ure hep if u could tell me how to recover my password simply

thx alot jag

i no how to get in but only if u dont have a password on ur administrative account.

On startup when you see the Windows Xp Logo start pressing F8 and use your keyboard to go down and select run in safe mode then click administrator and you should be able to get in and change the password to your normal account.

HHAHAHAHAHA, im only 13 reppin da BaY to Its FullEst YADADADADADADADAMEANNNNNNNN

i no how to get in but only if u dont have a password on ur administrative account.

On startup when you see the Windows Xp Logo start pressing F8 and use your keyboard to go down and select run in safe mode then click administrator and you should be able to get in and change the password to your normal account.

HHAHAHAHAHA, im only 13 reppin da BaY to Its FullEst YADADADADADADADAMEANNNNNNNN

Hi,
can you help me with this please,i can’t login to my computer coz i forgot my password and there is no administrator account its just show one account wich is my own account and i try safe mode but it still asking me for my password if there is any way to login let me no please. thank you

gm my password is lost please find

how to install windows xp

I have a couple of accounts on my computer, one being administrater. I can’t remember the password for this one and need to get in. I can use the other accounts but they are limited and I can’t get anywhere trying to recover my password. What can I do? Need help bad.

I tried rebooting in safe mode, but it still asks me for my password. I need to get into that account it has some of my work on it. I tried just about everything but nothing seems to work. Help!!

there is a program called erd commander password cd to unlock any passwords on the computer

Hi i’ve forgotten my password for my windows xp page and i’ve also lost all my software, all I had was my laptop, so I can’t reboot from my windows xp disk, as I don’t have it, anyone got any ideas, I would really apreciate it peeps

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who stated to try resetting it in safemode. It worked on the first try. I love all you techies!!!

I have a used computer with windows xp but i cannot do anything because when i turn it on it ask for a passwod which i do not know. How do i get by this.

ok i dont have the admin. user name or pass my super smart girlfriend tried to delete some stuff and deleted the user name so now i dont know it or the pass word! how do i fix that!

hello people,i have a problem…i edited the windows registry of my win xp..and mistakenly deleted the userinit and autorun.bat file..now i can not log on to windows.i actually get to the place where i’m being asked for user password in the user acount page..but after entering in the password,windows log on and almost immedaitely logs off!! what do you think?????????i

I can’t login my pc because my freind change my password and they gone. Help me

I Forgot My Administrator Password!
by Vic Ferri

Can’t Log On to Windows XP?

If thats your only problem, then you probably have nothing to worry about. As long as you have your Windows XP CD, you can get back into your system using a simple but effective method made possible by a little known access hole in Windows XP.

This method is easy enough for newbies to follow it doesnt require using the Recovery Console or any complicated commands. And its free - I mention that because you can pay two hundred dollars for an emergency download of Winternals ERD with Locksmith which is a utility for unlocking lost Windows passwords. See here

http://www.winternals.com/products/repairandrecovery/locksmith.asp

ERD is an excellent multi purpose product, but you should know it is not a necessary one if you have a healthy system and your sole problem is the inability to logon to Windows due to a forgotten password. Not necessary because you can easily change or wipe out your Administrator password for free during a Windows XP Repair. Heres how with a step-by-step description of the initial Repair process included for newbies.

1. Place your Windows XP CD in your cd-rom and start your computer (its assumed here that your XP CD is bootable as it should be - and that you have your bios set to boot from CD)

2. Keep your eye on the screen messages for booting to your cd Typically, it will be Press any key to boot from cd

3. Once you get in, the first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.

4. When you get to the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to Setup Windows now

5. The Licensing Agreement comes next - Press F8 to accept it.

6. The next screen is the Setup screen which gives you the option to do a Repair.

It should read something like “If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it

Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (if you only have one, it should already be selected) and press R to begin the Repair process.

7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.

8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot. (this will happen automatically you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”

9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of pressing any key to boot from the CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice Installing Windows is highlighted.

10. Keep your eye on the lower left hand side of the screen and when you see the Installing Devices progress bar, press SHIFT + F10. This is the security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system.

11. At the prompt, type NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter. Voila! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.

12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your new password, you can type control userpasswords2 at the prompt and choose to log on without being asked for password. After you’ve made your changes close the windows, exit the command box and continue on with the Repair (have your Product key handy).

13. Once the Repair is done, you will be able to log on with your new password (or without a password if you chose not to use one or if you chose not to be asked for a password). Your programs and personalized settings should remain intact.

I tested the above on Windows XP Pro with and without SP1 and also used this method in a real situation where someone could not remember their password and it worked like a charm to fix the problem. This security hole allows access to more than just user accounts. You can also access the Registry and Policy Editor, for example. And its gui access with mouse control. Of course, a Product Key will be needed to continue with the Repair after making the changes, but for anyone intent on gaining access to your system, this would be no problem.

And in case you are wondering, NO, you cannot cancel install after making the changes and expect to logon with your new password.

Cancelling will just result in Setup resuming at bootup and your changes will be lost.

Ok, now that your logon problem is fixed, you should make a point to prevent it from ever happening again by creating a Password Reset Disk. This is a floppy disk you can use in the event you ever forget your log on password. It allows you to set a new password.

Here’s how to create one if your computer is NOT on a domain:

* Go to the Control Panel and open up User Accounts.
* Choose your account (under Pick An Account to Change) and under Related Tasks, click “Prevent a forgotten password”.
* This will initiate a wizard.
* Click Next and then insert a blank formatted floppy disk into your A: drive.
* Click Next and enter your logon password in the password box.
* Click Next to begin the creation of your Password disk.
* Once completed, label and save the disk to a safe place

How to Log on to your PC Using Your Password Reset Disk

Start your computer and at the logon screen, click your user name and leave the password box blank or just type in anything. This will bring up a Logon Failure box and you will then see the option to use your Password Reset disk to create a new password. Click it which will initiate the Password Reset wizard. Insert your password reset disk into your floppy drive and follow the wizard which will let you choose a new password to use for your account.

i forgot my user name and pasword. and can not get into my computer

in Regards to RT that link doesn’t work m/eoft has blocked it well maybe you might want to email users the iso file may make your thread more substancial

although I agree with you that erd is a very good tool to use I have used it in the past with very good results

anyone needing help with lost passwords email me at mobils@woosh.co.nz

Have my sons old computer windows 2000 but cannot access it because of password he passed away a few months ago can anyone tell me how to get around this ty