Lost password for windows?

[jlee48]

A friend of my dad's from work says they lost their password to log onto windows.. Like when you turn on your computer, before accesing your desktop, you have to put in a password.

He's pretty sure they're running Windows 98. Is there a way to get on there without the password and reset it to something they will remember?

[CCSDUDE]

If it's 98/ME theres a user file in C:\windows that she can just rename via floppy...

The name ain't coming up in my head at the moment...

But all she has to do is use a 9x boot floppy...

In dos do this...

cd windows
then I think it's rename (ren) hisusername.pwl hisusername.bak

Then reboot....

Should be gone and allow him access again.

As I haven't used pure dos in forever I can't be 100% sure the ren command is correct...lol someone will come along and correct me if it's outta whack.

[Krell]

It sort of depends

Boot to safe mode is possible, then search for and delete the pwd list file. "harry.pwl"

Also if you can get in to safe mode, open the system.ini and delete anything under [Password Lists], then save the changes.

[Password Lists]
harry.pwl <--- delete

Or use a floppy and go to C:Windows\harry.pwl and delete it.


This information only applies to logging on to the PC, if they are on a network, and need to authenticate with a server, then they will need a password reset from administration, and will be prompted to change their password.

Or in safe mode use Regedit and delete this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Network \ Real Mode Net \ AutoLogon

[almanzo]

LOL tricky way of wording it but I still don't think I trust what you're saying is legit, lol how would you forget your windows password, I mean you would use it all the time, right?

One of the only situations I could see this happening in would be you just install Windows or something and forget your pass; in that case reformat and reinstall. Other than that if there is information needed on the PC only thing I can think of is physically removing the hard drive and setting it as a slave on another computer, copying the important files over, then reformatting and reinstalling. Pain in the tush, yeah but that's what ya get for setting an important password to somethin ya can't remember! LOL =D

You made me laugh today dude.

EDIT: Krell man you just told him how to break into a computer LOL Use this information for good and not for evil, jlee48.

[CCSDUDE]

Alm....breaking in to windows is like walking in an open door...and fool knows how to do it.. : P

It's not illegal anyway...just like P2P we donno what she wishs to use it for.


Even NT/4 and 5.1 are EASY to get into even with admin password set...

Hell I remember a techie bud of my fathers gloating about his networked NT system being fool proof...I busted that sob open within 2 minutes and saved a load of 'office' docs to floppy...then left as if nothing happened and emailed him the docs a day later. Hmm...he was pissed....sam files are funny... : )

[almanzo]

Originally posted by CCSDUDE
It's not illegal anyway...just like P2P we donno what she wishs to use it for.

LOL right but I read that and thought hey you know if I wanted to break into a buddy's Win98 PC and mess around, that would be a great way of wording a question to get an answer and not "no hacking questions allowed here" replies! just made me laugh is all, peace

[Krell]

Part of moderation is making judgements based on the experience, interaction with and knowledge of members.

My knowledge of jlee supercedes that of most others at Zero Paid, and I am more likely to grant liberties for this, as opposed to some "how do I haxor a website"

[jlee48]

Alrighty, thanks everyone! I apologize that I didn't word my post better, it was 2:30am and I was originally sleeping before my father decided to call and wake me up, so I was less than coherent. *lol*

I believe their password was one of the random letter/number combinations as we used to have on our old computer, so they just forgot it. As someone with a less than perfect memory, I can sure understand.

I do assure you that I have no intentions of getting onto anyone else's computer without permission... if that WAS my motive, I probably would have kept it a secret. :upside

[policy editor]

Originally posted by almanzo
LOL tricky way of wording it but I still don't think I trust what you're saying is legit, lol how would you forget your windows password, I mean you would use it all the time, right?

One of the only situations I could see this happening in would be you just install Windows or something and forget your pass; in that case reformat and reinstall. Other than that if there is information needed on the PC only thing I can think of is physically removing the hard drive and setting it as a slave on another computer, copying the important files over, then reformatting and reinstalling. Pain in the tush, yeah but that's what ya get for setting an important password to somethin ya can't remember! LOL =D

You made me laugh today dude.



What I do is simply place 100 or so passwords on a floppy THEN if I forget I simply run the floppy in my laptop and run down the list until im in.........THIS WAY EVEN IF YOU FORGET YOUR COVERED


its also a good idea not to use the same password for everything......as its a serious security flaw

some people also use sentences like

Toward Reality Minds begin Cracking etc. etc.

EDIT: Krell man you just told him how to break into a computer LOL Use this information for good and not for evil, jlee48.

[phalkon30]

Tech TV just had a thing on this, find it here. (http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3425923,00.html)