XP Log In

Party_Animal

Can anyone help please? I've just set my old pc up for the missus so she can use it for writing letters etc. Trouble is I can't remember the password as its that long since I used it. I've just run out of guesses. Its asking for my password before I can get to the control panel to set her account up. We don't really need a password if we could just get in.
Thanks

Daily_Read

Can't you just create another account that is not password protected. Control Panel>User Accounts - may have the answer.

Party_Animal

Thanks DR. I can't get past the log in screen to Control Panel.

Darksun

Restart the computer in safe mode, and log in as 'administrator'. By default, it shouldn't have a password. You can then go into control panel and remove the password for the other account, restart the computer as normal and log in. You can add a new password after this, if you want.

Party_Animal

Thanks DS. Done this but it wants a password for administrator.

Browntoa

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm#20

Windows Password recovery

http://www.loginrecovery.com
This site provides a tool to recover lost Windows XP passwords. It works for administrator and user accounts, it doesn't change the password just tells you the old one. It works with encrypted files (EFS) and password hashes. It even works if no passwords at all are known for the machine (as long as you have another computer with internet access to view this website with).
Author claims it also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn, but the BEST thing about it is the fact that it won't reset your passwords, but simply reveal them for you to remember and then use.
Give it a try. The author would like to receive feedback. There is a free service as well as a priority service that will retrieve your passwords within minutes. The fee for the priority service is very cheap, and is really just to cover server costs.
Note: You'll need a blank floppy to run the process.
Update: Author now offers the same tool as a CD image for those of you who do not have a floppy in their computer.

Usage, instructions and additional information can be found at
http://www.loginrecovery.com

Skyhigh

If the PC is on a network, download a 'security auditing tool' such as LCP or Unsecure and brute force/dictionary attack/hybrid it.


Alternatively, if you've got everything backed up, reinstall Windows, or just install Linux.....

:!:

Party_Animal

Thanks, I might try a reinstall. Its not networked and there's nothing on it I need.

amosworks

Don't use that service above, it takes 3 days or charges from what I remember. Try nt_pass which has an XP password reset utility which can re-enable locked and disabled accounts and set or reset passwords for any local account, as well as edit the registry etc. Pretty neat and quite easy to use and free :cool:

It's worked every time for me on all sorts of different hardware and without corrupting the filing system, even though it's *not* based on native NTFS code :eek:

shopbot

Party_Animal wrote:

Can anyone help please? I've just set my old pc up for the missus so she can use it for writing letters etc. Trouble is I can't remember the password as its that long since I used it. I've just run out of guesses. Its asking for my password before I can get to the control panel to set her account up. We don't really need a password if we could just get in.
Thanks

Have you tried leaving the password field blank and then pressing OK? I had a similar issue with my XP PC and that worked!

Party_Animal

Thanks to everyone. I'll try later today. Why is there no thanks button so I can thank people? I'm logged in.