Locked Computer

Terrysdelight

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help with this please. A good friend of mine has walked out of her marital home (after lots of pressure to do so).

Her ex, won't let her have access to the computer to get her pictures off - he's locked it with a password. Apparently he won't even tell the children what the password is.

Is there anyway she can reset the password or bypass it? She goes round the house when the ex is at work so she has plenty of time to have a go at accessing her stuff.

Many thanks
Terrysdelight

warehouse

There are ways of getting access to drives on a PC by loading up an operating system via DVD or USB drive. You need to know what you're doing though.

If the OS is older and there are tools to crack the password, then it can be removed, but he will know that it's been removed.

If she has access to the computer then the drives can be removed, installed into another working PC and the files dragged off, then the drives put back into the original PC. Would probably take some time though.

bod1467

Is it a desktop or laptop computer?

Terrysdelight

warehouse wrote: »

There are ways of getting access to drives on a PC by loading up an operating system via DVD or USB drive. You need to know what you're doing though.

If the OS is older and there are tools to crack the password, then it can be removed, but he will know that it's been removed.

If she has access to the computer then the drives can be removed, installed into another working PC and the files dragged off, then the drives put back into the original PC. Would probably take some time though.

Brilliant. I'll tell her to 'borrow' the pc when he is out, she can take it to one of those pc shops, get them to get the stuff off and then she can return it.

Many thanks.

GunJack

quicker to do it herself - boot from a Hiren's bootcd, load up the Offline NT password editor, remove the password, reboot and she'll be in... prob have it all copied off in the time it would take her to take it somewhere...

System

GunJack wrote: »

quicker to do it herself - boot from a Hiren's bootcd, load up the Offline NT password editor, remove the password, reboot and she'll be in... prob have it all copied off in the time it would take her to take it somewhere...

And then put a brand new password on it!

closed

depends what type of password, bios, windows, or encryption. For windows, a bootcd is less obvious than a moved pc, and costs 10p which is significantly less than a shop (which may be a cowboy and reinstall windows. and may want to keep it for a while)

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-express/download.html

Ant555

Brilliant. I'll tell her to 'borrow' the pc when he is out, she can take it to one of those pc shops, get them to get the stuff off and then she can return it.

Many thanks.

Assuming this is the route your friend will take, remember that she will need somewhere to copy the files onto.

Either purchase a usb hard disk from Amazon/PC World or check out how much the shop will want for one if they sell themselves.

External hard disk from around £33 (500Gb)...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-HDTB105EK3AA-Stor-E-Basics-External/dp/B005X7AXW0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1400515078&sr=1-2&keywords=usb

...to around £50 (1Tb)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Slimline-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B008PABFX8/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1400515136&sr=1-1&keywords=usb

Or alternatively if there are not that many pictures then a pen drive might be fine.
32Gb for around £10
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Technology-DataTraveler-Flash-Casing/dp/B008QGQZAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400515181&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+drive

They might of course be able to put them onto CD/DVD but that could take a long time to copy and if your friend needs to get back to the house with the PC then it might not be practical.

Just a thought.
Hope this helps.

henm2

Booting from a 'live' linux distro such as Linux Mint, Puppy Linux or Zorin which is on either a CD or USB flash drive will usually give access to all the files/folders on a computer. Also because it is booting 'live' it does not leave any trace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dy6OlXhWVk how to 'burn' a live linux distro

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-and-Install-a-Live-CD-of-Linux how to boot off the live CD or USB you have created

macman

Does she not have a backup of her data? If the drive had failed, as they all do eventually,she'd lose the lot.

googler

Oh, for goodness' sake, you're all being WAY too nice about this.

Step 1 - research on YouTube and other internet advice sites how to open up the computer (model name and number may help here), and HOW TO REMOVE THE HARD DRIVE

Step 2 - go to the house, with an hour or so to spare, and open the computer and REMOVE THE HARD DRIVE

Step 3 - Place the hard drive in a jiffy bag or similar, possibly also in a padded envelope, and LEAVE THE HOUSE WITH THE HARD DRIVE.

Reassembling the computer is optional. Reassembly will leave the computer looking as though nothing is wrong, and provide a 'surprise' for the ex when they next switch it on....

Away from the house, place the HDD in a USB caddy and connect to your computer of choice. Replace or return when convenient or when the ex gets REALLY annoyed......






If anyone dares to say "That's not nice", or "That's not fair", I urge them to re-read the OP.