Need to recover a user name & password from win 2k

[irishhelpdesk]

Failte - hey there. I have replaced a former network admin and they locked a whole load of stuff down and regretably did not leave a lot of info behind. So I have a system running Win 2k and it has a general user account that I can use - but it has no admin ability. What I need to do is to recover the user name and password so I can reclaim the machine. Any ideas? Thanks ...

[phishphreek]

Sure, since you are the new admin, and have access to the boxes, you can use the ntoffline password recovery tool.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

boot to is and use it to change the admin password.

Make sure you RTFM before using though....

Hopefully they haven't changed the boot process and password protected the bios though, cause then you'll need to reset the password on that too.

[groovicus]

I have an idea that it probably sucks to be you....

But giving you the benifit of the doubt (just once),I'll refer you to the search feature on AO's main page... you should find a bunch of threads on how that type of question usually gets dealt with around here. If you need help, try typing in "hacking yahoo"..that should help.

After that, you may be inclined to read the site faqs...that will show you what type of questions are acceptable.

If all else fails, search google...you should be 'able' to find something.

And if you are lucky, someone here may take pity and help you out.

Welcome to AO.

[cgkanchi]

groovicus, since offline NT password recovery only works on systems that you have physical access to, I don't see the problem with either the question or the answer. Also, irishhelpdesk, definitely RTFM before you use it. I've heard that people have had data corrupted while using this program.
Cheers,
cgkanchi

[groovicus]

Thank you for that explanation.. that clears it up a bunch. But, me being me, what if it is a student looking to get into an instructors box?

Also, there was a case recently of computers being stolen from Wells Fargo..

Or maybe I am just being overly paranoid?

Cheers

[nihil]

Are you sure the password isn't around someplace? It is good practice to have it in a sealed envelope and stored in a safe somewhare on the site.

This is in case the admin gets run over by a bus or taken seriously ill, or whatever

Cheers

[irishhelpdesk]

Thank you for the suggestion on the boot disk option, I have a copy of that but it is fried for some reason. So your help folks has been appreciated. I can now get this system back into the fold.

Really wish this was a linux network!

[ttau]

I don't know if this is possible or not but you can install cain it dumps the default admin account password in plain text from the LSA file.

[irishhelpdesk]

I can appreciate that comment nihil, as a matter of fact the head of the comapny knows the master password on the systems I set up. I asked if he would safe guard it in case of the horrible happening ... as far as me being s tudent trying to get the details to hack an instructor machine - gosh good secnario but not in this case. Thanks once again for the help - problem is noew resolved.

[Info Tech Geek]

Originally posted here by Info Tech Geek
My friend says the NT Password and Registry Editor Boot disk will work on ME. I have only used it on NT/2K so... I can't agree with him for sure, but it won't do any damage if you follow the directions.

Originally posted here by Info Tech Geek
Under most NTFS file systems the NT Password and Registry Editor Boot disk has been known to work. We use it on NT/2000 and it has never failed. I'm sharing this information in hopes it is used for good reasons only. Don't make me regret this. It can be found by doing a search on google.

Originally posted here by Info Tech Geek
I don't like to get into cracking passwords, but I know the NT Password and Registry Editor Boot Disk is a great utility to change the password if you forgot it. It works great on NT & 2K and very easy to use.

Google Search: NT Password and Registry Editor Boot Disk