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Thread: XP Password

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    6

    XP Password

    Hello, Many of you may not believe my story and I understand your position, I used to be very gullible and trusted everyone although thte world has taught me to question everything everyone and their motives. My story: My little brother is my computer guru! Whenever I had a question I turned to him. My brother was diagnosed with cancer in January. We did not know how bad it was and 2 weeks ago he had to have emergency surgery or he would have died. ALthough we know he may not live long the cancer will kill him eventually (he is only 36) we did the surgery. Anyway, I have his computer (laptop) and I cannot get into it because I cannot figure out his password. I have tried everything under the sun that i think he might have used but nothing works. He cannot talk and is somewhat in a coma like state and I cannot get the information from him. I mostly want to get to his music so that I can record some CD's for him to listen to while he is in the hospital but also because they may be other inrformation there like contacts for me to notify of his health. I understand if you don't believe me and that is okay, I will keep guessing at it. I do not want to change the password because something makes me want to know WHAT the password was, as there may be some sort of message there and I do not want to destroy that. IF you can help me I would appreciate it. The password HINT is no help to me, and I have tried logging on in safe mode but he has a password on the ADMIN levels too.

    Thanks for your time and you can email me directly if you want (unless that is against the rules) at saturnca@comcast.net

    Sincerely
    ELizabeth

  2. #2
    AO Ancient: Team Leader
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,197
    Getting the password is a complex process if you don't know what you are doing and may take a long time if he has a strong password.

    You might be better off recording music you know he likes....

    Sorry to hear of this..... always saddening...... You have my condolences.....
    Don\'t SYN us.... We\'ll SYN you.....
    \"A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.\" - Thucydides

  3. #3
    Master-Jedi-Pimps0r & Moderator thehorse13's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Washington D.C. area
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    2,885
    There are tools out there (for free) to reset the admin password to null (no password). I will tell you where to get the tool but I will leave it to you to figure out how to use it. As my good friend Tiger has pointed out, it can be very dangerous to do this unless you know precisely what you're doing.

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

    Good luck.

    --TH13
    Our scars have the power to remind us that our past was real. -- Hannibal Lecter.
    Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. -- John Wooden

  4. #4
    AO Ancient: Team Leader
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,197
    Hoss: She doesn't want to reset in case the password carries a message..... Unlikely, I'll grant you... This is a password cracking issue plain and simple...... It's safer than the reset.... But a tad more involved to say the least.....
    Don\'t SYN us.... We\'ll SYN you.....
    \"A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.\" - Thucydides

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    1,199
    boot from a linux/unix cd and transfer the files out...I highley doubt there is a deep seated hidden message within a passowrd...but thats just me.
    Everyone is going to die, I am just as good of a reason as any.

    http://think-smarter.blogspot.com

  6. #6
    Boot from a Linux CD, copy the password file, delete the original.


    The Admin account should now default to a blank password.


    Crack the password file at your leisure.


    You now have both the password, and full access to the machine.

  7. #7
    My heartfelt condolances, my wife and I lost our 6 yr old son 18 months ago when he was run over by a semi. Using a live CD and grabbing the SAM file to crack is your best chance, as the others said it does take a bit of skill, maybe try a repair shop and explain your situation or maybe someone here on AO lives close or can recomend someone. Understand that if he used a strong password it may not be crackable in a reasonable amount of time. Good luck. I don't pray often anymore but I'll pray for your brother and family. Tim

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    442
    google for l0pht or ERD Commander
    figure it out for yourself from there

  9. #9
    not the most complete guide but very much non-jargon -> http://www.thebroken.org/
    what some people have suggested I think is the best way to go - use a live linux distro (live means it will boot from cd without needing to be installed on HD) such as Knoppix

    Remove the SAM file (used to store passwords in windows) and reboot computer - no SAM file no password

    make sure tho that you keep a copy of the SAM file if you really think there is some message there which you can then crack at your leasure...though if it is a strong password it may take a while...search on here for creating a password cracking cluster to help speed things up (if you have access to multiple pc's)

    v_Ln

  10. #10
    Dude. Didn't I just say that?

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