Windows XP Home Edition Password

My friends daughter set a password on there home pc and nopw can't remember
it. Anyway to unlock it?

Engel
Wed Feb 21 00:16:00 CST 2007

Hello karaokejim,

I hope the friend don't read this KB before apply the password. ;-)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276304/en-us

Other way, try here
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

Best luck
--

"karaokejim" wrote:

> My friends daughter set a password on there home pc and nopw can't remember
> it. Anyway to unlock it?

Malke
Wed Feb 21 08:13:50 CST 2007

karaokejim wrote:
> My friends daughter set a password on there home pc and nopw can't remember
> it. Anyway to unlock it?

If you have forgotten your password, if you have another user account
with administrative privileges you can log into that account and change
your original user account's password from the User Accounts applet in
Control Panel. If you don't have another account like this set up or
don't have the password to it, you'll need to log into the built-in
Administrator account. In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do
this by repeatedly tapping the F8 key as the computer is starting up.
This will get you to the right menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key;
the mouse will not work here. Once in Safe Mode, you will see the
normally hidden Administrator account. The default password is a blank.

In XP Pro, you do not need to go into Safe Mode. At the Welcome Screen,
do Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get the classic Windows logon box. Type in
"Administrator" and whatever password you assigned when you set up Windows.

If you reset the built-in Administrator account's password in Home or
have Pro and don't remember the password, use NTpasswd to change the
built-in Administrator account's password to a blank.

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

Then go to the User Accounts applet in Control Panel and set passwords
that you will remember and make other desired changes.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

FunToKnow
Sun Mar 04 08:51:47 CST 2007

My son is probably using the "Safe Mode" method described to eliminate my
Administrator password so he can access his user account after I've grounded
him/changed his password. (XP Home)

Should I use this same method to put an Admin password where it comes up
blank? or the "NTpasswd" method described at the Eunet URL? I've read in the
MS article to leave the Admin spot blank, so I'm afraid to tamper and get
unwanted results.

There's also the Windows startup password
option:(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310105/en-us)

Malke
Sun Mar 04 09:13:42 CST 2007

FunToKnow wrote:
> My son is probably using the "Safe Mode" method described to eliminate my
> Administrator password so he can access his user account after I've grounded
> him/changed his password. (XP Home)
>
> Should I use this same method to put an Admin password where it comes up
> blank? or the "NTpasswd" method described at the Eunet URL? I've read in the
> MS article to leave the Admin spot blank, so I'm afraid to tamper and get
> unwanted results.
>
> There's also the Windows startup password
> option:(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310105/en-us)
>
>

Next time please don't post your new question in the middle of someone
else's thread. Since we're both here now, here is my standard answer to
questions like yours:

Any computer running any operating system can be accessed by someone
with 1) physical access; 2) time; 3) skill; 4) tools. There are a few
things you can do to make it a bit harder though:

1. Set a password in the BIOS that must be entered before booting the
operating system. Also set the Supervisor password in the BIOS so BIOS
Setup can't be entered without it.

2. From the BIOS, change the boot order to hard drive first.

3. Set strong passwords on all accounts, including the built-in
Administrator account.

4. If you leave your own account logged in, use the Windows Key + L to
lock the computer (and/or set the screensaver/power saving) when you
step away from the computer and require a password to resume.

5. Make other users Limited accounts in XP Home, regular user accounts
in XP Pro.

6. Set user permissions/restrictions:

a. If you have XP Pro, you can set user permissions/restrictions with
Group Policy (Start>Run>gpedit.msc [enter]) but be careful. Using the
Policy Editor can be tricksy. Questions about Group Policy should be
posted in its newsgroup: microsoft.public.windows.group_policy.

b. If you have XP Home, you can use MVP Doug Knox's Security Console or
the MS Shared Computer Toolkit. The Toolkit can also be used in XP Pro
and may be easier for a newbie than using Group Policies.

http://www.dougknox.com
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sharedaccess/default.mspx
microsoft.public.windows.sharedaccess - Toolkit newsgroup

Please understand that these are technical responses to what is
basically a non-technical problem and there are ways around all of these
precautions. This is a family/interpersonal issue that can't be solved
by technical means.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User