death in family - password unknown.

  • Thread starter Thread starter keith
  • Start date Start date
K

keith

hi
i am unfamiliar with xp but i am trying to find a way to
access the area password protected. my father died
recently but towards the end he was working a lot from
home - there is "work" in the computer that i need to get
to his employers but i don't know his password. i can't
guess it from the clue on screen..and i am sure he would
not have made a reset disk. i think he is the only
administrator - sorry for the vagueness. is there a way? i
called microsoft who put me onto tiny/time who couldn't
help.
regards
keith
 
hi
i am unfamiliar with xp but i am trying to find a way to
access the area password protected. my father died
recently but towards the end he was working a lot from
home - there is "work" in the computer that i need to get
to his employers but i don't know his password. i can't
guess it from the clue on screen..and i am sure he would
not have made a reset disk. i think he is the only
administrator - sorry for the vagueness. is there a way? i
called microsoft who put me onto tiny/time who couldn't
help.
regards
keith
Click to expand...

Keith,

In most cases the passwords used by the avarage user are very weak.
You may want to try the obvious such as the Wife's name, pets' names,
DOBs etc.

If the above fails then breaking the security is easy, since MS are
notorious for using crap hashing and no random entropy in the hashes.
Search google and you'll get the tools required. Once you've got the
goodies you should have it broken in a few hours.
 
-----Original Message-----


Keith,

In most cases the passwords used by the avarage user are very weak.
You may want to try the obvious such as the Wife's name, pets' names,
DOBs etc.

If the above fails then breaking the security is easy, since MS are
notorious for using crap hashing and no random entropy in the hashes.
Search google and you'll get the tools required. Once you've got the
goodies you should have it broken in a few hours.


--
Regards,

William
(s/_//g to reply)
.
Click to expand...
hi
thanks for your reply. sounds complicated to a non-
computer guy like myself. is it? what are these "tools"?
regards
keith
 
Hello again,

One that springs to mind is:

www.winsite.com/tech/encrypt

It's the 7th or 8th option in the list.

There are other ways to do this, but these aren't intended for
the novice. Such as removing the disk, installing it on a Unix
System mounting the File System the using Unix utils (free) to
break it. Or even just get the raw data.
 
One that springs to mind is:
www.winsite.com/tech/encrypt

It's the 7th or 8th option in the list.

There are other ways to do this, but these aren't intended for
the novice. Such as removing the disk, installing it on a Unix
System mounting the File System the using Unix utils (free) to
break it. Or even just get the raw data.
Click to expand...

Essentially, physical access to a machine - usually no matter the OS - will
eventually lead to full access.
 
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=290260
EFS, Credentials, and Private Keys from Certificates Are Unavailable After a
Password Is Reset

Windows Home XP
1. As windows is loading up press F8 repeatedly until the Windows advanced
screen comes up.
2. Select safe mode (the version of windows you want to use click XP wait
until it loads the welcome screen.
3. Select Administrator and it will log you on as administrator without a
password (provided a password was not created in this hidden account during
setup).
4. Go to Start - Control Panel - User Accounts.
5. Select your name and click change the password.
Then you should be able to change the password, shut down the computer and
restart in normal mode and use the new password you just created.

****

If you have XP Pro on your computer:-
1. At the log in screen type " ctrl-alt-delete " twice.
2. In the User Account, type Administrator
3. Leave the password blank and press enter.
(Most likely a password wasn't created in this hidden account during setup).

If you decide to set a password it is recommended that you create a
Password Reset Disk by clicking on "Prevent a Forgotten Password" link in
the left pane. The Wizard will guide you through.

http://www2.cajun.net/~theriots/xpsitefolder/win_xp_passwords.htm
Administrator and User Passwords in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;321305
How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password
Expires
 
You can restart the machine, and while restarting press F8 repeatedly until
it lets you boot into safe mode.

From there you can Log on as "Administrator" and leave the password blank.

This is a Built In Account that comes with Windows Xp, which you can only
get to from Safe Mode.

It has no password by default, and most likely there was not password
applied.

Once logged in you can add users, remove users, change passwords (be careful
if it XP Pro and the files are encrtypted because when you change the
password you might not be able to view the data again), or anything else.

Let me know how this goes.

--
Elijah

"Hope this helps"


| hi
| i am unfamiliar with xp but i am trying to find a way to
| access the area password protected. my father died
| recently but towards the end he was working a lot from
| home - there is "work" in the computer that i need to get
| to his employers but i don't know his password. i can't
| guess it from the clue on screen..and i am sure he would
| not have made a reset disk. i think he is the only
| administrator - sorry for the vagueness. is there a way? i
| called microsoft who put me onto tiny/time who couldn't
| help.
| regards
| keith
 
Essentially, physical access to a machine - usually no matter the OS - will
eventually lead to full access.
Click to expand...

If you use decent encryption it will take you a few lifetimes to have
'full access'.

Greetz, barramundi...
 
barramundi said:
If you use decent encryption it will take you a few lifetimes to have
'full access'.

Greetz, barramundi...
Click to expand...

True enough, of course, that's why most people (especially family computer
cases like this one) DON'T do that.. They would change something, something
bad would happen, then the file is lost to them.
 
Back
Top