Windows XP Pro logon problem

[Guest]

We have a machine purchased in the last 2 months from Dell that was used by
an employee no longer with the company. The Windows XP logon screen comes
up, prompting for their username and password. The username is filled in
already, but we don't know their password, so can't gain access to the system.

We can use F2 and F12 buttons, get to Safe Mode w/F8, etc. However, when
trying to log into the Administrator account through the Windows XP login as
well as the Classic Login box, we are told 'incorrect password'. There is no
password for it in 'Setup', so I assume we should just be able to leave it
blank.

We want all the data that is on the hard drive also. Any suggestions on how
to gain access to this machine. Hopefully something very simple. Thanks

 

[Steven L Umbach]

There are free password reset disks that can be used to be able to logon as
an administrator. The link below has the details.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Beyond that data can be accessed by putting the hard drive in another
computer as a slave/secondary drive running Windows 2000/2003/XP, by doing a
parallel install of the operating system so that you have a dual boot system
to access the data from the operating system you installed, or booting from
something like Bart's PE that is a miniature version of XP that runs from a
bootable cdrom/DVD that you can create from your install disk. Note however
that none of the above including resetting the administrator password will
allow you to access any files that the user encrypted with EFS. For that you
would need to know the user's password and his EFS private key would still
need to be in his user profile or if a domain computer [does not sound like
it is] there are other methods to potentially access the data. --- Steve

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Also just in case you have a problem accessing files you may need to logon
as an administrator and first take ownership of the folder/files that will
then allow you to grant yourself full control permissions to them. The links
below explain how to do that and if you need to take ownership do so at the
parent folder and select the option to replace owner on subcontainers and
objects. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

There are free password reset disks that can be used to be able to logon
as an administrator. The link below has the details.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Beyond that data can be accessed by putting the hard drive in another
computer as a slave/secondary drive running Windows 2000/2003/XP, by doing
a parallel install of the operating system so that you have a dual boot
system to access the data from the operating system you installed, or
booting from something like Bart's PE that is a miniature version of XP
that runs from a bootable cdrom/DVD that you can create from your install
disk. Note however that none of the above including resetting the
administrator password will allow you to access any files that the user
encrypted with EFS. For that you would need to know the user's password
and his EFS private key would still need to be in his user profile or if a
domain computer [does not sound like it is] there are other methods to
potentially access the data. --- Steve

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE

We have a machine purchased in the last 2 months from Dell that was used
by
an employee no longer with the company. The Windows XP logon screen
comes
up, prompting for their username and password. The username is filled in
already, but we don't know their password, so can't gain access to the
system.

We can use F2 and F12 buttons, get to Safe Mode w/F8, etc. However, when
trying to log into the Administrator account through the Windows XP login
as
well as the Classic Login box, we are told 'incorrect password'. There
is no
password for it in 'Setup', so I assume we should just be able to leave
it
blank.

We want all the data that is on the hard drive also. Any suggestions on
how
to gain access to this machine. Hopefully something very simple.
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Thanks Steve...i'll try out the password reset disk first; this is a desktop
system so not as easy as slapping the harddrive into another machine.

Do you have any idea with the 'Administrator' account and password are not
granting us access? I was able to get to the 'security' menu on 'Setup' -
and clearly have specified it as blank. I even tried putting in a password
and logging in with it, but to no avail. Any thoughts on that?

Also just in case you have a problem accessing files you may need to logon
as an administrator and first take ownership of the folder/files that will
then allow you to grant yourself full control permissions to them. The links
below explain how to do that and if you need to take ownership do so at the
parent folder and select the option to replace owner on subcontainers and
objects. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

There are free password reset disks that can be used to be able to logon
as an administrator. The link below has the details.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Beyond that data can be accessed by putting the hard drive in another
computer as a slave/secondary drive running Windows 2000/2003/XP, by doing
a parallel install of the operating system so that you have a dual boot
system to access the data from the operating system you installed, or
booting from something like Bart's PE that is a miniature version of XP
that runs from a bootable cdrom/DVD that you can create from your install
disk. Note however that none of the above including resetting the
administrator password will allow you to access any files that the user
encrypted with EFS. For that you would need to know the user's password
and his EFS private key would still need to be in his user profile or if a
domain computer [does not sound like it is] there are other methods to
potentially access the data. --- Steve

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE

We have a machine purchased in the last 2 months from Dell that was used
by
an employee no longer with the company. The Windows XP logon screen
comes
up, prompting for their username and password. The username is filled in
already, but we don't know their password, so can't gain access to the
system.

We can use F2 and F12 buttons, get to Safe Mode w/F8, etc. However, when
trying to log into the Administrator account through the Windows XP login
as
well as the Classic Login box, we are told 'incorrect password'. There
is no
password for it in 'Setup', so I assume we should just be able to leave
it
blank.

We want all the data that is on the hard drive also. Any suggestions on
how
to gain access to this machine. Hopefully something very simple.
Thanks

 

[Steven L Umbach]

It sounds like at some point somebody set or changed the password for the
built in administrator account. I would also suggest that you do a clean
install of the operating system after you get your data and be sure to scan
the data that you do get for malware. I don't know the details of this
employee leaving but it would be best to make sure the computer is clean
before putting on your network again. --- Steve

Thanks Steve...i'll try out the password reset disk first; this is a
desktop
system so not as easy as slapping the harddrive into another machine.

Do you have any idea with the 'Administrator' account and password are not
granting us access? I was able to get to the 'security' menu on 'Setup' -
and clearly have specified it as blank. I even tried putting in a
password
and logging in with it, but to no avail. Any thoughts on that?

Also just in case you have a problem accessing files you may need to
logon
as an administrator and first take ownership of the folder/files that
will
then allow you to grant yourself full control permissions to them. The
links
below explain how to do that and if you need to take ownership do so at
the
parent folder and select the option to replace owner on subcontainers and
objects. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

There are free password reset disks that can be used to be able to
logon
as an administrator. The link below has the details.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Beyond that data can be accessed by putting the hard drive in another
computer as a slave/secondary drive running Windows 2000/2003/XP, by
doing
a parallel install of the operating system so that you have a dual boot
system to access the data from the operating system you installed, or
booting from something like Bart's PE that is a miniature version of XP
that runs from a bootable cdrom/DVD that you can create from your
install
disk. Note however that none of the above including resetting the
administrator password will allow you to access any files that the user
encrypted with EFS. For that you would need to know the user's password
and his EFS private key would still need to be in his user profile or
if a
domain computer [does not sound like it is] there are other methods to
potentially access the data. --- Steve

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE


We have a machine purchased in the last 2 months from Dell that was
used
by
an employee no longer with the company. The Windows XP logon screen
comes
up, prompting for their username and password. The username is filled
in
already, but we don't know their password, so can't gain access to the
system.

We can use F2 and F12 buttons, get to Safe Mode w/F8, etc. However,
when
trying to log into the Administrator account through the Windows XP
login
as
well as the Classic Login box, we are told 'incorrect password'.
There
is no
password for it in 'Setup', so I assume we should just be able to
leave
it
blank.

We want all the data that is on the hard drive also. Any suggestions
on
how
to gain access to this machine. Hopefully something very simple.
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Steve,
I used the loginrecovery.com service (expedited) and was able to recover the
passwords and gain access to the machine. The administrator password was
changed also, so you were right on that account. As for the clean install, I
agree.

Thanks for the response!

It sounds like at some point somebody set or changed the password for the
built in administrator account. I would also suggest that you do a clean
install of the operating system after you get your data and be sure to scan
the data that you do get for malware. I don't know the details of this
employee leaving but it would be best to make sure the computer is clean
before putting on your network again. --- Steve

Thanks Steve...i'll try out the password reset disk first; this is a
desktop
system so not as easy as slapping the harddrive into another machine.

Do you have any idea with the 'Administrator' account and password are not
granting us access? I was able to get to the 'security' menu on 'Setup' -
and clearly have specified it as blank. I even tried putting in a
password
and logging in with it, but to no avail. Any thoughts on that?

Also just in case you have a problem accessing files you may need to
logon
as an administrator and first take ownership of the folder/files that
will
then allow you to grant yourself full control permissions to them. The
links
below explain how to do that and if you need to take ownership do so at
the
parent folder and select the option to replace owner on subcontainers and
objects. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

There are free password reset disks that can be used to be able to
logon
as an administrator. The link below has the details.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

Beyond that data can be accessed by putting the hard drive in another
computer as a slave/secondary drive running Windows 2000/2003/XP, by
doing
a parallel install of the operating system so that you have a dual boot
system to access the data from the operating system you installed, or
booting from something like Bart's PE that is a miniature version of XP
that runs from a bootable cdrom/DVD that you can create from your
install
disk. Note however that none of the above including resetting the
administrator password will allow you to access any files that the user
encrypted with EFS. For that you would need to know the user's password
and his EFS private key would still need to be in his user profile or
if a
domain computer [does not sound like it is] there are other methods to
potentially access the data. --- Steve

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE


We have a machine purchased in the last 2 months from Dell that was
used
by
an employee no longer with the company. The Windows XP logon screen
comes
up, prompting for their username and password. The username is filled
in
already, but we don't know their password, so can't gain access to the
system.

We can use F2 and F12 buttons, get to Safe Mode w/F8, etc. However,
when
trying to log into the Administrator account through the Windows XP
login
as
well as the Classic Login box, we are told 'incorrect password'.
There
is no
password for it in 'Setup', so I assume we should just be able to
leave
it
blank.

We want all the data that is on the hard drive also. Any suggestions
on
how
to gain access to this machine. Hopefully something very simple.
Thanks