[RESOLVED] unlocking vista password

[wpearsall]

hi guys, my sisters laptop admin account is locked....

she cant remember the admin password... i can format it, but she got a lot of stuff on there, is there any way to create a new admin account without admin auth? - dont fancy formatting... tried the net user administrator /active:yes, but needs admin rights to activate it...

only problem being dont have the vista ultimate cd for it [can download it, but was hoping for fast simple way] - cheers.

[dee-u]

This came up from google, there are a lot of results when you google for it, have you tried those suggestions already?

[gep13]

Hey,

If it is only the files that she wants off of her laptop, then create a bootable version of linux, something like Ubuntu would do the trick:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

When you boot into the machine using this, you will then be able to see the windows file system, at which point, you should be able to grab the files off (stick them onto a USB Key, or a mapped network drive), then re-install the OS, and put all the files back on.

Hope that helps!!

Gary

[wpearsall]

well i can log in on her user account - no admin priviledges... but the UAC wont let her do anything... basically when she had her pc done last time - a friend of a friend of a friend, he put a admin password on, and now her modem etc stopped working, i come to replace the drivers and bang, no password... - she doesnt remember being told the password - maybe the guy didnt tell her or w/e i dno, but meh...

but: cant access her admin account. i can copy all her data onto my server, etc... but its the hassle. i did actually try to install XP too [cant find a vista ultimate install for her acer laptop anywhere? .... loads of dell ones though - and acer said something about a 30 quid "admin fee" when i requested one a while back - which i quickly went... err no thanks :P] but long story short... xp install doesnt work since the acer sata drive third party driver wont load just brings up an error - im guessing since its not their oem install maybe....

i am having a look into the orgph [sp] that dee-u has suggested [god its been too long since ive actually done n e "pc stuff"... i did google first but all i bought up was like "Vista OEM tool kits" etc which dont do anything except back my files up...

my final result would of been to image my hd and zap her c: partition with it [exact same laptops but then im not sure if the sata thing will have an issue - xp install doesnt detect the h/d so im guessing my ghost might not either?

[gep13]

Hey,

Is it not possible that you can get in touch with the friend? Perhaps he will remember the password.

You should be able to find the SATA drivers that you need on the net.

You will have to burn these onto a floppy disk (assuming the laptop has a floppy disk drive) and provide these during the installation process. You normally get to this option through pressing one of the function keys during the loading of the windows installer. If I recall correctly it is F3, but I could be mistaken, it has been a while.

Gary

[wpearsall]

i had to use a pendrive... its f6, i tried, no luck...

dee-u... no luck with the orphcrack either...

he said the password would of either been karen [sisters name] or james [his son - which seams more likely since the hint is "son"].... tried loads of diff cases and no luck. - and he lives in sheffield [i live in bham - so its like a 4 hr round trip]

the NT Hash for the password. any FREE way to reset it to blank? without cocking up the computer... - meh, ghosting my lappy c: to hers will work since both same model n h/w correct?.... not gonna have n e "blue screen" issues? - [still no luck finding the vista cd, got her code on the laptop for it, found stuff like vista ultimate lite that cracks the serial for you etc, but wud rather a legit version lol. cheers

[wpearsall]

ok not sure why but i googled again and came up with this:

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

blanked the admin password - didnt think it worked cuz there was an error at the end, but im now signed in on the admin account, and got modem driver installed for her so its all cushty :P thanks for help


tool i posted above works a treat just to blank the password [and appears i could of promoted her acc to admin too, but thought it safer just to blank a password after reading the docs about damaging registry... - but since it was screwed was worth a shot... - its now on a boot pen for next time
- 48hrs later ---- now resolved - to think i was jst gonna reinstall *would of been faster lol

[gep13]

Hey,

Glad to hear that you got it resolved.

Gary

[arithforu]

Which Idea got worked ?

[Nightwalker83]

Just to point out that in Vista you need to manually go in and turn on the root admin feature. Unlike XP, etc Vista does not have the root account enabled when you first install it.

[wpearsall]

i used the boot disk thing from my last post, made a linux boot pen with it on, then just cleared the NT hash... i didnt come across the orphcrack when i googled using "reset vista password" then dee-u psted it i searched again and got a whole new set of results. it was about 5 from the top....

- and i know about the "Super Administrator" (who goes past the UAC automatically) "net user administrator /active:yes" account but needed the a normal admin account. which nae was set at "bry" (the guy has same laptop so im guessing its possible he just used one of his ghost's or w/e for easy 2 min job - and forgot to change the password back maybe?)

unfortunately the orphcrack didnt get the password - would of been nice to see what it was set to. because im sure if it was just a plain name then it would of cracked the password - so maybe the guy set it so he could make extra cash next time? - (friend of a friend isnt nesesarrily a friend and all lol)] meh... - ive tried the orgphcrack on my machine and it actually caught out the password and my password has ~ and * in there which is supposed to help stop this stuff - so it works in principle...

any how, ive set her up - she still has a normal acc - but now at least she can actually bypass the uac when she has to :P

[Nightwalker83]

- and i know about the "Super Administrator" (who goes past the UAC automatically) "net user administrator /active:yes" account but needed the a normal admin account. which nae was set at "bry" (the guy has same laptop so im guessing its possible he just used one of his ghost's or w/e for easy 2 min job - and forgot to change the password back maybe?)

I can't remember but I thought that the super admin account allowed you to change the passwords for the other user accounts, etc?

[wpearsall]

it does. you can change any password with a normal admin account too...

the setup on her laptop was this:
Administrator: Disabled
Bry *admin user* Password "lost"
Karen *normal user*

Karen account was only accessible acc. bein a normal acc could not change password for Bry, so could not activate the administrator account to change the password for bry.

that boot disk [that i posted link to] can promote users etc, clear their hass password [or rather set it to a blank hash - being still an hash. and put a new password, and so on, without being in windows, so the UAC is of no use. as it just needs file access. - took longer to burn the orphcrack cd then it did to make the boot pen and clear the password with the boot disk. It is supposed to work on XP, 2k, and 2003 etc too,. nice little tool.

[Nightwalker83]

Karen account was only accessible acc. bein a normal acc could not change password for Bry, so could not activate the administrator account to change the password for bry.

Ah, I get what you are saying! You were unable to access the activate the root account because you need an admin accont to do so but your sister's account was only a normal account. I don't know why Microsoft changed it from the way XP did it where you only needed to enter safe mode to access the root admin account.

[wpearsall]

i dont know, but i do kinda like the UAC to a point now i have got used to it - it only pops up for password every now and then... :P

- but if you aint PC Savy it can help stop virus's etc... - the amount of times i have to format my xp cuz of a virus / other crap :@ - xp seems a lot worse then 2k did--- i only formatted my 2k install about 2 times in six yrs, xp is about every 3 months or so