[RESOLVED] lost password on computer

[Justa Lol]

a friend of mine had a virus and he used System Restore to restore back before the virus was there, and apparently the password changed too, and he simply can't remember the password that was before...

is there any way to recover this password without formatting and re-installing the operating system? (has no cds)

i tried to google it, but all the results i find are how to do it, if the computer is turned on, and you're logged into 1 specific user.

[TheBigB]

You can use Ophcrack to recover the password.
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
XP version is quick, Vista and up is slower and has a lower success rate.

Alternately you can use NTPasswd to remove the password.
http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

[Justa Lol]

thanks for the suggestions. i'll try to recover the password first then remove it, if it fails..

[Justa Lol]

i got no suitable cd for this atm, and apparently the computer wont boot from my usb flash drive, so this will have to wait until tomorrow

[Nightwalker83]

Which, operating system is your friend using? Try logging in via safe mode and resetting the password that way.

[Justa Lol]

Vista, and the problem is, i can't login... there is only 1 user and guest is disabled.

[Nightwalker83]

If you restart in safe mode at the password you should see a "Reset password" link underneath the password box. If you see the link click it, a wizard enabling you to create a password reset key should start.

Edit:

I am using Vista Ultimate so I can only tell you what I have tried on my machine.

[Justa Lol]

but that requires a cd to be made.. the problem is that the computer is not logged in and therefore cannot create a cd for the user.

[Nightwalker83]

but that requires a cd to be made.. the problem is that the computer is not logged in and therefore cannot create a cd for the user.

Ah ok! I didn't realise that.

Edit:

You could try a password recovery program such as those. You could also try this tip and see if it works.

[Lord Orwell]

not to be rude and call shenanigans here, but system restore doesn't affect the log-in password.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295050

your friend must have another issue.

[Justa Lol]

i looked at him login to the computer, and use system recovery, and he couldn't log in again because the password was wrong?

by the way, thats for windows xp..

[Nightwalker83]

i looked at him login to the computer, and use system recovery, and he couldn't log in again because the password was wrong?

by the way, thats for windows xp..

Yes, however, the point to what Lord Orwell said was that System Restore does not affect login passwords. Did your friend try password recovery programs to see if they helped?

[bloodsside14]

Yeah! Lordowell is right the login password is not affected to the system restore. If your friend is the real owner of that pc he knows the password and try if the CAPS LOCK is on. or typerial error.

[Justa Lol]

i'm trying to get my hands on some cds but i can't seem to find any near my location...
somehow the computer wont boot from usb, it just goes straight to windows, and i can't figure that part out.

and i'm assured its his computer.

hecongyan, no offense... but if you registered just for advertising a program, i just want to tell you no to open the topics i create. that program only tells you that you can purchase a full version from bla bla bla.

i tried on my own computer lol

[Nightwalker83]

i'm trying to get my hands on some cds but i can't seem to find any near my location...
somehow the computer wont boot from usb, it just goes straight to windows, and i can't figure that part out.

and i'm assured its his computer.

It sounds like it is booting from the hard drive instead of from the cd. In that case you need to enter setup and change the boot order so it boots from the cd.

[Lord Orwell]

there may also be a hotkey to pick with. try f12.

[Justa Lol]

the problem was that the keyboard was broken so that it didn't capture a few keys pressed in the password. i noticed that when i tried writing the password down, and then i tried another keyboard and it worked. lol