Hypothetical: forgetting your password

Overheal · 07-07-2008 3:37am #1

was having a discussion with my stepdad and he was telling me that when he forgot his login password he remembered to just type in "Administrator" and leave a blank password.. but it occured to me that he was talking about the secure-login (with Ctrl+Alt+Del) which isnt always initialized on many PCs. So I've been wondering, assuming you havent setup your secure login, how do you get into your machine if youve forgotten your login password?

AlmightyCushion · 07-07-2008 3:38am

I'm pretty sure safe mode has secure login.

Feelgood · 07-07-2008 3:43am

The password for Administrator would have been setup during installation of Windows, it can't be taken that it will always be blank!. Personally I always set the Admin password....

Hypothetically if you forget the password, it can be a bitch to get back into the PC, though its very doable. There are numerous methods for resetting windows Administrator passwords and there are lots of software packages on the go that can help you to do it (Have to buy them though). Once you can get in under Admin you can then reset any user account on the system.

Basically all is not lost if it happens, though can be a pain in the arse.

Sherifu · 07-07-2008 9:21am

Same as Feelgood, i'd always set an admin password. It can be handy if it's left blank and someone locks themselves out.

Ginger · 07-07-2008 9:44am

If its the Windows Welcome screen, just hold ctrl+alt and press del twice to bring up the standard windows login to allow to choose the user you want...

If you have set an admin password and have no access to alternative admin account it can be awkward to get access again.. not impossible just awkwad

seamus · 07-07-2008 9:51am

I set the admin password and then change the name on the admin account to my name.

So basically if I forget my own password, I've to reinstall.

Not that it's ever happened.

Black_Knight · 08-07-2008 2:59pm

PogMoThoin wrote: »

The * live-cd has done it for me, hypothetically

+1
And I know of others who have used it to much success too.

Roen · 08-07-2008 8:01pm

Once you have physical access to the box you can do it on most OS's.
I've used one of the tools on the UBCD to do it on windows loads of times.
Think it was the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor.

I've done it a few times on Ubuntu and Mac OSX too with the appropriate cd. So if you want to make your box secure make sure no one can get physical access to it.

Can be a real life saver at times though.

Hypothetical: forgetting your password

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