Forgot my xp password

[RCDad]

Pulled my laptop out this morning because my back was hurting and I thought I'd relax on the couch and couldn't remember the password

Now, I formatted the drive and reinstalling XP.

 

[lykan]

You know I just went through that with a client. His registry fubbed up and it crashed windows.

There was no way to enter the recovery console because he had forgotten the admin password.

I re-installed XP pro but without formatting. *POOF* brand new windows, but with all his old data intact.

 

[msly]

I could have pointed you in the right direction to hacking your own password.
:devil:

 

[RCDad]

I tried using Hiren's boot CD with no success (which suprised me).

 

[msly]

I tried using Hiren's boot CD with no success (which suprised me).

I tested the method I used at work and it worked uses a live bootable version of linux called Knoppix-STD and a pen drive and a brute force attack on the NTLM hash.... that as much as I will discuss here..... this information is all out there on the wonderful information Highway. I tell you one thing it certainly makes you think about how un-secure our passwords are. As a side note everyone should use at least one special caracter like a @ or a $ your dog or kids name in lower case it not going to cut it out there....

 

[lykan]

You know throwing in the windows CD, and reinstalling windows kept the desktop and user settings for the administrator user name and password

BUT
After I reinstalled windows it booted to a new clean desktop and set up a default admin user name. To restore his deskop and settings I just went into the control panel and switched his password without having to know it.

So even if you are the admin, a fresh load of windows will setup a new default admin on the box aside from the current one.

Seems to me as long as you have a XP pro CD you could take control of a computer with just the install cd and about 45 minutes of your time.