windows password question
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minxcomp1
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windows password question
Tech support, Network security, Firewalls, Intrusion management, Incident response, Forensics, Wireless, Security, Identity & Access Management, Digital certificates, provisioning, Biometrics, Interoperability, VPN, Software, Single sign-on, Security tokens
I recently purchased a computer from a "going out of business" sale for my fathers business and when I try to logon to Windows I get the logon screen with domain. I have a valid username and password but obviously i am not connected to a domain. I need to bypass this if possible. The safe mode trick that I see all over did not work. Please help as our business is suffering!!!
ASKED: Jul 17 2007  0:09 AM GMT
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EWJimage
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There are several Linux based Windows password recovery tools out there. You boot off the CD, follow the instructions, and in no time you should be able to reset the Windows password. A quick Google search will turn some up, but I've had great luck with the one at this website: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

I hope that helps!
Last Answered: Jul 17 2007  2:16 AM GMT by EWJimage   0 pts.
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bobkberg   895 pts.  |   Jul 17 2007  12:05PM GMT

One more follow up to that…

After using the CD-ROM to clear the admin password, make sure you’re logging into the local machine, not any cached domains.

Bob

 

minxcomp1   0 pts.  |   Jul 18 2007  12:28AM GMT

i tried to boot off the cd that I created through that site you gave, but the computer would not boot off the CD..now what???? new hard drive?!?

 

petkoa   1005 pts.  |   Jul 18 2007  9:01AM GMT

> From: minxcomp1 send a private message to minxcomp1
> Date Sent: 18 Jul 2007 00:28 EDT (04:28 GMT)
> Subject: RE: windows password question
>
> i tried to boot off the cd that I created through that site you
> gave, but the computer would not boot off the CD..now what???? new
> hard drive?!?

Hi minxcomp1,

What do you mean by “computer would not boot off the CD”: that bootable CD is damaged and isn’t really bootable, or that PC’s BIOS is not (can’t be) configured to boot from CD, or bootable CD is bootable but boot process doesn’t complete for some reason (with live Linux CDs the reasons are sometimes IDE driver/DMA issues)?

We will not discuss the first situation. Troubleshooting the second one is trivial and if can’t be done, you are sticked to attaching the “domain-locked” HD to another PC, which can be configured to boot from CD drive. The third situation is to use another live CD image, which will successfully boot your hardware. In fact, you can use not only some live Linux CD, but also DOS-based - I got similar problem an year ago with some second-hand Compaq PCs, and succesfully used Hiren Boot CD  <a href="http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd" title="http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd" target="_blank">http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd</a>).

BR and good luck

Petko

 

Kemponline   80 pts.  |   Mar 24 2009  4:58PM GMT

in an ideal work what you should do is re-format the whole PC and set it up from scratch as you should have an OEM license with the computer. that way it will wipe any data on there from its previous owner and also any software that you have on there but may not have the licenses for.

On another note does that valid user name and password you have been given have admin rights on that PC? if so log on load up computer manager and reset the Admin passord to something. log off as that cached domain user and then logon with the local admin, if that then works remove the computer from the doing and join a workgroup. you will get a message saying the computer was removed from the domain but could not remove the account (or something like that) jsut ok that message and then re-start.
NB this is all dependant on the account you have been given having local admin rights to the PC.

But seriously if you purchased as a 2nd hand unit you would need to check the legalitites of the licensing too. your OS should be fine but things like office etc…. might be linked to the computer or to the company under an OSL or OVS agreement.

Also there is the whole area of data leakage, there might be some sensitive data on there too.

 

KevinBeaver   7610 pts.  |   Mar 30 2009  2:55PM GMT

I’m with Kemponline and would recommend wiping the entire system and starting fresh. Your computer will run better and you’ll eliminate those pesky liability issues associated with sensitive files that may not belong to you.

 

Vatchy   685 pts.  |   Mar 31 2009  2:34PM GMT

Maybe you’ve already tried this but if your signon and password are valid then select local signon instead of the domain on the signon screen.

 
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