Windows password problem

[KaGee]

A friend's daughter bought a DELL laptop from somebody at school and it's got a password set up on it. Naturally the kid doesn't remember the password.

What's the work around for that?

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Windows password problem

You'll have to be more specific. Which Windows?

 

[KaGee]

Re: Windows password problem

Now I'm told she bought two... One has XP Pro the other has XP "PC Tablet Edition".

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Windows password problem

If you need a Windows password, it's trivial to reset it. If it's a bios password, it could be more involved or impossible, depending the make of laptop. Do a search for Hiren's....d/l the iso and burn to a cd. The password tool is included. There are other sources on the web that will have utilities to do the same thing too. BTW: There's a floppy version too, but not all laptops have a floppy drive these days.... For those who have really poor memories, you can put this utility on a bootable USB thumb drive too.

 

[i386]

Re: Windows password problem

^^^ What he said.

Sometimes you can get lucky if the previous owner didn't set the Administrator password. Try using username "Administrator" and leave the password blank.

Once you get in, you may find that you'd rather have a clean install of Windows. I know I would.

If it's a newer system, there's a good chance it'll have a recovery partition you can boot to. From there, you can restore the laptop to factory defaults.
If there's no recovery partition, you can use the Dell recovery CDs. These are the CDs that the previous owner either lost or claimed they never had (a little tech humor there). You can get replacement CD(s) from Dell. Dell often has separate OS, Driver, and Application CDs. You'll likely want to get the latest drivers off their web site, but it's good to have that Driver CD if you can get it.


Remember to get current on all Windows Updates and Service Packs too.
Don't forget about anti-virus software.

Once you have your new lappy tweaked out to your liking, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Acronis True Image and backup your hard drive on it. You'll be good to go.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Windows password problem

On every motherboard there is a password jumper. You might have to do surgery and look for a jumper and it will be marked PW or Password. Pull the jumper and you are in.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Windows password problem

Thanks for the quick responses, I've passed along all the info.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Windows password problem

..... Once you have your new lappy tweaked out to your liking, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Acronis True Image and backup your hard drive on it. You'll be good to go.

...and what do you "back up" your hardrive to?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Windows password problem

...and what do you "back up" your hardrive to?

Anything that you want that you can fit the image on. I just use a USB hard drive.

 

[i386]

Re: Windows password problem

^^^

Yup. I use a USB hard drive. Mine's a 160GB Maxtor USB drive from Newegg.com.

I boot directly from the Acronis CD with the USB drive plugged in. Acronis makes a disk image and stores it on the USB drive. The disk image is just a single file. I actually keep a disk image of several different operating systems as well as a 2nd laptop hard drive that I keep in my backpack with the laptop. I leave my main drive alone, but I'll use my second drive to load different OS images for various reasons. It's pretty easy to flip my laptop over and swap hard drives.

 

[ThumbPkr]

Re: Windows password problem

I agree that there will be a password jumper on most desktop motherboards but I don't think that will be the case on laptops.In their efforts to reduce laptop theft most manufacturers are storing the bios password info on eproms etc. and they will not help you retrieve the passwords unless you can prove that you are the rightful owner of the laptop (IE the person who they have on record as the registered owner) or at least be able to provide them with the name,address and telephone number of that person.There are hacks on the net that will help you around that problem for some systems but some of the solutions require shorting of pins on the eprom etc. and can be risky for some not technically inclined or lacking the proper documentation.Ron G

 

[jameskb2]

Re: Windows password problem

BIOS passwords can be reset by simply flashing the EPROM with a new or even the same BIOS file. Boot to floppy or CD and flash it. Works every time.

Windows passwords are stored in a .pwl file. Boot to DOS or NT DOS and find every .pwl file. Move or delete them. (back up to floppy or USB drive if you can) Reboot the computer and passwords are gone. You start from scratch.

If no .pwl files are found (XP or Vista), boot the machine and press F8 rapidly while booting. Comp will boot to a screen asking what you want to do. Boot to Windows Command Prompt. At the command prompt type in C:\Documents and Settings\user name (user name is the login name you want to reset the password on) The command prompt will then show C:\Documents and Settings\user name> At this prompt type in: net user and press enter. This will show all the accounts setup on the machine. (Administrator and all user accounts) The command prompt should still read C:\Documents and Settings\user name> Now type in: net user user name * and hit enter. Windows will prompt you for a new password, type it an press enter, it will ask for a confirmation of the password (enter it again) and press enter. Done!

Again, I used "user name" as the account you are trying to reset the password on. Replace user name with the account name in these procedures. If you want no password for the user name, then just press enter when reseting them (no keystroke password or blank) The Administrator password can be reset using this method as well. Use Administrator as the "user name" in the procedure.