Locked Out - Windows XP

[SeeGeeWhy]

Hey techies,

I was attempting to set up a password to lock a folder that had confidential information on it, and it backfired on me.

After setting the password, I attempted to open the folder, and it didn't prompt me for a password so I figured that it didn't work.

A few weeks later, I reboot my system and now it is asking me for the password so I can log in.

I forgot the password, so now I am entirely locked out of my computer.

The second awesome thing is that I bought this computer used from a previous employer, so I have no idea what the admin password is.

The best part of all - I do not have back ups of anything on my hard drive.

So yeah, I basically broke every rule there is to do with computers and now I am kicking myself for it.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I might be able to bypass the password so I can recover my files and make a back up before re-installing everything?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Cheers!

[MolsonInBothHands]

Is it worth 50 bucks to you?

http://recoveranypassword.com/recover/windows-password/

Never tried it, so I don't know how well it works.

[CubicleGeek]

Install the drive into another computer and copy everything over. Unless you encrypted the data, you shouldn't have a problem retrieving the data, password or not.

Reinstall drive, format, reinstall Windows and copy information over from other computer.

If you encrypted the data and forgot your password, you're more or less SOL.

[Cliche]

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

But apparently has problems with encrypted files, so whatever you encrypted is likely inaccessible now. Really would only be useful for making sure that the Administrator account or equivalent is clear, and then you could make another super-user account and edit your settings back.

[3 Justin 3]

Lucky you, my computer last night gave me the screen of death. (Blue Screen)

[ricosuave]

try to log in as "Administrator" and hitting enter (with no password)

Very few people actually assign a password to this account

Or, try "Guest", same thing

If that doesnt work, Cliche gave a link to a great prog, but you might not be able to download it. If so, send me a PM, Ive got this and another one on floppy and CD I can loan ya.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

Is it worth 50 bucks to you?

http://recoveranypassword.com/recover/windows-password/

Never tried it, so I don't know how well it works.

Bring it to me with a new hard drive and 50 bucks and I'll help you out, provided the tower has a Windows XP Product Key Sticker on it somewhere. PM if interested.

[Hack&Lube]

I've got a USB stick somewhere that breaks windows logon password encryption. You just boot with it and it does it's thing.

I have to find it though or remember the name of the program.

I can't help you with any password encrypted folders though.

[photon]

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

A boot CD that you can use to reset the admin password, I've done it a number of times.

Or as has been pointed out, put the drive in another computer, 90% of the files will be accessible, though some files might not be but if not then you just have to take ownership of the files (google windows take ownership file to see how).

None of that matters if the file is encrypted, if it is (doubtful, doesn't sound like you did that) none of this will work.