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WinXP login password lost and file recovery.
linksword
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I recently hooked up an old computer we found lying around. It runs Windows XP, but no one who previously used it can remember their passwords. Is there any way to recover these? There are some files I'd like to get before I go ahead and do a clean install. At first I thought I would just take the harddrive out and put it in the computer I'm currently on as a slave drive and transfer them that way, but the previous owner says there is a virus on it, so I'm a bit weary about doing this now. I also tried loading up knoppix, to transfer the files to disc that way, but it refuses to load on this machine. How would I go about getting these files? Could I possibly partition the harddrive and install another operating system and do it that way? (I have basically zero experience with this, so I'm not sure if it would be a good idea.)
linksword on
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PSN: Broichan
I keep this boot disk around for my father, who will insist on setting passwords on all the accounts on his XP machine, but forgets them at least twice a month. Boot from it, and you can edit the passwords set on the user accounts (as well as the registry, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you're deleting keys that respawning spyware sets, and you know you're getting the right ones).
Best approach is to set the administrator password to blank (as in, nothing at all, rather than the word "blank"), then log in as the administrator and change any other passwords you need to. The tool is a little flaky and won't get the hash right 100% of the time.