Help - Need to bypass Administrator Passwords

nellie07

Hi there,

My boyfriend has given me an old work laptop, and Im trying to download a program onto it, Autocad, its saying I have to do this through the adminstrator but none of us know what the password is. Is there anyway that I can bypass this?

Thank you

Agent Smith

Best way is to wipe the machine

nellie07

thank you for your prompt reply
hmm, dont think ive any disc to reinstall anything on it though, would downloading utorrent work?

duckysauce

ask the company for the password;)

nellie07

duckysauce wrote: »

ask the company for the password;)

they think its been scrapped, and I want to keep it that way!:D

Random

format the laptop and wipe any sensitive company information off it. then buy (or use a copy from an old pc you're not longer using) a copy of windows and install it.

duckysauce

nellie07 wrote: »

they think its been scrapped, and I want to keep it that way!:D

you should not have it so, you wont get info here regarding that , try google

nellie07

duckysauce wrote: »

you should not have it so

All company information has been removed before it was given away, so nothing sensitive on it now. However he would not like his boss to think that someone else was using the laptop, no other reason than that

duckysauce

given away is different to scrap

nellie07

duckysauce wrote: »

given away is different to scrap

God, its really bothering you isnt it. 'scrap' was just a throw away word, his laptop was upgraded and they never asked for the old one, its really old and has lines down the screen its no good to anyone, I think its best if you maybe forget about this thread as its clearly upsetting you so much.

Alanstrainor

ffs sake lads. Leave it out.
OP, format and reinstall. That's the best solution to this.

nellie07

Alanstrainor wrote: »

ffs sake lads. Leave it out.
OP, format and reinstall. That's the best solution to this.

thank you thats what I will do. Best Regards.

Dermot Illogical

Boot from something like ERD Commander or BackTrack 4 and wipe the admin pass.

dbentham

Format and reinstall is most definitely best practice to ensure that any company data is no longer accessible.

You'll need to see which windows product it's licensed for by checking the hologram sticker - usually on the base. Then it's just a matter of getting the relevant CD to boot from.

One last thing OP, you will more than likely need Internet access as soon as you finish the new installation. This is to install any missing drivers that may not be on the CD.

nellie07

dbentham wrote: »

Format and reinstall is most definitely best practice to ensure that any company data is no longer accessible.

You'll need to see which windows product it's licensed for by checking the hologram sticker - usually on the base. Then it's just a matter of getting the relevant CD to boot from.

One last thing OP, you will more than likely need Internet access as soon as you finish the new installation. This is to install any missing drivers that may not be on the CD.

Great yeah this is definitely the best option and I will do that. Thank you for your help.

duckysauce

if you access the internet the company will know the laptop was not scraped:p

Nonmonotonic

Yep, the cyber police will then come to your house and confiscate the offending article.

kippy

If you cant get your hands on ERD commander, try something from here:
http://pcsupport.about.com/b/2009/03/07/offline-nt-password-recovery-iso.htm
Specificilly this has worked for me multiple times in the past:
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd (think thats the address anyway)
You can use that to reset the local admin password.

The company may request the laptop off your boyfriend at some stage in the future, I've seen it happen before.
Also as many have indicated wiping the machine is your best option as it will remove traces of any propriertry software and/or extra security (AV etc) that the company had installed.
Kippy