How to bypass windows log in ? Help needed

arsebandit

I have just picked up a secondhand dell desktop, but its from an office which clossed down, but there is a log in required to go any further, i presume its trying to log into a server or something, is there anyway to get rid of this? as i say i cant go any further than this screen,

Any help or advise would be great ,

Thanks in advance

Bandit

Skerries

there is software that you can buy to get around the password
I use ERD Commander and Active Password Changer to get around it, but there might be some free alternatives

<snip> READ THE CHARTER !!!!

homer911

Get/make yourself a ubuntu CD and reset the password through it

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14369/change-or-reset-windows-password-from-a-ubuntu-live-cd/

kippy

arsebandit wrote: »

I have just picked up a secondhand dell desktop, but its from an office which clossed down, but there is a log in required to go any further, i presume its trying to log into a server or something, is there anyway to get rid of this? as i say i cant go any further than this screen,

Any help or advise would be great ,

Thanks in advance

Bandit

Can you call who you bought it up and ask for details?

Failing that, you may be trying to log onto a domain instead of the local PC as you mention.
You should be able to change that "Log on to" option to "this computer", (you fail to mention what operating system is on the PC, assuming it is XP)
Perhaps try a username of administrator and a blank password, you'd be surprised how often this works.


Otherwise you are either going to have to do what the lads mentioned (which is straightforward once you know how to download from the net, what an ISO is and how to put it on cd, know how to boot a PC from CD, then are comfortable with figuring out the options within the CD) To be fair if you are not, there are plenty guides/youtube vids out there......to reset the local admin password.

Outside of that, you are looking at an install of a new operating system, which itself is a steep learning curve have you not done it before as well as issues around getting an operating system.

Best of luck

mp22

Check if you can get in on safemode.

Fysh

arsebandit wrote: »

I have just picked up a secondhand dell desktop, but its from an office which clossed down, but there is a log in required to go any further, i presume its trying to log into a server or something, is there anyway to get rid of this? as i say i cant go any further than this screen,

Any help or advise would be great ,

Thanks in advance

Bandit

Have you been given the installation media and documentation for this machine?

It sounds like whoever was getting rid of it wasn't paying any attention to data security, because they should've wiped everything on the hard drive and done a clean install before selling it. But that's not really any help right now.

If you've got the disks and documentation, reinstall Windows. If not, there are ways in which you can blank the password on one of the accounts and try to log in locally (eg by using this utility, at which point you'll need to unbind it from the domain.

At that point, you should (as in, you ought to on a legal/moral basis but won't be technically forced to) then do the following:

• create a new account for yourself;
• log into this account;
• uninstall any software that's still installed on the system for which you do not have (and do not wish to buy) a valid licence - this includes things like Microsoft Office that aren't bundled with Windows;
• delete the existing accounts on the system, including any private files associated with those accounts;
• reset the password of the built-in administrator account;
• change the computer name and organisation, as well as the name of the owner (you'll need to go into the registry for some of this)

Edited to add:

One useful thing with Dell machines - if you're not sure what software was licensed to come with the system on an OEM basis, you can find out by going here, clicking the "Original configuration" tab, then entering your computer's 7-digit service tag. This will list any software that was purchased with the computer.

arsebandit

Thanks for all the help and advice ... i tried this http://pcsupport.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=pcsupport&cdn=compute&tm=6&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=4&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//sourceforge.net/projects/pcloginnow/

and it did the job... dead handy

Thanks again

bandit

Capt'n Midnight

Fysh wrote: »

At that point, you should (as in, you ought to on a legal/moral basis but won't be technically forced to) then do the following:

• create a new account for yourself;
• log into this account;
• uninstall any software that's still installed on the system for which you do not have (and do not wish to buy) a valid licence - this includes things like Microsoft Office that aren't bundled with Windows;
• delete the existing accounts on the system, including any private files associated with those accounts;
• reset the password of the built-in administrator account;
• change the computer name and organisation, as well as the name of the owner (you'll need to go into the registry for some of this)

Probably better off wiping and starting again so you don't inherit any problems

This will list any software that was purchased with the computer.

Unfortunatly you can't use this as proof of entitlement. The original licenses could have been upgraded.

arsebandit

hey captn, just a quick question... i have access to my desktop now etc, but when i do login i have a load of options to log into different sections ?? domains maybe ??? they are in the drop down menu along with an option for "this computer" which does work... do i need to and how can i remove the other choices?

AdrianII

you have to remove the computer from the domain it was on

Go into control panel and then system.
There is an option to change pc name and change from a workgroup or domain.
If you put it in a workgroup you will remove the domain.com option


on a side note, very bad form on the company not wiping there disk before moving the machine off. There could have been anything on it, if that was the place i work for, someone could get boot for that

kippy

AdrianII wrote: »

you have to remove the computer from the domain it was on

Go into control panel and then system.
There is an option to change pc name and change from a workgroup or domain.
If you put it in a workgroup you will remove the domain.com option


on a side note, very bad form on the company not wiping there disk before moving the machine off. There could have been anything on it, if that was the place i work for, someone could get boot for that

The company may not have realised the machine was getting "disposed of" in fairness.........

Fysh

kippy wrote: »

The company may not have realised the machine was getting "disposed of" in fairness.........

Even if the company itself went out of business and its administrators were the ones disposing of all remaining assets to pay off any remaining creditors, there are data protection issues of the potentially Big Legal Bite On The Arse variety associated with just selling a machine intact. It takes at best an hour to run a single pass of shred (which, OK, isn't great, but is a good start, though I think 7 is normally advised for a system that has been used to store sensitive data), and it's not like shred is an expensive tool - you can use it from the terminal in Gparted, amongst many many other free-to-download linux utilities.

There have been instances in the past in the UK of computers being sold on ebay that turned out to have confidential council-related data still present on the drives, so the attitude of not caring is unfortunately quite widespread.

AdrianII

Fysh wrote: »

Even if the company itself went out of business and its administrators were the ones disposing of all remaining assets to pay off any remaining creditors, there are data protection issues of the potentially Big Legal Bite On The Arse variety associated with just selling a machine intact. It takes at best an hour to run a single pass of shred (which, OK, isn't great, but is a good start, though I think 7 is normally advised for a system that has been used to store sensitive data), and it's not like shred is an expensive tool - you can use it from the terminal in Gparted, amongst many many other free-to-download linux utilities.

There have been instances in the past in the UK of computers being sold on ebay that turned out to have confidential council-related data still present on the drives, so the attitude of not caring is unfortunately quite widespread.

spot on, could have personal details of customers, bank details etc.


As for the original poster, probably would be best if you got yourself a cheap version of win 7 or vista, then format the drive when installing the OS. Just from experience you will find problems, slowness and general cr@p on the machine because it wasnt ghosted or imaged.

any way hope you got sorted with your problems

kippy

Fysh wrote: »

Even if the company itself went out of business and its administrators were the ones disposing of all remaining assets to pay off any remaining creditors, there are data protection issues of the potentially Big Legal Bite On The Arse variety associated with just selling a machine intact. It takes at best an hour to run a single pass of shred (which, OK, isn't great, but is a good start, though I think 7 is normally advised for a system that has been used to store sensitive data), and it's not like shred is an expensive tool - you can use it from the terminal in Gparted, amongst many many other free-to-download linux utilities.

There have been instances in the past in the UK of computers being sold on ebay that turned out to have confidential council-related data still present on the drives, so the attitude of not caring is unfortunately quite widespread.

I was alluding to the fact that the PC may have been stolen/misplaced - which of course doesn't absolve the company from the fact there was no encryption software on the machine, but does dissolve them from a bit of blame in "letting" the machine off without wiping it.

AdrianII

true

arsebandit

I have had a good search through the system , and it has no files what so ever , it looks like this pc was used through a server and was just an access point , there is a software program on it but I have removed it now , as it stands it's like it came out of the box . All the windows programs have never been used , and just to clear a few things up ... This system is not stolen or anything like that , it was part of an office clearence ... But I agree it should have been cleared , I have windows 7 on the way so this should remove all data ( if any)
Again thanks

Bandit

AdrianII

yeah do a fresh install when win 7 arrives, it will speed in up in a few places and its a fantastic OS