How to get into a PC bypassing the password?

up for anything

My friend's partner died the week before Christmas and she wants to get onto his computer but is pretty computer illiterate. She doesn't know the password and can't work it out from the hint. Is there anyway she can get into it without taking it to someone who will charge her for it?

GreenWolfe

Is it a Windows logon password?

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

Tell them to use Offline NT Password and Registry editor. It won't recover the password, but it can be reset to a new one.

gctest50

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/passrecovery.htm

Victor

Sorry to hear this.

If it is a computer, it will now be part of the deceased's estate and depending on the will, the partner may have no entitlement to it. Strictly speaking, the executor named in the will should give their permission.

If it is an on-line account, they will need to talk to the service provider and follow their rules.

Gillo

Slightly off topic, but I remember reading an article a few hears back which said it was a great idea to leave a list of your passwords in your will. It actually sounded like a great idea.


Depending on what your friend is looking for, might it be possible to mount the hard drive as an external drive in a different pc and access the likes of documents.

areyawell

ultimatebootcd are any live cd that allows you to change windows password. Any decent PC repair company will do it for you but if they give quotes of more than 40 euro, walk away. Its really simple to do

MarkR

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/gr/ophcrack.htm

Is quite good. You can make a bootable cd, and just run it. Depends on how difficult the password is really.

areyawell

MarkR wrote: »

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/gr/ophcrack.htm

Is quite good. You can make a bootable cd, and just run it. Depends on how difficult the password is really.

Good option if you actually want the password but can be reset in a second

up for anything

He was pretty young and died very unexpectedly so hadn't made a will. She just wants to be able to use the computer if she wishes and isn't too bothered about getting into any of his online accounts. It's most likely the Windows logon password as that would be the first thing that comes up when a PC is switched on usually. She says that it has Windows Vista Home Basic on the bottom of the screen if that is any help.

The hint is their house number but she's tried the street name and the estate name but neither work so he'd probably added a few numbers or something to it.

areyawell

up for anything wrote: »

He was pretty young and died very unexpectedly so hadn't made a will. She just wants to be able to use the computer if she wishes and isn't too bothered about getting into any of his online accounts. It's most likely the Windows logon password as that would be the first thing that comes up when a PC is switched on usually. She says that it has Windows Vista Home Basic on the bottom of the screen if that is any help.

The hint is their house number but she's tried the street name and the estate name but neither work so he'd probably added a few numbers or something to it.

If your not that tech savy anyone you know who's decent with computers will do it for you. Or bring it a shop and they'll reset the password for you. But don't get ripped off by them. Will only take them a minute for em to do it. I said 40 euro earlier, 20 quid should be enough to pay any pc crowd to do it for you

Alternatively a fresh install of the operating system will suffice.

up for anything

I'll pass that onto her. Thanks. She has a couple of contacts who have said that they will have a go but she's on her own tonight and has got it into her head that she wants to get on NOW. I think she's remembering all I've said about online company.

Thanks very much for the swift and helpful responses.

Victor

areyawell wrote: »

Alternatively a fresh install of the operating system will suffice.

This may make recovering any files difficult or impossible.

up for anything

She has exam stuff on it so will tell her to avoid the fresh install.

celiam

why is she trying estate name and street name,its a house number like 20,maybe not his own house but his parents

areyawell

up for anything wrote: »

He was pretty young and died very unexpectedly so hadn't made a will. She just wants to be able to use the computer if she wishes and isn't too bothered about getting into any of his online accounts. .

Misinterpreted that post, yea change the password or remove the hard drive and connect it to a computer via USB is the best bet

Assassins Creed

First of all, my condolences on your friends recent loss.

Having said that "Do not pay a cent to resolve this". There are lots of tutorials on the net. Youtube has some very good easy to follow tutorials on how to resolve this. You can do a search on "how to change vista password". Don't format the hard drive, or take any other drastic measures. It is a very easy process. If you pm me, i will give you a step by step process on how to do this.

P.S The information is on how to change the password as opposed to getting the original password.

gctest50

up for anything wrote: »

......The hint is their house number .......

Landline phone number maybe ?

Squeeonline

Use another laptop to make a bootable CD/stick of ubuntu, boot into the "live" version. Data should be available if that's just what you are after.

Copy that onto an external drive, and just reinstall windows, wiping everything because you've already backed up all personal data.

mordeith

up for anything wrote: »

She has exam stuff on it so will tell her to avoid the fresh install.

I don't want to be an a**hole here or anything but if she has exam related material on the computer how come she doesn't know the password herself?

Ironbar

If you live in Waterford I'll do it. I can blank the password so you can get in. Using a program that I wrote myself....

riclad

This gives you acess to all data on drive,my documents,music etc
download iso,burn iso to cd , use imgburn.
http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=67

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
burn to a cd r or dvdr disk.
or see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNzGa_-gdow

or
You can try to reset the password in Vista with command prompt.
1. Press F8 to enter Advanced Boot Options just before the Windows loading screen appears.
2. Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
3. Log in with an administrator account when you can see the log on screen.
4. Type new user in the command prompt and then hit Enter. All the Windows account user names will be listed for you.
5. Type new user Helen 123 and hit Enter.
‘Helen’ is your locked Windows account user name. And ‘123’ is the new password you want to reset for the account.
If you cannot enter the safe mode, I’m afraid you have to create a password reset disk with a CD or USB drive as follows. Otherwise, reinstallation will be your only choice.
Step 1: Download and install Windows Password Reset Tool in any computer from its official site

Step 2: Use CD/DVD/USB drive to create a password disk via the program.
Step 3: Boot your locked computer from CD/DVD or USB
Step 4: Reset Windows password with the burned CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

holdown f8 turn on pc, wait 12 seconds for safe mode menu,release f8,
use up,down ,and enter keys, to navigate menu,
enter key = ok, select.

riclad

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/download.php
select vista/7 iso ,
ive never used it.i usually use mint, 699meg download.
mint is very similar to windows,boot from cd, to go to my computer drive,c,
browse.it ignores ALL passwords.can see any windows files,or folder,
from a lived mint,.you can browse the net,without useing the drive .hard drive.
http://sourceforge.net/p/ophcrack/wiki/ophcrack%20Howto/
if you are in a hurry use safe mode option, or mint live cd.
TO get mint live cd you,ll need a cdr blank, or dvdr and a pc with a or dvdrw , cdrw drive.
you can download image put it on a usb pendrive.use burn image file option,burn at 2 or 3x speed.