Resetting the admin password?

Amaru

Is this possible? I seem to have had mine changed by a hacker after my system got infected by a virus, and now don't know how to change it back. its the overall system password, not just the windows one, as in i still have administrator privileges inside xp. I'd like my computer to be fully under my control again if thats at all possible!

garthv

what do u mean by system password?bios password?

Giblet

Use the jumpers on the motherboard. Look up your model on the net to see which ones.

Amaru

No, not the bios. When i was trying to use the repair console on xp, it asked for the admin password. I hadn't set it, so i tried blank. That didn't work. So i tried my password, so that didn't work. I have had a virus which gives remote control to a 3rd party lately, so i figure its them thats set it. Its basically the overall XP admin password, not something i'd want somebody else to have set.

Nukem

Do you mean the admin password when you reboot in safe mode?

galwaydude18

No I defoo dont think thats what he is looking for Nukem! He's prob getting into the recovery console from his win xp disc and it needs the admin password to make any changes etc.

CyberGhost

Amaru wrote:

No, not the bios. When i was trying to use the repair console on xp, it asked for the admin password. I hadn't set it, so i tried blank. That didn't work. So i tried my password, so that didn't work. I have had a virus which gives remote control to a 3rd party lately, so i figure its them thats set it. Its basically the overall XP admin password, not something i'd want somebody else to have set.

are you sure it is asking you the admin password and not to which installation to load? where you to type 1?

MrPinK

Amaru wrote:

it asked for the admin password. I hadn't set it, so i tried blank.

A user called Adminstrator is automatically created when you install windows, and is ment to be a backup login in case things go wrong. Setting the password for this account is part of the installation proccess. If you installed it yourself, you did set the password. Think hard. If someone else installed in, contact them. You could always get a cracker and brute force the password, but if it's a well chosen password then this will take you a very long time. I'd rather reinstall windows then try to recover it.

MrPinK

Actually, I don't know if this will work with XP Home, but try running 'control userpasswords2' at the command console. This should hopefully bring up the decent user accounts manager. You can reset passwords from here, but I don't know if it'll let you change the Administrator one or not.

Amaru

CyberGhost wrote:

are you sure it is asking you the admin password and not to which installation to load? where you to type 1?

No, it asks you for the password directly after you press 1.

A user called Adminstrator is automatically created when you install windows, and is ment to be a backup login in case things go wrong. Setting the password for this account is part of the installation proccess. If you installed it yourself, you did set the password. Think hard. If someone else installed in, contact them. You could always get a cracker and brute force the password, but if it's a well chosen password then this will take you a very long time. I'd rather reinstall windows then try to recover it.[\QUOTE]

I did install it myself, but don't remember setting any password, but if i did, then it was a default password that i use personally, and that wasn't it. I logged into safe mode the other day as the admin, and that password was blank. But when i tried using the repair console yesterday, it asked me for an admin password, which was neither blank, nor my default one. Like i said, i think it was a hacker, relating to a virus(possibly msdirectx.sys) which connects to an outside source after it has installed itself.

Gone West

I have noticed this issue myself. If you dont set an admin password when you install windows, and then later have to go into the recovery console, {blank} doesnt work, as the password. It really sucks.

My uncle had the exact same problem as you. He just reinstalled windows , then used an xp decryptor tool to get his "my documents/desktop/settings/etc" back.

WizZard

Try changing the admin password in safe more, to something that is not blank. Then you should be able to use the recovery console

Nietzschean

Amaru wrote:

Is this possible? I seem to have had mine changed by a hacker after my system got infected by a virus, and now don't know how to change it back. its the overall system password, not just the windows one, as in i still have administrator privileges inside xp. I'd like my computer to be fully under my control again if thats at all possible!

Assuming i've read that right in that :
1. You can still get into windows
2. Your normal account is an admin account not a 'standard' one?


In that case you can reset the password from your normal account , there shouldn't be any files encrypted requriing the old admin password as you don't use that account.
Start -> Control Panel
Classic View , Administrative Tools -> Computer Management
Expand Local Users and Groups , Click on Users
Right Click on Administrator and select Set Password


And volia...

Also you can under local security policy in administrative tools disable the password request for the recovery console.

Amaru

FuzzyLogic wrote:

I have noticed this issue myself. If you dont set an admin password when you install windows, and then later have to go into the recovery console, {blank} doesnt work, as the password. It really sucks.

My uncle had the exact same problem as you. He just reinstalled windows , then used an xp decryptor tool to get his "my documents/desktop/settings/etc" back.

Of all the help, this is the one that was spot on. I actually couldn't get into windows, which is why i needed to use the recovery console, but i just used dos instead. He is right though, if you don't set the admin password as blank, for some reason, when trying to start recovery console, it doesn't accept it as blank. So when i got XP working again, i just started in safe mode, and set the admin password. Of course, by then i had XP working, so i had no need for the recovery console anymore! Well, c'est la vie, but thanks to anybody who threw in their 2 cents anyway!