Windows XP user passwords

Question

My daughter has been messing with the passwords on my other computer.  She has changed the administrator and user passwords, so now the only account I can enter is the guest.  I've tried rebooting in safe-mode, but when asked for owner or administrator passwords, I just get the 'have you forgotten your password' screen and can go no further.   Is there a way I can either find out the passwords to the computer or change the passwords without knowing the administrator password?    My daughter is 16 and refuses to admit that she changed the passwords, so getting them from her is impossible.   Thanks for any help.

JRosenfeld · Answer

You could try

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

(or see http://www.grape-info.com/doc/win2000srv/security/ntpasswd.html)

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

More options if you google for recover administrative pass word

I assume that by administrator you mean the default (system) administrator, not a user account with administrator rights.

If not, and the default system administrator password has not been set, its default is not to have a password and you could log in onto that and then change the passwords for user accounts.

To logon as Computer default Administrator; (& default Administrator account isn't shown)

For XP PRO;
Use normal mode , at Welcome Screen press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys together TWICE.

For XP Home;
Use Safe Mode & at Welcome Screen press keys TWICE.

To enter Safe Mode press F8 key many times during startup until Menu is displayed
then use Arrow keys to select Safe Mode & press Enter key.

The default Administrator password is blank unless you have set one. (the Default Administrator Password isn't your Computer/Administrator password)

(If you have Auto logon set , use Log Off to show Log On Screen.)
(If you use Classic Log On box enter Administrator for PRO normal mode & Home safe mode).

Once you are again able tolog in to an account with administrator rights, I suggest that you restrict your daughter's access to the PC :-)

anonim · Answer

Before trying to run the programs for resetting the admin password:

1. What is the name of the administrator on your system? Usually the "Administrator" user is not shown

2. Do you still have the password for "Administrator" user when you installed Windows? If no, you might try with an empty one.

3. What kind of Windows you have?

Answer to these questions and in might not be necessary to use those programs to reset the admin password.

JRosenfeld · Answer

That was the point I made in the second part of my post, with instructions on how to log in as default Administrator. It sometimes helps to read the complete post before posting the same suggestion (in less detail).

mellamafarm · Answer

I've tried the loginrecovery.com which takes 48 hours, so hopefully will have an answer to the administrator password tomorrow.

Yes, I meant the system administrator. I've tried several times to login using no password and every password I can think of and nothing works.

For XP Home;
Use Safe Mode & at Welcome Screen press keys TWICE.

To enter Safe Mode press F8 key many times during startup until Menu is displayed
then use Arrow keys to select Safe Mode & press Enter key.

The default Administrator password is blank unless you have set one. (the Default Administrator Password isn't your Computer/Administrator password)

Tried this. Still don't seem to have the correct password (even blank doesn't work)

Once you are again able tolog in to an account with administrator rights, I suggest that you restrict your daughter's access to the PC :-)

That's why the computers are passworded to keep her off. Unfortunately, occasionally she needs the computers for homework. She's sneaky though, and got the password, went on the computer at night and changed everything. I swear they teach the kids computer hacking in school. Believe me, from now on, she can do her computer homework in school!

I have windows XP home edition.

The computer crashed about a year ago. I'm beginning to wonder if the repair people put in a different password for the administrator.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm still working on solving this. The loginrecovery.com should have a password tomorrow. I'd rather not have to reinstall windows if I can help it.

Windows General

Windows XP user passwords

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