ever got locked out of a window system?

[Chewy]

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm#20

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14828505

another issue is a hacker may have changed the admin password from a null
one to his own and locked out the other accounts, the danger of remote logins. BlackViper always said first thing to do with a computer was set an admin password(safe mode login).

do you know windows will let you delete your only login that's admin, but hides the default one from you.

[drfsupercenter]

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,25445,00.asp

[UncasMS]

you should check your links before posting them, drf

pcworld links to WINTERNALS

[drfsupercenter]

Oh, sorry, I thought it was a download link.

[drfsupercenter]

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=126922&package_id=140751

Does that work (older version)

[jamoskeag3]

Is this a link to a free older version??

[UncasMS]

no

[Chewy]

durn I threw away the old floppy

[Gary D]

I did the same thing but here is a solution:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006B938/002-6969715-9831245?v=glance&n=172282

[UncasMS]

you're right, chewy, that linux bootable cds or some of the stuff you linked to may do just the same job

but it still makes a difference starting with a boot cd with this tuff on it (http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/) as you will be faced with command prompts asking you for example to specify the windows/system32 dir

================================================== =======
. Step ONE: Select disk where the Windows installation is
================================================== =======
Disks:
Disk /dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/disc: 2147 MB, 2147483648 bytes
NT partitions found:
1 : /dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 2043MB Boot

Please select partition by number or
a = show all partitions, d = automatically load new disk drivers
m = manually load new disk drivers
l = relist NTFS/FAT partitions, q = quit
Select: [1]

not all machines have a simple c:\windows installation and without knowing WHERE "sam" is located you wont get anywhere

erd commander not only makes life easier regarding loading the os information but also lets you restore your system/roll-back, copy data via network etc

so in case anyone can get hold of erd commander as a standalone tool go for it!

[Chewy]

Uncasms,
In your case I suspect the computer was hacked? XP home?
Admin login only shows at login when no other logins are present.
Coincidence on your networking?

[UncasMS]

well, i wouldnt know what exactly happened to my friends pc but i changed certain settings in the tcp/ip department only and that was it

i still have no idea what made the pc ask for an admin login and yes it may have been hacked but i seriously doubt it

the user is no power-internet-user, he receives a new ip every 24h, he doesnt spend much time online so chances are very small he got hacked but who knows

all in all the solution (of easily deleting admin/user pw) clearly shows that login in to your pc with only an admin account is sort of careless
but providing access to the bios or havin set a boot sequence with the cd/dvd drive as first device makes matters worse

so for your own security:
- create another user account (with minimal rights) and use this for daily business
- password protect your bios

[Chewy]

I worked on a trojan infected computer last year that was infected thru a vulnerabilty in XP, the trojan installed itself(no nat firewall) by using a null login to admin account. Another scenario is a trojan downloader installed off of
filesharing network. Something had to tell that computer to delete the default login.
too easy to clear cmos

[UncasMS]

network address translation / nat is not available as he uses a simple modem but no integrated router/firewall

i still think windows somehow chocked - i'll never know and hopefully not too soon have to deal with a case like that again

[Chewy]

I always do my loads from behind a router and get windows fully updated before exposing to the internet