Re: Forgot windows password; can I use 2nd HD to reset?

This should sort it.

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



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


"Robbie Hatley" wrote:
I just got my computer (Windows 2000 Professional, service pack 2) out
of storage, where it's been for several months. (I lost my job, ran
out of money, got evicted from apartment, and put everything in
storage. I'm really getting beat up by the current economic
conditions.) Unfortunately, I've forgotten all my Windows passwords,
because I haven't used them in months, and I didn't write them down
anywhere.

I seem to recall that one of the ways this can be fixed involves
pulling the hard disk out of the problem computer (call it HD1), and
installing it as a slave hard disk in a computer with a Windows 2000
installation with a known password on a separate hard disk (call it
HD2). Booting from HD2 should then give access to the files and
folders on HD1. (The files and folders all have ownership set to
"Administrators Group", so logging-on on any account with
administrator privelidges should give me access.)

However, I don't recall how to go about resetting the passwords. Once
I've booted from HD2, how can I reset the passwords on the accounts on
HD1? Is this just a matter of cloning user profiles, or do I need to
do other stuff? Or can this be done at all?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this.

PS: one of the first things I'm going to do if/when I get back in is,
create an emergency-access account with administrative privelidges,
write its user-name and password on a piece of paper, and put it in a
bank safe-deposit box. Should hedge against foggy memory.

--
Locked out,
Robbie Hatley
lone wolf (at) well (dot) com
.

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