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

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I wrote asking how a 2nd hard disk could be used to reset passwords
on a 1st hard disk; "Dave Patrick" replied:

This should sort it.
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

No, it doesn't. That doesn't answer my question at all, in fact.
It's an ad for some software which may (or may not) allow resetting
of passwords. But I don't have the resources (time, money, and other
resources) to buy and try a bunch of software. Hence my question,
which no one has yet addressed.

I can't quite believe that no one in this group knows the answer to
this,
so for the 3rd time, I'll ask yet again:

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.

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES (TIME, MONEY,
AND OTHER RESOURCES) TO BUY AND TRY A BUNCH OF
SOFTWARE, SO PLEASE DON'T JUST GIVE LINKS TO
SOFTWARE PURVEYORS. THANK YOU.

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE 100 HOURS TO SIT DOWN AND
WADE THROUGH 1000s OF IRRELEVANT GOOGLE HITS,
SO PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME TELLING ME TO
"JUST LOOK IT UP ON GOOGLE". I ALREADY DID, AND
FOUND ONLY GARBAGE. THANK YOU.

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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