Re: Passwords
- From: Bruce Chambers <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:12:07 -0600
CB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I saw but did not buy a laptop at a thrift store that looked fairly modern
and appeared to have XP Pro. The store had a very low price due to the fact
that the pc was donated with the password still in force. No one there had
a clue what it was. Other than fdisk and installing another os is there a
way to work around the password problem????
This is a serious question, I am not trying to hack into someone's
computer.
Comments welcome.
Regards........
If the person or business from whom you wish to purchase the computer cannot give you the password, I would also strongly suggest that you check with local law enforcement agencies to ensure the laptop isn't stolen.
Beyond that:
Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which cannot be deleted) and modify the desired account(s) and use Start > Run > "control userpasswords2" to modify the desired account(s). Failing that, Linux-based password cracking utilities abound on the Internet, freely available to anyone who can use Google.
However, with second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers but perhaps even if acquired from a family member, your friend's wisest course of action would probably be to format the hard drives and start fresh. He doesn't want to get in trouble because the original owner may have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware. Because Best Buy didn't reformat the hard drive and return that laptop to its original ex-factory condition before re-selling it, your friend should also seriously wonder what else is wrong with it.
Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)
--
Bruce Chambers
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
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