Forgotten XP password

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:31

Been given a laptop which I said I would try and format for them. However they do not have an internal dvd drive but an external 1. In order for it to become recognised I need to get into windows but they have forgotten the password to sign in. I have no idea of how to get into windows without knowing the user accounts password nor the administrators pass.

Is there any way around this? I have tried going into safe mode etc to no avail.

Also why can't I get the external dvd drive (USB) to be recognised on boot? If it could be recognised as soon as it boots then I would be able to boot from CD and format.

Cheers for looking

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:53

look in the bios for usb-cd as a boot option.. won't be a normal cd

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:54

It doesnt get recognised at all - I disabled the internal hdd on the boot options so that it would have to look for another boot device but that failed.

Snakedoctor · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:57

Boot in safe mode (xp home) and sign in to the administrator account. This will more than likely not have a password if you set it up yourself. In XP pro, press <ctrl><alt><del> and over type username with administrator. From the admin account you can reset your own password or create new account etc. Failing that, there is an iso file you can downlaod which breaks the password to give you access. Google it.

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:59

Adam18290 said:
It doesnt get recognised at all - I disabled the internal hdd on the boot options so that it would have to look for another boot device but that failed.

go into the bios, and manually look for usb-cd as an option, by default it wouldn't be selected

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 11:59

Snakedoctor said:
Boot in safe mode (xp home) and sign in to the administrator account. This will more than likely not have a password if you set it up yourself. In XP pro, press <ctrl><alt><del> and over type username with administrator. From the admin account you can reset your own password or create new account etc. Failing that, there is an iso file you can downlaod which breaks the password to give you access. Google it.

can't boot from cd at the moment

it's called ophcrack, finds the passwords as long as it contains only.. a-z,0-9

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 13:21

How does this ophcrack work then? I have no DVD/CD drive and cannot get into desktop - how will I be able to run the app?

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 13:26

have you checked in the bios for usb-cd boot option, you're stepping ahead too quickly.

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 13:43

bledd. said:
have you checked in the bios for usb-cd boot option, you're stepping ahead too quickly.

Nope theres only the usual suspects such as HHD, dvd etc - none of which allow to boot from the external dvd drive

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:01

what type of laptop is it?

the only one i've seen without an internal drive (by default) is the X505, it has a firewire external dvd drive (bootable in bios)

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:08

Its a dell inspiron 1100 - it would have came with a drive when first brought but for some reason or another its missing thus im having to use an external drive.

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:19

about £10-15 for a 2nd hand one mate

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:25

bledd. said:
about £10-15 for a 2nd hand one mate

Is that the best thing to do then? I mean the external dvd drive works just fine and im sure it will be recognised but only when I get onto desktop.

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:28

deffo the best thing to do

a drive from any old laptop would work

Edward01 · 4 Sep 2008 at 15:15

In the bios can you set it to boot off a memory stick? If so you can boot it off one of those and crack the password. Can be quite time consuming though if oyu don't know what your doing. I'd see if you can get a 2nd hand internal one first tho.

Anywho heres the link if you need it

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

Adam18290 · 4 Sep 2008 at 15:35

So once I download it what do I need to do next, any chance you could give me a brief step by step guide

bledd · 4 Sep 2008 at 15:58

even if you login, what do you want to do once the laptop is in windows?

you can't format as the drive is external

get an internal drive for it

Edward01 · 4 Sep 2008 at 16:00

being honest with you its ages since i've used it but i'll give it ago.

First you have to make sure you can boot the comp off a memory stick.

Then you need to download the Live CD version. Its in ISO format so you then need to install the ISO on your flash drive, (not sure how you do this tbh as i've always booted it off a CD, might want to read their forums or search the net)

Plug in flash drive to comp and turn on

Press any key to boot from flash drive

Select 'OphLive CD graphics mode (Auto Mode)

Let the OS load, (its really very clever, its a cut down version of Slax with ophcrack built in)

It should come up with a couple of windows and say Pre-loading Table 1,2,3 maybe 4 (takes a couple of mins)

Once its done that it should just crack all the passwords on there (takes under a min normally). Bear in mind that it is only a cut down version and will only crack password up to 8 digits (I think) in length and Alpha-Numerical.

REMEMBER - Only use this software on computers where you have the owners express permission

EDIT, If it wont display anything try it in another of the display modes. If it doesn't crack the after 10 min or so its probably not going to. Thats when it startes getting tricky and you either need bigger tables, dictionary attack or just brute force!