Recover Data - Password Protected From Other User Account - Possible Virus

sare^baw's · 4 Jan 2014 at 20:21

My friends laptop has a problem, he cant login to windows, it rejects his password, the only other account is a guest account, any attempt i make to delete/ reset the password requires an administrator account which is not possible, everything i attempt just looks for his account password, i cant boot into safe mode, it just goes to the login screen, so im thinking that a virus or malware may have caused all this, also the laptop is very slow and freezing.

I decided i will install a fresh windows 7 however i need to save all his data first, i cant access his files and folders because windows is asking for his password when i try to access them.

So how can i get access to his files and folders so i can backup all his data before doing a frest install.

many thanks

d_brennen · 4 Jan 2014 at 20:25

Pop the drive in your PC and take ownership of it, copy the files over and wipe it

sare^baw's · 4 Jan 2014 at 20:33

d_brennen said:
Pop the drive in your PC and take ownership of it, copy the files over and wipe it

wow its easier than i thought, thanks for your advice mate, much appreciated

kefan77 · 4 Jan 2014 at 20:39

live distribution of Linux (Ubuntu or whatever) will let you access the files on that drive.

make bootable USB, boot from it, save the files, wipe the drive using Killdisk or something similar, format it and voila. ready for fresh install.

I certainly wouldn't want to connect possibly infected HDD to my working system running the same OS.

Raumarik · 4 Jan 2014 at 20:49

Surprised someone suggested popping it in tbh, any live distro of linux is obviously going to be far safer.

My main problem with dropping it into a PC is so many people have started disabling the key features of windows security these days i.e. UAC.

d_brennen · 4 Jan 2014 at 22:28

Halfmad said:
Surprised someone suggested popping it in tbh, any live distro of linux is obviously going to be far safer.

My main problem with dropping it into a PC is so many people have started disabling the key features of windows security these days i.e. UAC.

Sure it's safer, so is nuking it from orbit and not recovering any data. Unless OP's friend has picked up some superbad virus from somewhere that can hijack a sound system without being executed... In which case, Jebus save us all

Stoner81 · 4 Jan 2014 at 23:11

Halfmad said:
Surprised someone suggested popping it in tbh, any live distro of linux is obviously going to be far safer.

My main problem with dropping it into a PC is so many people have started disabling the key features of windows security these days i.e. UAC.

UAC is a complete waste of time imho, it causes far more hassle than it is worth.

To the OP - Use Hiren's Boot CD there is a tool on it for removing all passwords.

Stoner81.

KIA · 5 Jan 2014 at 12:46

Halfmad said:
My main problem with dropping it into a PC is so many people have started disabling the key features of windows security these days i.e. UAC.

Indeed. People with a little knowledge can be incredibly damaging.

Stoner81 said:
UAC is a complete waste of time imho, it causes far more hassle than it is worth.

Who wouldn't want to give malware elevated privileges from the word go?

sare^baw's · 5 Jan 2014 at 20:16

Many thanks for all the other suggestions guys, i got on fine connecting the hdd to my pc, i had no mishaps, my eset security usually pics up anything suspicious, i was not running any files, just copying them from one folder to another.

The new w7 installation is going fine, just going through the hours of updating at the moment.

Stoner81 · 9 Jan 2014 at 12:33

KIA said:
Who wouldn't want to give malware elevated privileges from the word go?

If malware gets to your machine it is too late it shouldn't have gotten there in the first place.

Prevention is better than a cure.

Stoner81.

Raumarik · 9 Jan 2014 at 15:11

Stoner81 said:
If malware gets to your machine it is too late it shouldn't have gotten there in the first place.

Prevention is better than a cure.

Stoner81.

It can do an awful lot less if you have UAC installed though especially good at limiting changes to single accounts rather than system wide.

KIA · 9 Jan 2014 at 17:55

Halfmad said:
It can do an awful lot less if you have UAC installed though especially good at limiting changes to single accounts rather than system wide.

Exactly.

sare^baw's · 9 Jan 2014 at 18:26

Imho - UAC in more a hindrance than it is useful. I hate it as much as i hate catchpha.

I want to shoot whoever invented catchpha

Raumarik · 9 Jan 2014 at 18:45

My opinion - best feature added to windows in years.

Agree on captcha though!

Stoner81 · 9 Jan 2014 at 19:58

Halfmad said:
It can do an awful lot less if you have UAC installed though especially good at limiting changes to single accounts rather than system wide.

That may be so but people need to learn how to use their machines properly and not get infected in the first place.

Stoner81.

KIA · 9 Jan 2014 at 22:14

Stoner81 said:
That may be so but people need to learn how to use their machines properly and not get infected in the first place.

Deliberately weakening the security of a machine is not using it properly.

Stoner81 · 10 Jan 2014 at 14:29

KIA said:
Deliberately weakening the security of a machine is not using it properly.

Right OK then whatever you say. If malware gets to your machine it's too late it should not have gotten there in the first place, I have never used UAC in Windows 7 and I have not had a single infection in 5+ years.

Stoner81.

KIA · 10 Jan 2014 at 17:07

Stoner81 said:
If malware gets to your machine it's too late it should not have gotten there in the first place, I have never used UAC in Windows 7 and I have not had a single infection in 5+ years..

It'll be too late for anyone who has UAC disabled. A rooted system can't be trusted.

Here's one example. Three people share a computer. User A has admin, user B is a regular user, as is user C. User C executes a malicious cryptolocker file and loses his documents. Cryptolocker isn't able to touch any of the other users' files because it wasn't able to use privilege elevation.

UAC is not there to prevent infection. It is a means of damage limitation, among other things.

Energize · 11 Jan 2014 at 06:38

KIA said:
Deliberately weakening the security of a machine is not using it properly.

If it's a machine used for development work it's pretty much a necessity to disable UAC as files will routinely be moved to and from protected areas like program files for example. The first thing I do is enable the superuser account on a Win 7 machine, otherwise I wouldn't get any work done!

d_brennen said:
Sure it's safer, so is nuking it from orbit and not recovering any data. Unless OP's friend has picked up some superbad virus from somewhere that can hijack a sound system without being executed... In which case, Jebus save us all

The os could execute the virus on the other drive though...