Password

[Ben]

Hey, I lost the password for my laptop. I can't use the administrator account now so I can't install games or download anything. The laptop is a vista. Can anyone help me in ways to get around/ crack this password?

[Lewin]

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

You burn it to a CD/DVD, make your laptop boot from the CD drive in the BIOS, then put the CD and it will decode all of your password in less than 10 minutes.
I haven't used it myself but I've heard it's very good.

If you can't find any instructions for how to use it there Google for stuff like "using oph crack" or something.

Hope this helps.
Lewin.

Which version of Vista do you have? Are you talking about the account called Administrator, or your account made during installation?
If it's the second one, try to log in as the Administrator, the password is often empty. You'll need to boot into safe mode first in all home versions.

I don't remember if Vista allows to use 'net user' command in recovery console. If it does, you can change the password or add new account with administrative privileges there.

[Ben]

I've looked at ophcrack, but I'm unsure what kind of CD to use. Would a Memorix work? I've looked around but I can't find out if Memorix works...

What do you want back? Only data? If not, what else?

If you want only data, maybe you could try to put your hdd in another pc and extract all the data you want from it. Then reinstall your old pc (with the hdd in it) and put the old data back.

It is the hard way and I know there are some easier ways, but seen as it is needed to reinstall your windows computer each 2 years, it is better.

Ease.
Durring boot-up, Start as "SAFE MODE"
It will create an adminstrator account for you, so you can change it's password/ Remove the password.
BOOM.
Now it's your turn to help me.
HELP ME. I created a map, I made sure there we're no, scripting errors, But when i try to start in in the game, Error report pops up. :/

Purple - A youth of The "Mission editor"

Albert einstein- Two things are infinite.
The universe, And human stupidity.
And i'm not too sure about the universe.

[Lewin]

Please keep to topic, I have replied in the thread where you asked for help last time.

[Ben]

Still kinda lost on this (yeah it's been a while)
I would like to try oph crack, but I'm still unsure of it's trustworthiness. (only because it claims to be free) It IS free right? no hidden fees? won't give me a virus?

Ease.
Durring boot-up, Start as "SAFE MODE"
It will create an adminstrator account for you, so you can change it's password/ Remove the password.

I've had a lot of people tell me this, but it doesn't seem to work. Any idea of what I might be doing wrong?
Perhaps my problem is not understood.

Here I go:

I turn on the computer and I can log into Guest, but not Nora (my mothers name). Nora is the administrator, and I need her password to download anything

And before you ask I should probably give the truth of this story. Yes it is, or rather was, my mom's computer. However the laptop's screen was broken after an accident. My mom bought a new computer and after some time, forgot her old laptop's password.
So she gave it to me and said I could attempt to remove/ change her password.
Crazy, unbelievable, yet true story.

The safe-mode admin is only in Home versions.
Just use the password cracker. It's fine. No hidden fees.

Alternatively, if there isn't anything worth saving on the partition where windows is installed, you could just pop in an installation disk and reinstall windows. That takes a while though.

[Ben]

What kind of CD should I use?

Any disc that can either be erased or is completely empty.

[Ben]

I downloaded the program and I'm trying to figure out how to use it (I'm testing it on a computer that I have the password for). However, I am unfamiliar with some of the terminology and the help file assumes I already know. like what is a SAM? or a hash?
And if anyone here has used ophcrack before, I would be most grateful if you could assist.

The SAM database is where windows stores the hash of your password, a hash is a 1-way function* of your password. It would be quite insecure if it just stored your password, anyone could just get it out without "cracking" it - but now since it is a hash you need a program that can try lots of password until it finds one with the right hash. It can't "reverse hash" because the hash is a 1-way function.

* 1-way functions may or way not exist, depending on whether P?=NP but although that is an open question it is generally assumed that P!=NP and therefore 1-way functions exist. (you're not really supposed to understand this, it's just for completeness)

[Ben]

Thanks, that helps. When I get a chance I will attempt to use the program again.

okay so I have no idea what to put in these boxes. Where do I find this stuff?

Edit:

Okay..... so I can't get an image on the site...how do I do that?