Author Topic: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help  (Read 5507 times)

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Offline Terry01Topic starter

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Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« on: February 15, 2018, 08:11:22 pm »
I know this probably sounds a bit dodgy but......I have an old Compaq c700 that is running windows 7 that has been in my kitchen cupboard for 3 or 4 years-ish! I found it again this evening and thought I would give it a whirl. It's password locked and we can't for the life of us remember the password. The Mrs and I are about demented with it!  |O
I tried to reset it but it is saying I need to connect a floppy disk or removable drive to do this! It was built up for my Mrs by one of her geek friends a few years ago and I ended up using it as a gaming laptop but it got a virus so I bought a new machine as it was also getting older and the virus was the perfect excuse for me to get a new machine. The guy who built it said it was a good machine and had been "tweeked" a "little" inside. I have no reason to doubt him. Is there a way around this floppy disk or removable drive thing as I have neither.

Thanks
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Offline neo

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2018, 08:33:23 pm »
If i were you i would try and find that "geek friend"  :-//
Other than that i have no clue.
A hopeless addict (and slave) to TEA and a firm believer that high frequency is little more than modern hoodoo.
 

Offline sokoloff

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2018, 08:38:27 pm »
You're going to create another bootable USB (or DVD) with some password editing tool on it.

https://www.lifewire.com/free-windows-password-recovery-tools-2626179

I feel like the last time I faced this, I used an ubuntu LiveCD to get what I needed off the PC, but I suspect you'll find a workable answer in the above article.
 

Offline Ampera

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2018, 08:57:22 pm »
Honestly if I was faced with this, I would grab what I needed off the machine, and just reinstall Windows. I find it's a good policy to just reinstall windows on occasion anyways.
I forget who I am sometimes, but then I remember that it's probably not worth remembering.
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Offline Electro Detective

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2018, 09:59:32 pm »
First you need to confirm if it's a Windows 7 password, bios password, hard drive password, some weird OEM ID asset password or a combo

If it's a Windows 7 password you may find what you need on Youtube if an internet search doesn't bring results


If it's a bios or hard drive password... ouch!  :horse:
 

Offline Terry01Topic starter

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2018, 10:45:34 pm »
Thanks for the help guys. I'll give those suggestions a try tomorrow.

The guy who built it is now up in the big geek graveyard in the sky unfortunately. A very nice guy who was very clever with computers.  :--

Sparks and Smoke means i'm nearly there!
 

Offline neo

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2018, 10:52:57 pm »
Thanks for the help guys. I'll give those suggestions a try tomorrow.

The guy who built it is now up in the big geek graveyard in the sky unfortunately. A very nice guy who was very clever with computers.  :--

The brightest candles always burn the quickest.
A hopeless addict (and slave) to TEA and a firm believer that high frequency is little more than modern hoodoo.
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2018, 12:15:14 am »
If it had a virus then wiping it would be best anyhow.  If it sat that long unused I doubt there is anything of importance on it to save.
 

Offline Cyberdragon

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2018, 12:44:17 am »
Why the hell is a Windows 7 machine wanting a floppy disk? :wtf:

Quote
If it's a bios or hard drive password... ouch!
If it's a BIOS password...just pull the pin. :palm: Or the battery if you have to (if it's soldered you'll have to cut it).
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
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Offline Macbeth

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2018, 12:46:28 am »
If it had a virus then wiping it would be best anyhow.  If it sat that long unused I doubt there is anything of importance on it to save.
Just a couple of hundred Bitcoins mined for 5 quid in electricity at the time...
 

Offline theleakydiode

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2018, 03:55:40 am »
Download and burn hirensbootcd to a flash drive and use the "Offline NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer", find step by step instructions on youtube.
 
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Online tautech

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2018, 04:10:50 am »
Why the hell is a Windows 7 machine wanting a floppy disk? :wtf:

Quote
If it's a bios or hard drive password... ouch!
If it's a BIOS password...just pull the pin.
Not this guy !  :P

We scored a Toshiba A200 with a fingerprint reader.......locked out, as tight as a drum !  :rant:
It's previous owner had given up on it as it wouldn't recognize his fingerprint.  :horse:

Bit of time on the 'net found these A200's could/would do this and it was only a matter of when !  :scared:

Under the RAM cover and under the RAM modules are a pair of BIOS RESET pads that when bridged (RAM out) upon power ON would reset the BIOS and you were 'in like Flynn' !  :-DD
Straight into BIOS was the next move and disable the bloody fingerprint reader and it's been good for years.  ;D

OP, do some homework and find the BIOS reset procedure for this MOBO and you should be good to go !
Avid Rabid Hobbyist.
Some stuff seen @ Siglent HQ cannot be shared.
 

Offline Ampera

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2018, 07:41:20 am »
Why the hell is a Windows 7 machine wanting a floppy disk? :wtf:

Quote
If it's a bios or hard drive password... ouch!
If it's a BIOS password...just pull the pin. :palm: Or the battery if you have to (if it's soldered you'll have to cut it).

Windows 7 has an interesting "password reset disk"

It's, from what I gather, just a physical key that allows you to reset your password if you forget it.
I forget who I am sometimes, but then I remember that it's probably not worth remembering.
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Offline senso

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #13 on: February 16, 2018, 02:47:04 pm »
Or just nuke it and do a fresh install, either with a DVD or a bootable USB pen.

Or grab one of the many Windows PE images, boot to that, create a new Admin account and its done, or boot with a dvd/pen with install media, repair, open a prompt and create a new Admin account.

Win is SOOOO easy to bypass, Win10 with Hello and whatnot?

PE boot, new Admin account, done, easy.
 

Offline Ampera

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #14 on: February 16, 2018, 02:49:39 pm »
Nobody in their right mind relies on anything near the NT kernel for real security.

Anything secure is done using the Unix family.
I forget who I am sometimes, but then I remember that it's probably not worth remembering.
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Offline Terry01Topic starter

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #15 on: February 16, 2018, 07:50:47 pm »
Ok i am in!  :-+

I followed one of the Youtube videos and it worked no problem! I have to sort the virus now and get it cleaned up and working!

My Mrs owned up to "downloading" one of the things "a guy at work" told her to do to get free music! I have found a bittorrent so far that was really slowing it down. I'm by no means a whizz! I do know how to clean it up and have it run faster but that's as far as my software knowledge goes! I'll dodge away with it and no doubt be on here again asking how do I do this or that or whatever till you guys get fed up with me asking silly questions  |O

Thank you everyone for the help so far! Much appreciated!!  :)
Sparks and Smoke means i'm nearly there!
 
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Offline theleakydiode

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #16 on: February 16, 2018, 08:12:02 pm »
Which method did you use?
 

Offline Terry01Topic starter

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #17 on: February 16, 2018, 08:22:09 pm »
Windows 7 password I think. I forced a shutdown by pressing and holding the power button while it was shutting down. I then started windows using "start up repair" then changed a couple of settings and it was fairly straight forward. Just followed the YouTube video and it's done.

Easy!   :)   Well easy now I know how!
Sparks and Smoke means i'm nearly there!
 

Offline PA0PBZ

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #18 on: February 16, 2018, 08:57:05 pm »
Basically it is:

 - start with a recovery or install disk and get to a cmd prompt.
 - copy cmd.exe over sethc.exe in windows\system32 (copy sethc.exe to sethc.bak first if you want to reverse)
 - start windows normally, and on the login screen activate High Contrast mode either by tapping shift 5 times or clicking the icon.
 - voila, there is your admin cmd prompt. use net user <username> <new password> to set a new password.
 - fix the sethc.exe if you feel like it.
 - enjoy
« Last Edit: February 16, 2018, 09:00:26 pm by PA0PBZ »
Keyboard error: Press F1 to continue.
 
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Offline theleakydiode

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2018, 09:17:25 pm »
How does shit like this get past quality control? Think MS knew about it at launch?
 

Offline CNe7532294

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #20 on: February 16, 2018, 09:48:15 pm »
Unless you encrypted your HDD or SSD (most people even some businesses don't even do this!) you can just simply swap your drive to another computer via USB or SATA slave and recover your files and programs. I scared my boss at a small business when I could easily recover patient files/test results no problem. As for booting without a password someone mentioned that up above.
 

Offline sokoloff

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #21 on: February 16, 2018, 10:24:26 pm »
How does shit like this get past quality control? Think MS knew about it at launch?
:-// If your drive isn't encrypted and you spot an attacker physical control over the machine, it's game over for any OS...
This isn't (just) a Windows thing.
 

Offline Terry01Topic starter

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #22 on: February 16, 2018, 10:47:02 pm »
It was pretty easy to follow and worked 1st time no problems.

Everything on the machine must be well out of date as it keeps saying "certificates are out of date" or "not trusted" for things like google and sites that are clearly ok.
I haven't worked out how to get around this yet but I will. I've just been making an "exception" and it's been working fine. I'm well chuffed it's going again!  :-+

Sparks and Smoke means i'm nearly there!
 

Offline RayRay

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #23 on: February 16, 2018, 11:08:02 pm »
That is likely due to improper date/time settings!
Make sure they're set correctly.
 

Offline Cyberdragon

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Re: Forgotten password on old laptop. Help
« Reply #24 on: February 16, 2018, 11:09:24 pm »
That is likely due to improper date/time settings!
Make sure they're set correctly.

Yep, chrome [insert browser here] is stupid like that...
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
Voltamort strikes again!
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