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SVT_Tactical View Drop Down
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Chief Sackscratch

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    Posted: April/05/2012 at 11:42
So my sister in law has a gateway laptop, she set herself up on it as the administrator and has a password.  She can't remember it now.  I tried last night downloading the free OPHCrack software but could never get it to work when i used it in her computer.  I do have the BIOS menu setup to run from CD/DVD first.  Any of yall have a disk that you know works? OP is Windows Vista.  I also tried to disconnect the battery and then remove the smaller watch battery under the keyboard, that seemed to only affect the BIOS menu password if there was one.  Any advice?
"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scooter65 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/05/2012 at 11:56
Desktops aren't my speciality but try booting from a bootable cd or recovery disks and perform a repair.  Maybe it will let you reset the admin password again.  I'm also not all that Vista knowledgable.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/05/2012 at 12:24
I'm not to computer savvy but you can replace the sister in-law and it will fix the problem.

P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BeltFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 12:35
I have a 12lb sledge hammer you can borrow.
Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scooter65 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 12:37
Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

I'm not to computer savvy but you can replace the sister in-law and it will fix the problem.

 
and thats why the call him 'bigdaddy'
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jonoMT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 12:51
There is a way to create a Linux boot disk that will reset a password on a Windows install. It worked for XP when I had to do it once. But I don't know if that would apply to Vista.
Reaction time is a factor...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 12:58
Vista is a new animal with new "security".  I think your only way out is to do a complete system reset from the original disk, reimage, which means that you will probably lose everything not backed up.  We just recently moved to Vista and I have not spent a lot of time exploring it because we will soon move to Windows 7... However, loss of the admin password is killer, from my limited understanding of Vista.  
We waited until Win7 came out to "upgrade" to Vista, have spent a few months with it and soon moving to Win7.  I just couldn't see the point in investing a lot of time learning Vista for such a short use.  Sorry.  Maybe Monday I can ask one of the network guys, if you want to wait that long.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 13:13
I wouldn't just wipe it.  You may be able to get the data off the hard drive by putting the hard drive in another computer.  I have found with Vista and 7 that even if the other computer had a password if you have admin rights on the 7 machine you are using it will allow you to access all the files.  That way you can get any pictures, music and other documents she may have had.  
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 13:15
You also have the option of booting to safe mode and using the built in admin account.  This will work as long as she did not set a password on that account also, most home users dont as they do not know the account is even there.  If not then you can just delete or reset her password from that built in account.  

Edited by supertool73 - April/06/2012 at 13:25
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 13:18
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 14:31
Some of those things do not work or work well, some require upfront configuration (which i'll bet did not happen), some are not well explained and could cause destruction of files...

The best bet, if you want to try to keep all your files, is try to read or get the disk read and downloaded to a backup.  Then wipe the machine and make sure you keep the new admin password in a safe place.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 15:23
Did you try them all Dan?  Reformatting should be the last resort.  That is why all those steps were in that order, like a check list.
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BeltFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 15:33
Maybe Dan has some C-4 left over.
Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lucytuma Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 17:07
Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

I'm not to computer savvy but you can replace the sister in-law and it will fix the problem.
Too funny!
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 18:16
Originally posted by supertool73 supertool73 wrote:

Did you try them all Dan?  Reformatting should be the last resort.  That is why all those steps were in that order, like a check list.

I was saying that your suggestion of backing everything up and THEN reimaging was the best solution.  No, I have not TRIED them all, don't want to.  A number of those "suggestions" lead to potentially "fatal" results in that they will not save anything.  In Information Assurance (IA) the primary rule, as with medicine, is "first, do no harm"...   I tend toward those things that are better known, less susceptible to loss of data/information.  I back up everything daily, so I never have to guess what might happen in a "worst case scenario".  I thought your suggestion to get the disk copied and THEN try other options was excellent.  Are you telling me that is not what you meant???
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/06/2012 at 19:32
I meant no offense dan just questioning your comments. Building and managing desktops is most of my job. I have built several hundred of them and deal with this tupe of problem often. So i have quite a bit of experience here

The data will still be there even if u mess up the os. It will always be there unless u format the drive or the drive fails. Most times even when it is formatted u can still recover the data.

I have used probably half of those ways and they work pretty well at times.   

I am saying try other ways first before a reinstall. Backing up definitley being one of them. Depending upon how the comp was set up he may not getthe data with out cracking the password. Wiping and reinstalling will for sure ruin the data with no chance of recovery. Wiping should be the last resort.
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/07/2012 at 11:09
Upgrading to Windows 7 would be my suggestion.

Dealing with Vista is kinda like hemorrhoids: not lethal threatening, but painful and frustrating.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/07/2012 at 20:27
Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

I'm not to computer savvy but you can replace the sister in-law and it will fix the problem.

 
 
BigDaddy is my kind of guy.  Define the problem and he comes up with a workable solution.  No problemo, señor.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8shots Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/10/2012 at 05:57
Leave it in the local Walmart.....call the security and tell them you saw a suspicious looking fella leave it behind. They will call the FBI who will crack the password, find your sister-in-law, interrogate her for a while and then release her..... and all is solved.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/10/2012 at 08:12
Finally got it with a boot disk set to clear passwords.  Took a while and tried several different things but this was the only one that worked.  I youtubed the instructions and it walked me through it once I had the disk.
nt password & registry editor - this is the program I used
"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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