What is the best way to gain access when the password is unknown?

Posted by spoulson on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by spoulson
Published on 2009-04-30T11:33:35Z Indexed on 2010/05/22 2:11 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 296

Filed under:

Windows

|

password

|

hacking

|

recovery

If you were provided a computer running Windows 2000 or newer and you have no passwords, what method do you use to gain access with administrator privileges so you can use the system?

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about Windows

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about password

remember password is not filling the password field automatically

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
IE is not filling the password field automatically when i click on the bookmarked url. But it's working on firefix,chrome etc. I tried with autocomplete="on" but no use. IE will fill the password only When i select a usename from the possible user names which the browser had kept for each login.… >>> More
Lost shell password: change user password from root

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi. I recently accidentally forgot my user password to my shell. I know the root password. How do I change the user password? I figure it's something like $su root $passwd -[something] username but I can't get it to work. Halp pls? >>> More
[GEEK SCHOOL] Network Security 1: Securing User Accounts and Passwords in Windows

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
This How-To Geek School class is intended for people who want to learn more about security when using Windows operating systems. You will learn many principles that will help you have a more secure computing experience and will get the chance to use all the important security tools and features that… >>> More
Membership Generate Password alphanumeric only password?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
How can I use Membership.GeneratePassword to return a password that ONLY contains alpha or numeric characters? The default method will only guarantee a minimum and not a maximum number of non alphanumeric passwords. I have the solution already but thought I'd share for future visitors. .. Answer… >>> More
Password Recovery without sending password via email

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
So, I've been playing with asp:PasswordRecovery and discovered I really don't like it, for several reasons: 1) Alice's password can be reset even without having access to Alice's email. A security question for password resets mitigates this, but does not really satisfy me. 2) Alice's new password… >>> More