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Recover W2000 Administrator Password

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by a former member

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Our Systems Administrator recently left us, and we have one computer in payroll that the administrator password was changed, and we do not have it. We have software that requires Administrator privileges and can not load it.

11 replies

by dmiles

To successfully reset the local administrator's password on Windows NT and some versions of Windows 2000 follow these steps:

Install an alternate copy of Windows NT or Windows 2000.

You must install this instance of NT/2000 on a different folder than WINNT, otherwise you'll end up with the same bad situation. Use ALTWINNT for example.

It is best that you install the alternate instance of the OS into a different partition than the one you have your original installation. You'll delete this folder anyway, and it's best that you just format that partition after you're done. Formatting the partition will be much easier than deleting individual files and folders.

Also, if you lost your password on NT - install a new instance of NT, not Windows 2000, as doing so will ruin your old NT installation (because of the difference between the NTFS versions). Same goes for W2K, XP and Windows Server 2003. Always install the same OS.

by dmiles

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd

This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 system, by modifying the encrypted password in the registry's SAM file.

You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.

It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppy disk or CD. The boot-disk includes stuff to access NTFS partitions and scripts to glue the whole thing together.

Works with syskey (no need to turn it off, but you can if you have lost the key)

Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!

Caution: If used on users that have EFS encrypted files, and the system is XP or later service packs on W2K, all encrypted files for that user will be UNREADABLE! and cannot be recovered unless you remember the old password again!

by bschaettle

uh, I know this sounds sorta simple, but did anyone try calling this person and asking what the password is? If they're willfully withholding it, it's probably worthwhile to have your attorney send them a threatening letter.

by Former member

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