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Change Administrator's Password in Win 2

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14 replies

by wcp

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How do I recover/change forgotten Administrator's password in Win 2K when there is no other account with Admin's right? One method from a recent Tech Republic's article suggets to change Logon.scr to Cmd.exe and use "Net user" command to set new Administrator's password. This method works on Win NT 4.0 but not on Win 2K. Any feedback on this?

14 replies

by joseph moore

Here is my favorite solution to this problem:
Install an alternate copy of Win2K (Pro or Server) on another partition.
Boot up the alternate install.
Use Start / Control Panel / System / Advanced / Startup & Recovery to change the default boot instance to your original install.
In the original WINNT folder, navigate to the \System32 sub-folder.
Save a copy of logon.scr, the default logon screen saver.
Delete logon.scr.
Copy CMD.EXE to logon.scr.
Shutdown and restart your original install.
Wait for the logon screen saver to initiate (15 minutes). It will actually open a CMD prompt, in the security context of the local system account. Don't log in or hit a key or move the mouse during this waiting time.
Type MMC into the command prompt, then File / Add Snap-In and add the Local Users and Groups snap-in for a local login (if it is on a Domain Controller, then add the AD Users and Computers snap-in). Select the Administrator and change the password to whatever you want it to be.
Log in as Administrator.
Delete the logon.scr from %SystemRoot%\System32.
Rename the saved default screen saver back to logon.scr

by wcp

Joseph,
Have you actually tried this? When I did, I got "The following error occurred while attempting to set the password for user Administrator: Access is denied." No dice. I have Win 2K Pro with Service Pack 2.

by wcp

arjun allah,
The e-mail suggested a commercially available software and I KNOW there are some excellent products out there at about $70 and up. I am not expecting this forum to be a commercial one.

by mervzss

Try to boot from an NTFSDOS and delete the SAM file located on your system32\config and afterwards restart your pc then it will come to the default setting of having no password and administrator user.

by wcp

Thanks for your info. The method works.
Need to parallel install a Window 2K if you cannot boot from a NTFSDOS. Need to recretae all user files, their passwords, profiles, and so on.

by chikara89

Here is an article I copied from TechRepublic

I'll have to send it it two messages because of the ength of it.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FORGET YOUR ADMIN PASSWORD, PART 1

With all the information administrators process daily, it's no wonder that passwords are forgotten sometimes. If you choose not to (or can't) assign yourself a new password, you have several options.

First, if you have Windows 2000 installed on a FAT or FAT32 partition, you can use a DOS or Windows 9x boot disk to boot the computer and then delete the SAM file in the \windows\system32\config folder. (This file stores all users and their passwords defined on the local computer; if you delete it, you'll delete all local users with it.) After you restart the machine, you'll be able to use Administrator username with a blank password. NOTE: Remember that you'll lose all user accounts defined on this machine.

If Windows 2000 is installed on an NTFS partition, you have two options--both of which require a bit of work. One option is to use a utility that allows you to read/write on an NTFS partition, such as NTFSDOS from Winternals. You can then use a DOS or Windows 9x bootable floppy to boot the computer and delete the SAM file.

Or you can delete the SAM file from another instance of Windows 2000 if you don't want to fool with old bootable floppies. This requires you to install a temporary instance of Windows 2000 on the same computer and delete the file from there. After you log on to your original installation, you can remove the temporary one.

by chikara89

There's a slightly different method you can try if you don't want to lose all your existing user accounts. By default, Windows 2000 starts a special screen saver (located in Logon.scr) when no one logs on for a certain period of time. If you rename Cmd.exe to Logon.scr, the system will open the command prompt under the system account instead of the screen saver.

Once you get the command prompt, type net user administrator mynewpassword, where mynewpassword is the password you want to assign to the administrator account. You won't have problems copying Cmd.exe to Logon.scr if you have FAT/FAT32, but with NTFS, you'll have to come up with something else (e.g., a new parallel installation of Windows 2000).

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