Admin Account Locked....

[konradjohn]

OS - Windows XP Pro

I have a computer at a remote site that the system administrator password is locked. Could this problem be fixed remotely? Either way how can I resolve this problem?

-Konrad

 

[JDMnAR1]

Is the machine a member of a domain? Are there other accounts in the local Administrators group on the machine?

 

[Alienwho]

Assuming the password is under 15 characters, download a copy of the ophcrack bootable cd. Pop that sucker in and wait for it to work its magic.

 

[konradjohn]

No its not a member of any domain and there are no other admin accounts on this pc.

 

[konradjohn]

Can this bootable disc work with remote desktop? Do you have to be at the computer to preform this operation?

 

[JDMnAR1]

Originally posted by: konradjohn
No its not a member of any domain and there are no other admin accounts on this pc.

Well that limits you signifiantly. All the tools that I am familiar with that don't rely on another account having sufficient rights to the machine require physical access to the problematic machine.

 

[konradjohn]

Well if that?s the case what I could to mitigate an issue like this from happening again?

 

[TheKub]

I am not aware of anything that you can use remotely, but like others have said there are several options for using bootable CDs.

 

[Crusty]

Get the machine on your domain OR set all the admin passwords by hand.

 

[JDMnAR1]

Barring adding them to a domain, add a second local admin account on each and every machine you are responsible for supporting with a common password available only to your support staff.

 

[konradjohn]

1. Have two admin passwords per each computer. One for IT professionals and one for local admin.
2. Having them on a domain where I have overall admin rights to all the computers under that domain.

Does this sound right to you guys or should there be more steps to add?

 

[Crusty]

If the computer is on a Domain there should only be a Local Administrator password, one that nobody but IT knows. If someone needs Local Admin rights use GPO or the Local Security Settings on the computer to give them Admin Rights.

 

[imported_snikt]

If you add the workstation to your domain then you'll only need one Local Admin account. Support staff with Domain Admin rights will still be able to manage the workstation. By default Domain Admins are part of the Local Admins group.