Problem with my Dad's work comp

[PunDogg]

Hey guys,
I have this problem which i caused. My dad had brought his comp home and wanted to hook into my network and use cable internet i have at home. We have a modem with a linksys router with a 4 port switch. I went in and changed the network props from domain to workgroup(which i shouldn;t have) and then i restarted. When windows came up again it was asking for a user name and password, and because it was off the domain my dad's work user name and password didn;t work. So we tried a number of things none have worked soo far, ohh by the way it is a Win 2000 machine. What should i do. SHould i just have my dad's comapany IT guys help him out on monday. Is there anyway to get into this machine, that i am not seeing???
Thanks
PunDogg

 

[mechBgon]

If he knew the machine's local Administrator password, then he could bypass it by clicking Options at the log-on screen and choosing the machine's name in the Domain box, rather than the work domain's name. If not, hold out until Monday.

 

[sgopal2]

You shouldn't have messed with the network settings.

I did the same thing once on my work laptop and had to get the dang thing re-imaged because the tech guys didn't know the admin password either.

I know of no way to bypass logon unless you have admin privileges on that laptop.

 

[TheCorm]

One of our clients was moving offices....they wanted to have a small workgroup at the old office, so I changed one machine from Domain to Workgroup first...and bam....same thing happened....Upgraded the PC from NT4 to Windows 2000 and used the Administrator password.

Like people have said....if you don't know the password then you are stumped....your dad's IT guys will likely have the same sticky issue!

Reinstalling "may" work if it allows you to type an Administrator password....or leave blank so there is no password.

Corm

 

[DJFuji]

I don't really understand how people use a computer without knowing the local admin password. That's a bit like using a bank account without remembering your PIN, isn't it? Anyway, you can always try cracking the admin password. There are plenty of resources out there that you can use. I'd say it was a last resort, but if it works, it sure beats reinstalling every freakin program.

 

[Spawndude]

@stake LC3 or 4 has always worked for me.

 

[prosaic]

Am I alone in thinking it's probably not such a good idea for a kid to try to crack the local admin password on his Pop's work notebook? Depends upon policies in force at the office, but this could cause Dad even more trouble than the borked networking. With some employers hacking passwords == no job. Even in the absence of a stringent EUA cracking a password or bypassing it by many methods can cause the IS / IT people a headache. It's probably best to avoid annoying them. I would at least call them for permission for attempting anything of this sort.

- prosaic

 

[tcsenter]

Is there any utility you could use to 'capture' all the settings BEFORE changing it so you could easily restore it later, a utility that outputs all the settings to some kind of reg file or something?

 

[tcsenter]

bump for my question

 

[madwolf]

I've used this to hack into win98 passwords B4. dunno if it would work on 2000 though (I use XP...)

1)when the computer boots keep pressing F8 until you get to a boot screen. (or boot from a floppy)
2)Select boot in DOS.
3)Get yourself into the windows folder by typing "cd windows" (without the "")
4)next type "dir *.pwl". This will display the login password files.
5)after you found out the one thats yours (or anyone elses you want to get into) type ren username.pwl adn rename it wiht a differant extension: that way u can back it up.
6)Reboot the computer
7)When you have to login, put in the username you deleted, and enter the password you choose.
8)The computer will ask to confirm the password: do, and away you go...



Agree with the above posts though, you may get into more trouble than if you just 'come clean'.

good luck

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: DJ Fuji
I don't really understand how people use a computer without knowing the local admin password. That's a bit like using a bank account without remembering your PIN, isn't it?

if windows is set to assume the same user always logs on, then you never have to bother with setting an admin password, your account is set as a super user or some such, which means youre basically the admin without logging in as admin

i tried to do the exact same thing once on my brothers pc, w2k pro, he had never set an admin password, just let windows assume it was always him on the machine...only i didnt know this, and when i created an account for him and our other bro to network, i could never log back in as the other super user, or as admin...

it didst suck, i tried a workaround, but...i think i did it wrong, and then before i could try again he formatted and reinstalled, oh well

 

[tcsenter]

Is there any utility you could use to 'capture' all the settings BEFORE changing it so you could easily restore it later, a utility that outputs all the settings to some kind of reg file or something?

Ok, so anyone want to write one? heh

 

[DJFuji]

Sorry, i'm just the web app developer. 😉