How to get past Win xp password?

Question

I bought a nice laptop off a local college for a good price. Unfortunately, it has a windows xp log on and I of course do not know it. It has the COA and the registration number. Any way of getting around the password?

Answer 1

here a nice detailed way of taking care of it :)

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305


good luck

Answer 2

There are many downloads that can grant you full access to any NT based machine. The problem is,your copy of WindowsXP is not legal. Microsoft owns that software and the Professor had no right selling you a Microsoft Licensed Product. It is His License, and that License is only transferable with a nod and a $ to Microsoft.
Best thing you can do, replace that Drive with a new one. Or have that Drive Data Wiped. Formatted and put an OS that you own on it.
You will not be allowed to get updates, legally, from Microsoft untill you Buy a Licensed Version of their OS.
I am not anti Microsoft, I am opposed to the law that tghey use to state that if I buy a OS I am allowed to place it on One Computer, and that I have to be tha Main User/Admin of said computer.
Ask the professor what the password is, or heck, your at a college, there are many people around running Linux that can by-pass any password, and no it isnt a Linux Users trick, it is an old UNIX way that people use to use, and still do.
One example, GoToMyPc. Ever seen this work of art? It is a Basic Networking Tool that is built into every Microsoft OS by default.
Ever called a tech support guy in India and he fixed the error from his machine? That is how its done.
The Windows OS by design has this built into it for any number of reasons.

Answer 3

This site provides a tool to recover lost Windows XP passwords. It works for administrator and user accounts, it doesn't change the password just tells you the old one. It works with encrypted files (EFS) and password hashes. It even works if no passwords at all are known for the machine (as long as you have another computer with internet access to view this website with).
http://www.loginrecovery.com/

Beware!!! Resetting a user's or administrator's password on some systems (like Windows XP) might cause data loss, especially EFS-encrypted files and saved passwords from within Internet Explorer. To protect yourself against EFS-encrypted files loss you should always export your Private and Public key, along with the keys for the Recovery Agent user. The program above is one of the few I know that does not do a reset, it just tells you what it is.

Answer 4

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. The only way to reset your windows password 100% safe is to use a software called Reset Password Pro.

The software allows you to create a boot-disk, that can be made on a CD/DVD or USB stick. The boot-disk can then be inserted into any locked machine, and it's a simple case of pressing reset. Here is their official site: http://www.resetwindowspass.com

Answer 5

It might sound unsettling but there are a number of ways to bypass Windows XP passwords. There are 2 solutions i recommend you try:

1. "How to Break Into a Password Protected Windows XP" -- written by wikihow.com (http://www.wikihow.com/Break-Into-a-Password-Protected-Windows-XP)

2. "How to hack a Administrator password" -- written by twomadgeeks.com (http://www.twomadgeeks.com/tech/?p=1438)

Option 1:

Here are two simple ways to access Windows with Administrator rights and privileges if:
You have password protected your Windows XP system and can't remember the password(s) to login regularly.
You've forgotten the password to an Administrator account and have lost the ability to change any of the vital system settings.
Steps
The first method is incredibly easy. Whenever Windows XP is installed on a system, it creates a default administrator account called "Administrator" and by default this account is not password protected. Therefore, if you bought a brand name computer (such as Dell, HP, Compaq or Sony) or installed Windows XP yourself, you should be able to login to the computer through the unprotected Administrator account.
The previous author wrote the login to the unprotected Administratior account is normally accessible only through safe mode, but this is not correct. If the computer utilizes the welcome screen instead of the standard NT domain logon prompt, you can press Ctrl + Alt + Del twice to get to the logon prompt. You can access the Administrator account through the logon prompt without logging into safe mode. If the target system does not use the welcome screen or you cannot log off, continue following these steps. **NOTE** This is not only true if you are running Windows XP Professional Edition. Windows XP Home Edition will also allow you to use this method to log on.**
Reboot your machine. Before the Windows Boot screen appears, press F8. Do not press F5 used on the NT/9x series of Windows. You will be be prompted with a boot options menu.
Select the "Boot Windows in Safe Mode" option.
After several screens this should bring you to the familiar 'Welcome' screen, except the colors will be reduced to 256 colors and 640x480 resolution because the primary graphics will have been set to the Windows Safe Mode software VGA adapter. You will not be able to change this mode even in Display options, while Windows is running in Safe Mode.
The 'Welcome' screen might display some of the users you had configured on your system, but most importantly it should display an icon for the user "Administrator". If the default settings of your system haven't been changed, there should be no password for this account.
Login and Press 'No' at the prompt, asking if you would like to continue using System Restore Mode and continue on to the User Settings in your control panel. Here you can change any of the other passwords for any other user on the account.
Make the changes you want and then reboot your computer. As long as you don't press any keys (i.e. F8) during the boot-up this time, the computer will boot normally. You can then login as the User for which you set the password..


Tips
Some users are smart enough to password protect their Administrator account when they install windows. If that's the case, you'll have to know THAT password in order for this method to work.
Note there is a way to crack the windows "SAM" and system files to retrieve the original passwords you've forgotten. But this process is a little more complicated and isn't always succesfull based on the complexity of the password you're trying to retrieve.
you can always use SysInternals ERD Commandor to change the admin password if you do not know it! just boot from the cd and select the "lock smith" option to change whatever user's password you want to.


Warnings
Use these instructions for ethical purposes only, please. Accessing Windows Administrator and changing passwords could be construed as illegal entry and electronic trespass in a court of law.

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Option 2

Log in and go to your DOS command prompt and enter these commands exactly:

cd\
cd\windows\system32
mkdir temphack
copy logon.scr
temphack\logon.scr
copy cmd.exe
temphack\cmd.exe
del logon.scr
rename cmd.exe logon.scr
exit

So what you just told windows to backup is the command program and the screen saver file. Then you edited the settings so when windows loads the screen saver, you will get an unprotected dos prompt without logging in. When this appears enter this command that’s in parenthesis (net user password). So if the admin user name is Doug and you want the password 1234 then you would enter “net user Doug 1234″ and now you’ve changed the admin password to 1234. Log in, do what you want to do, copy the contents of temphack back into system32 to cover your tracks.

Answer 6

Do you have the XP installation CD? I have heard there is a application on it, to reset the password.

Answer 7

Try Telling it cancel when it asks you for a password.