Disable windows logon!!!?

pobrien31

pobrien31

Geek Trainee
Hi All,

Just received a new laptop at work. My old one is a toshiba satellite 4080 xcdt running windows 98. I've been told to keep it as depreciation wise it has been written off - nice one!!!

Anyway, I've removed the network card and switched it on, however it is still asking for a usename and logon. I want to use this at home as a stand alone - can I disable or get past this logon screen, the problem is I no longer know the password for this machine.

Any and all help gratefully appreciated.

Regards,

Pat.
 
I am a bit confused, you say it is your own but you do not have the password? How did you log-on untill now? I think you should be able to use the user name and password you used untill now, even off the network.
That's how it works in my firm.

More to the point, if you can, re-install Windows.
depending on the spec of the laptop, you might even be able to run XP.

The installation you have is for network use and has many features which are completely useless to you in stand alone. Also even if you tried to boot into safe mode you still need some sort of log-on password.

If it was me, unless you have any data you would like to keep, trash the windows installation and start over.
 
If you've received the laptop from somewhere else, then you should format and reinstall the OS to start fresh.
 
Addis said:
If you've received the laptop from somewhere else, then you should format and reinstall the OS to start fresh.
Click to expand...

Agreed. You don't know what's on there, much less if you have the discs for any programs that require one. Personally, I'd wipe free computer anyway, and start with a clean slate. There may be problems that aren't worth trying to fix and would be worth a few hours to reinstall windows and install any necessary drivers. Putting Windows 2000 on it (assuming you've got 128MB of RAM or more in the thing and a decent speed CPU), would be my suggestion. Either way, I'd check to see if you'd need to download any device drivers from Toshiba's site and burn them to CD.

There are some free tools around that you'd be able to do this with, but I forget the names of them at the moment. Anti-Trend knows of one really good one, but the name escapes me at the moment.
 
Hi, thanks for the replies so far.

I guess I didn't explain myself very well. The old laptop was mine to begin with, but I have sinced been given a new one. I was going to hand the old one back, but as the depreciation cost was at zero, the only thing IT would have done with it would be to scrap it. So I was told to keep it and do with it as I please.

The thing is the company I work has changed ownership and the IT is now based in france. As a result they have all new servers and adresses etc..

I now have a new username and domain to log on to. I did try my old username and password but was not accepted by the old laptop. As I say I removed the PCMCIA network card and rebooted but it still asked for my username and password. I thought I could just cancel through this and still be taken to the desktop, but no joy, it keeps asking for the user name and password.

Thanks again.

Patrick.
 
If you are not in a rush id use this http://www.loginrecovery.net Ive used it before and its great if you have a spare 48 hours to wait for them to allow you to have the passwords for free.
Or on boot up press F8 to get into boot options and choose safe mode, providing theres no password on the administrator account it will boot into that allowing you to change/ delete passwords and delete the logon screen.
 
There is no need to strongarm the password, as he doesn't want to know it but to change it. Although I do recommend a reinstall if possible, you can download NT Password Changer and give that a whirl. Just boot to it, follow the on-screen directions, and remove the password on the administrator account. Once you've rebooted, the admin password should be clear so you can login and make the appropriate changes.
 
he's running 98 AT, as far as i know 98 didnt use SAM to store passwords, like NT does :P

Is this a WINDOWS logon, or a 3rd party logon such as novell?
 
publicenemyno968 said:
he's running 98 AT, as far as i know 98 didnt use SAM to store passwords, like NT does :P

Is this a WINDOWS logon, or a 3rd party logon such as novell?
Click to expand...
Oops, I could've sworn I read WIndows 2000! Sorry. Yeah, if it's 98 it definately needs to be reinstalled anyway just because of the FAT32 if nothing else.
 
Maby not, i will have alook around [and edit this post to say yes/no]

ok, HERE is some general info about 9x password security (stored in .pwl files.... pwhahahaahhaha!)

there is a .pwl cracker on the same site [but i cant vouch for its quality/saftey ect]

You are going to save alot of time if you just reinstall windoze, but you can recover the password data (pwl files).

1. set the cd drive to be the first boot device in the bios
2. use a Live Linux CD to copy ALL of the .pwl files on the hard drive accross a network to another computer.
3. use Jack the Ripper to crack the password contained in the files, this might take awhile as it has to try EVERY password combo possible untill it finds it (if you dont understand why, read up about unreversible algorithms)

note: i have never used jack the ripper, but i do know what its for.

[ot]
if there are any computers in your school that use win 9x then they also store the passwords of EVERY user in the school (that has logged into that computer), some guy obtained the admin password by doing this! [trust micro$haft :P]
[/ot]
 
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