BS: How to get rid of my password???

Subject: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:29 PM

For some reason which I now cannot even recall, I set up this computer of mine with a password which has to be entered when it boots up. This has turned out to be an unnecessary hassle in various ways. I would now like to get rid of said password, and just have the thing boot up automatically with no password.

So how do I do it?

Simple question, and I'm sure there is a simple answer, isn't there?

But I cannot seem to find it...

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:33 PM

It could be in Windows or in the BIOS. If it's in the BIOS you'll need to enter the setup when the computer boots. If it's in Windows, peek into the Control Panel/Security.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:38 PM

Yeah, I checked control panel and security centre. It doesn't seem to be in there anywhere. How do you "enter the setup when the computer boots"?

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:40 PM

It depends on the computer. Boot 'er up and read the screen -- you'll probably have to push F10 or some other function key. Moving around in the menus is really primitive, too -- so read the instructions CAREFULLY.

Another way is to take your computer apart and remove a certain jumper, but I don't think you want to do that.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:43 PM

Hmm. Okay, I'll see what I can find out here.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:57 PM

If you're using Windows on a PC you have to be the administrator.

Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on or off

I installed a security access program this week to login securely on the network at work and it disabled my ability to switch users and such unless I uninstall that program (I probably will, and will reinstall it when I need it). So I can't trace then entire procedure right now, but that is where it happens, I think.

Also look at the User account types and such for help, in the same screen.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:59 PM

Well, that's odd. I restarted it, went into "setup" and disabled BOTH passwords (supervisor and user...I am both of those). But it STILL wants the damn password anyway! Miserable little mechanical monster... (grumble, grumble)

I will try and sort this out with the local computer guys tomorrow, I guess.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:59 PM

By the way, you're still better off using that password. When my computer was stolen a couple of years ago I had also set everything so it just started when I turned on the computer. So anyone starting it anywhere had access to a heckuva lot of stuff. I changed program access passwords (email, Microsoft Money logon, etc) so those couldn't be opened any more by the old computer, but a lot of other stuff was totally vulnerable.

Food for thought.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 11:07 PM

Yes, I see what you mean. Food for thought indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 03:48 AM

If you're running WinXP, Win2K, WinNT, or Vista, the password is encrypted in a file that you CANNOT GET TO or delete/modify or otherwise affect without essentially destroying the OS. Your BIOS doesnt' know the password and screwing around there is only gonna get you deeper in muck and mire. It is possible to "corrupt" the password file(s) so that nobody can get in if you mess around long enough.

Microsoft policy about lost or forgotten passwords (KB289126)may give you some help with understanding your situation. You obviously don't care what their "policy" is, but the article may help you understand what you're fighting.

You may be able to create a new user, with administrator authority, who uses an "Enter" as a password. (This is essentially having no password for that user, and if the user is "another administrator" (s)he should be able to anything necessary without re-entering a complex password. There is no problem with having more than one Administrator, each with a separate password. At the least, you might give a new administrator a much simpler password than what you're using now(?).

In most systems, Win or otherwise, since an Administrator can create a new Administrator - or a new user with Administrator authority, or elevate an existing (non Administrator) user to Admin authority, the normal procedure is to create a new Administrator with no password. (You'll have to spell "Administrator" differently so that the username is unique, but using eg. your own name would work)

Once you've confirmed that the NEW ADMINISTRATOR actually can do everything an Administrator is supposed to be able to do, you should be able to delete the old Administrator who used a password. If you don't have to log on under the old name to do "Administrator stuff" it probably doesn't matter much whether you delete it, or jut let it lie dormant. You should be able to do all this using "Administration Tools" provided within the OS without resorting to BIOS manipulations.

All clear? - If so come back and explain it to me.

John

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 04:06 AM

If you've lost the administrator password on a WNT/2000 upwards computer, you are stuffed unless you have access to strong cryptographic tools. But all is not lost. Hard drives are cheap these days. Buy a new one. Install your operating system on it from scratch (you might have to jump through a few hoops if you've upgraded or got it pre- installed- borrowing off a friend might be easier).

Then install the old disk as a slave drive- you change a jumper on the back. Now you should see the old drive as a new secondary drive (it came out as E: on mine). You can now copy all your data over to the new drive, and live happily ever after, remembering your password this time.

Another way, if you have plenty of spare space on the drive, is to install Linux as a second operating system. Linux works best if you have (a) a broadband internet connection and (b) an Ethernet DSL modem. This is because you'll probably need to install all sorts of drivers, that come from the internet, to get the system up and running, and obviously you can't install the USB modem friver for the internet connection, cos you haven't got an internet connection till you've installed the drivers, same for WiFi...

Having done that, install an NTFS file system (it usually doesn't come as standard, so broadband again), then access your disk as before. And you'll probably like Linux so much that you won't go back.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 09:41 AM

If you really, really, really need it, I have a couple brute-force password cracking programs (and other things), but I'd have to send them via the postal service.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 10:24 AM

Awww, fer Chrissake...the hell with it.

I will leave the damn thing the way it is, okay?

I have no idea how or when or even why the password was created in the first place (I presume it was back when I bought the computer, right?...I can't remember the details of that day, frankly, I just remember the store and the salesperson.)

John, it isn't that I "don't care what Microsoft's "policy" is".....it's that I am dealing with something here that I simply don't know much about, okay? I just have a computer that I would like to be able to update its virus protection, etc, in the middle of the night (which it frequently does) and be able then to finish rebooting itself without my help.

That's all.

However, I have decided that it's probably better just to put up with it having the password...which I have NOT lost or forgotten!

I AM the frikking administrator, I am the owner, I am the sole user, I paid for this computer....I am the only human being who ever touches this computer.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 10:32 AM

You hope, LH... one of the reasons for NOT logging on as administrator, even when you are the only user, is that if any malware takes control of your account, being logged in as administrator lets them do anything at all to your computer.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 11:12 AM

I see. Okay, who is the administrator then? Normally speaking, I mean, with a privately owned computer?

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 11:16 AM

Exactly. I use the administrator position on this setup, knowing that it is easy for malware to change the registry in this position (except that I have a couple of annoying programs that always ask me about proposed registry changes, and I have to remember where the buttons are because they don't actually quite show up in a readable fashion in Spybot. Someone needs to rework the form so it fits the window). A user with fewer privileges can't change the registry, so malware can't either.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Amos
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 12:33 PM

Jeeze Louise, Hack!! Get an iMac. Why do you even want to fret about registry changes?


A

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: MMario
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 12:37 PM

go into bios setup and turn off the *power on password*

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 03:36 PM

If you're having to use the password to open the program after leaving the computer unattended you can set that easily by doing a right click on the desktop then in the Display Properties dialog box go to Screen Saver. There is a line that says "Wait ___ minutes" (before going to the screen saver) and "On Resume, password protect." Uncheck that box and it won't make you enter your password any time you resume using the computer after the number of minutes you selected for the screen saver. You log on only once, when you turn on the machine.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 09:08 PM

No, the only time I have to use the password is when I turn on the machine...or when it has been restarted (soft boot). It gets restarted sometimes when the virus program gets updated in the middle of the night. I've scheduled it to check for updates every morning at 3 AM.

It's okay, folks, I have decided to live with the password (mainly due to that one bit of advice some time back from Stilly River Sage).

Once again, though, I must ask: Who is the "administrator" if I am not???????????? Chongo swears it isn't him, and this time I believe him. There's no one else but him and me around here capable of administrating anything that has to do with a computer.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 10:51 PM

I, ah, well, I am.

Subject: RE: BS: How to get rid of my password???
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Aug 07 - 09:27 AM

LH, if you really want to get rid of your password I recommend a frontal lobotomy. It worked well for me. I got rid of my passwords and a lot of other things, and so I am a Library Director.