XP user names and passwords....

[DeA7hWiSh]

Where does Windows XP store the user names and passwords? Is there a way to delete them if you forget it. I saw this guy do it one time on a laptop at a store, it looked like he was extracting some files in a black screen, in others words, like restoring files that were on the laptop. Maybe theres another way to do it.

thnx,
DeA7hWiSh

[PilatusInc]

log in as administrator and delete the other users.

[DeA7hWiSh]

What if the password of the administrator is lost too... how would you go around that?

[Nick_B]

Originally posted by DeA7hWiSh
What if the password of the administrator is lost too... how would you go around that?

Third party software is the easiest way. However, this could be expensive. Most of NT/2K/XP's "superiority" over 9x is the increased security. As such, it isn't a very easy task to retreive passwords.

[dreamboi25]

[FONT=times new roman][COLOR=darkblue]In Xp...after changing or making an administrator password account you should always do a back up on a floppy disk...get into your account options and click on whea it says "to prevent a lost password" and it would give you an option of inserting a floopy to extract some files so that next time if you forgot your password..you can always get it back by inserting the floppy at the login screen....

[SkyDog]

Local usernames & passwords are stored in the local SAM (Security Account Management) database. It's located in the %systemroot%\System32\config directory, and is a file named SAM (with no extension).

If you delete the SAM, the system will recreate it, creating an Administrator account with no password. Other accounts will be lost, but you can recreate 'em.

Deleting the SAM is pretty easy if the partition is formatted as FAT or FAT32, since you can do it from a DOS or Win9x boot floppy. But it's a little trickier if your Windows is installed on an NTFS partition.

[cranch]

If you'd like a utility to get to it from a DOS boot disk, give this progie a try (about half-way down the page)

NTFSdos

Should allow you to make a boot disk and read NTFS partitions from it...

[DeA7hWiSh]

Do you know how to do the trick part if its on an NTFS partition? Cuz I have tried every which way... I am trying to figure out how to do it with no cd or utility or whatever just what you got infront of you (NTFS and Windows XP) lol... cuz I have seen a guy do it once...

Another thing is there a way to disable the piece of **** Login Screen that I find very pointless to me cuz im the only one that uses the computer and find it annoying to have to click on my freaking name everytime and crap...