   Help! I failed Computer Sense 101!
  My Mom's computer is an Emachines with XP installed by the manufacturer(one account).  She is not savvy enough, in my opinion(irony approaching!), so I decided to create an admin account and change the default account to 'limited'.  I forgot the admin password however and didn't write it down.  She only uses it for e-mail and browsing so it isn't a problem at the moment.  I have the recovery discs for the machine but I doubt they'll reinstall Windows.  So can I do nothing or perhaps I should just install FreeBSD?   
  You could try L0phtcrack, and other password cracking tools. Chances are one of them works not exactly sure, never had an "Emachines." Just hope your password is ideally below 8 characters in length. On another note, if you think you know your password and it keeps saying it is wrong, try the caps lock key.   ;  I believe you can use the command console to change passwords for user accounts in Windows XP. I've looked around and can't find the commands nor can I remember them, so hopefully someone else here will. I think they start with "netuser" if that rings a bell...   ;  Nilkn is correct.net user <username> <password>It will create a new account under admin priveleges.But, the problem is that you need the admin account to get the recovery console.  There is a way to bypass that and get full access to the recovery console without a password, but I'm not sure posting that here is the best idea.  (Just Google it.  XP isn't all that hard to retrieve passwords).   ;Look hereDownload the exe.Run it.Get the disk and put on computer.Change admin password.Can it be easier?From,Nice coder   ;Quote:Original post by Nice CoderLook hereBeat me to it.   ;Quote:Original post by Nice CoderLook hereDownload the exe.Run it.Get the disk and put on computer.Change admin password.Can it be easier?From,Nice coderHoly crap, that's scary...   ;Quote:Original post by jfclavetteQuote:Original post by Nice CoderLook hereDownload the exe.Run it.Get the disk and put on computer.Change admin password.Can it be easier?From,Nice coderHoly crap, that's scary...Not all that suprising if you think about it.They already have physical access to the machine and can read/write whatever file they want. Install keyloggers, change information, whatever. If you don't want that, put a padlock on your computer case :).   ;Quote:Original post by googlyeyesQuote:Original post by jfclavetteQuote:Original post by Nice CoderLook hereDownload the exe.Run it.Get the disk and put on computer.Change admin password.Can it be easier?From,Nice coderHoly crap, that's scary...Not all that suprising if you think about it.Yes, it is surprising.Quote:They already have physical access to the machine and can read/write whatever file they want. Install keyloggers, change information, whatever.They can't if they don't have the password.  My files are encrypted.  This website suggest that I can change an account's password without loosing the encrypted files, as if I had just changed my password via the standard utility.  It is scary.Quote:If you don't want that, put a padlock on your computer case :).Well until now, I tough using a password was an option.  It turns it's not an option on Windows systems.   ;  Under UNIX, resetting the admin password is as simple as booting from a boot disk, editing /etc/shadow, and removing the password. The fact that Windows doesn't let you do the same thing by default, forcing you to download a sketchy utility from a sketchy website, is downright silly.   