Window's XP Pro Question

[Dan Gould]

Long story short, my wife is setting up her new office. About a year ago, a dispute with their former partners let to a settlement that included possession of several work stations with XP Pro installed on them. She'd like to set up the work stations so that part-time employees have a spot they can do their work on as needed, the problem is that no one knows the original user accounts or admin account that were set up on each station.

So - is there anyway to override this "security" problem? Is there a default account name/password she could use to get into these machines?

Thanks in advance.

[Shawn]

Long story short, my wife is setting up her new office. About a year ago, a dispute with their former partners let to a settlement that included possession of several work stations with XP Pro installed on them. She'd like to set up the work stations so that part-time employees have a spot they can do their work on as needed, the problem is that no one knows the original user accounts or admin account that were set up on each station.

So - is there anyway to override this "security" problem? Is there a default account name/password she could use to get into these machines?

Thanks in advance.

Search online, I know there are programs for this very purpose. I've never needed to use one so I'm not personally familiar with any.

Or you can always take the complicated but in many ways beneficial method of wiping the hard drive and doing a fresh install.

[Big Al]

Or you can always take the complicated but in many ways beneficial method of wiping the hard drive and doing a fresh install.

That method gets my vote. Believe me, the benefits outweigh the costs. Does she have the driver discs that came with the computers?

[Dan Gould]

She doesn't have any of the discs that came with the computers.

Like I said, its a long story, suffice to say that fifteen months ago, her partner was partner with two other guys in this mortgage broker business (at that point she was just a broker). They were screwing him left and right, making him pay a disproportionate share of expenses, and when it became apparent that they were getting ready to really screw him, we went and rented a truck one weekend and grabbed everything that Jim had paid for himself, plus office equipment equivalent to what he was owed on the partnership agreement. But they didn't think about needing the discs for the PCs.

[Shawn]

If the machines were purchased from a company with the Windows XP license, you should be able to get replacement install discs, either from them or directly from Microsoft if you can find the Serial number for XP.

[rockefeller center]

Ophcrack LiveCD (450MB .iso at http://downloads.sourceforge.net/ophcrack/...ivecd-1.2.2.iso ). Burn the image and boot from it (ophcrack can also be booted from USB stick - see support/FAQ linked below).

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/support.php

[Dan Gould]

Ophcrack LiveCD (450MB .iso at http://downloads.sourceforge.net/ophcrack/...ivecd-1.2.2.iso ). Burn the image and boot from it (ophcrack can also be booted from USB stick - see support/FAQ linked below).

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/support.php

thanks a lot. After going through the FAQs a bit I think I've figured out how to burn the image and get the PC to boot from the disc drive. I'll let you know if it works.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

After you get in there, it may be worthwhile to check out the E-mail accounts. You may find stuff there that can be used in court to get some money back from the other guys.

Kevin

[Dan Gould]

After you get in there, it may be worthwhile to check out the E-mail accounts. You may find stuff there that can be used in court to get some money back from the other guys.

Kevin

Good thought but the dissolution of the partnership took place later in 2007 and I don't think Jim is too interested in trying to open that can of worms again. Plus these are the work stations of other brokers, not the two dishonest partners, so I doubt there would be anything useful. It was pretty obvious though that the two Latinos were always going to outvote, and screw over as much as possible, the sole Anglo.