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Author Topic: Boneheaded XP Question  (Read 2195 times)

S. Williamson

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Boneheaded XP Question
« on: January 16, 2010, 05:29:19 PM »
So my old laptop is being donated.  For the record, it's a Dell Inspiron 4150, bone-stock except for an integrated wireless card and 1GB RAM that I added in a couple of years ago.  Runs fine, except...

I have completely forgotten the login info.  Username and password.  It's an oversized paperweight with pretty lights until I get access to it again.

Aside from stealing Peabody's WayBack Machine and/or installing a memory pgrade in my own brain, how do I get back on this thing with full admin access?  Old accounts/ info are unnecessary and can be deleted, if it helps.  =(
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"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
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bedlamite

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2010, 05:33:28 PM »
Somebody's gonna anyway, so we might as well get it over with now.

http://www.ubuntu.com/
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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2010, 05:35:41 PM »
Download a copy of the Ophcrack iso and burn it to a CD.  It's a neat little tool, a freebie, self-booting, and will find most usernames and passwords on a WinXP installation.
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S. Williamson

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2010, 05:36:09 PM »
Quote from: bedlamite on January 16, 2010, 05:33:28 PM
Somebody's gonna anyway, so we might as well get it over with now.

http://www.ubuntu.com/
Can't.  Computer has to be usable afterwards.

Quote
Download a copy of the Ophcrack iso and burn it to a CD.  It's a neat little tool, a freebie, self-booting, and will find most usernames and passwords on a WinXP installation.

Another site lauded its performance as well, and I'm already 357 out of the 416 megabyte-download done.  =)
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"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No, that's where it all falls apart I'm afraid. Pity, it sounds like quite a nice lifestyle otherwise."
-Douglas Adams

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2010, 05:38:40 PM »
Or, if you have access to a WinXP OEM install CD, just reinstall Windows using the CoA product key on the bottom of the laptop.  You can download the correct drivers from Dell's support website using the service tag number on another sticker on the bottom.
Boot from the CD, reformat the hard drive to NTFS, and install away.  You'll be back on the rig pretty quickly.
(I have the exact same laptop, by the way.  Not a bad little rig for it's time.)
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If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

S. Williamson

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2010, 05:43:57 PM »
Quote from: RocketMan on January 16, 2010, 05:38:40 PM
Or, if you have access to a WinXP OEM install CD, just reinstall Windows using the CoA product key on the bottom of the laptop.  You can download the correct drivers from Dell's support website using the service tag number on another sticker on the bottom.
Boot from the CD, reformat the hard drive to NTFS, and install away.  You'll be back on the rig pretty quickly.
(I have the exact same laptop, by the way.  Not a bad little rig for it's time.)
Many times in the past I have wished for the XP OEM CD.  I have never had one and have had many, many instances where I wish I did.  =(
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"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No, that's where it all falls apart I'm afraid. Pity, it sounds like quite a nice lifestyle otherwise."
-Douglas Adams

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2010, 05:46:40 PM »
Do you have the CD set that came with the laptop?  It should be in there, though it will be in Dell colors, not Microsoft.  And it will be for reinstalling on that laptop.  It won't ask for the product key.
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If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

S. Williamson

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2010, 06:13:46 PM »
All I have is the hardware diagnostic CD.  =(
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"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No, that's where it all falls apart I'm afraid. Pity, it sounds like quite a nice lifestyle otherwise."
-Douglas Adams

InfidelSerf

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2010, 06:17:01 PM »
This is an instance where I would not have any qualms over downloading an OEM copy of XP via a torrent.
You have a legitimate license so your not violating any terms of your conscious.
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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2010, 07:16:37 PM »
A local friendly computer store might make a copy of an OEM CD for you if you can show them the CoA on the bottom of the laptop.
Otherwise, get that copy of Ophcrack.  It usually works in these situations.
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If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

lee n. field

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2010, 10:06:41 PM »
boot safe mode.  log in as administrator.  Chances are real good that the user "administrator" has no password.

Find a buddy with a Winternals CD.  Boot it and use the locksmith utility.

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ubuntu
Can't.  Computer has to be usable afterwards.

What-ever.  There's a way (can't recall any of the details right now.  Google is your fiend (sic)) to crack Windows passwords from a Linux live CD.
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S. Williamson

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2010, 10:30:08 PM »
OphCrack worked amazingly well.  =)

For a Linux CD, that is.  :laugh:  Popped up a list of User IDs and once I saw them I remembered exactly what it was.  Took all of two minutes after I burned the CD.
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"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No, that's where it all falls apart I'm afraid. Pity, it sounds like quite a nice lifestyle otherwise."
-Douglas Adams

RocketMan

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2010, 03:36:26 AM »
Outstanding, Dionysusigma.  Glad to hear you resolved your problem.  Hold on to that CD, as it's a handly little tool to have around.
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If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

Mabs2

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2010, 09:05:04 PM »
Quote from: Dionysusigma on January 16, 2010, 05:36:09 PM
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Go ubuntu lol
Can't.  Computer has to be usable afterwards.
HAHAH
you probably didn't intend for that to be funny, but it sure was.
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Gewehr98

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2010, 09:51:35 PM »
I LOL'ed.   =D
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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #15 on: January 22, 2010, 01:09:33 AM »
Quote from: veloce851 on January 16, 2010, 06:17:01 PM
This is an instance where I would not have any qualms over downloading an OEM copy of XP via a torrent.
You have a legitimate license so your not violating any terms of your conscious.


That is generally considered fine, as MS cares about the license far more than the media.

Come to think of it, Remote Installation services isn't anything but making a copy of the OS installer and putting it on a network......

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Re: Boneheaded XP Question
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2010, 07:39:45 AM »
Quote from: Mabs on January 20, 2010, 09:05:04 PM
Can't.  Computer has to be usable afterwards.

HAHAH
you probably didn't intend for that to be funny, but it sure was.

I found it particularly funny, coming from the guy whose windows system was currently unusable.  But it's ok now since he used linux to fix it.
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