Password recovery

jim · 16. Mar 2011, 03:24 PM

My son's brother-in-law has a Vista Home Premium PC and he has all his business files on it. They both live in Northern Ireland while I am in England. Under his own user ID (admin) he has a program from the tax office called HMRCS. In this program are all his business account records etc. His wayward (grown up but pain in the a...) son has somehow got into his account and changed the password for that ID. My son, who is moderately computer literate, with advice from me (who is slightly more computer literate) is trying to recover this situation. What we have done is create a new admin account and copied all the files over to it. This works fine but the HMRCS program just acts as though it has just been installed and the necessary account files (wherever they are) are just not visible. System restore does not go back far enough. I have looked at many programs to recover the original password or uncover the current one but they are all a bit ambiguous. (Recover/reset Windows password, Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, delete password etc. etc.) and are often not clear as to whether we are talking about the main Windows password or a user ID one. I am aware that deleting passwords will make the encrypted files unrecoverable. So, it seems to me that we either need to find where these account files are and copy them over (which seems a bit of a no-no) or we need to find the current password for this ID. Can anyone advise the best method? Easy to understand (so I can talk to my son about it) and without too much hassle. Many of the programs I have found often don't seem to work with various systems or sometimes even corrupt some of the files we want to recover. As these files are for the Tax Office it is crucial we recover them/make the program use them. If we have to buy a commercial program then so be it but would still like advice from anyone who has experience of the best.
Edit: I have given him the full lecture about back up/security etc. etc. but only now does he understand it all.

Anupam · 16. Mar 2011, 03:41 PM

Jim, there are various programs available by which you can recover Windows password. I have not tried any of them, but I have often come across them while surfing. I just searched Google for "Recover Windows Vista Password", and got these pages, which might be helpful to you. One of them is from Microsoft itself.

If these do not serve your purpose, then just repeat the above search at your end. But, I think these links should serve your purpose.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ndows-password

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolso...ssrecovery.htm

http://www.geckoandfly.com/1842/how-...ogin-password/

http://4sysops.com/archives/three-wa...dmin-password/

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/0...staxp20032knt/

You might have to read them carefully first though.

jim · 16. Mar 2011, 05:39 PM

Thanks Anupam but I have already looked at these (and others) and have not gone ahead with them due to the possible problems as I have said above and as mentioned as possible in their reviews. That is why I have posted here asking for tried and tested suggestions. We cannot afford to lose any of these files.

garth · 16. Mar 2011, 05:51 PM

Have you tried this?
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Ophcrack

Anupam · 16. Mar 2011, 06:23 PM

Jim, you would be very lucky, if someone here posts about a tried and tested solution... because this situation is not very common. I think you should try posting on other forums like techguy.org, which are heavily populated with members, and so there are more chances of finding someone who has done this before.

But, even if someone posts about a tried and tested solution, there is always the risk of having some problems, because of some reason or other. I think you have created an alternative admin account? If yes, then maybe you should image the hard disk, as a security measure, if you haven't already done so.

jim · 16. Mar 2011, 07:58 PM

Garth - Yes thanks. That is the main one we are thinking of trying.

Anupam - Thanks. Am already asking elsewhere. As I said, my son and his brother-in-law both live in Ireland so I can't be there to physically help. However, I have already recommended that the disk is imaged first before doing anything and have made recommendations as to what programs to use.

J_L · 17. Mar 2011, 12:03 AM

I recommend: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

1002richards · 17. Mar 2011, 10:09 AM

Hi Jim,
You say "a program from the tax office called HMRCS." Have you contacted them to see if they know of any work-arounds?

Richard

jim · 17. Mar 2011, 10:20 AM

I suggested that to him but apparently he would rather we try to sort it first. I think he is worried they may think he is trying to work some sort of tax fraud.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.

16. Mar 2011, 03:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	Password recovery My son's brother-in-law has a Vista Home Premium PC and he has all his business files on it. They both live in Northern Ireland while I am in England. Under his own user ID (admin) he has a program from the tax office called HMRCS. In this program are all his business account records etc. His wayward (grown up but pain in the a...) son has somehow got into his account and changed the password for that ID. My son, who is moderately computer literate, with advice from me (who is slightly more computer literate) is trying to recover this situation. What we have done is create a new admin account and copied all the files over to it. This works fine but the HMRCS program just acts as though it has just been installed and the necessary account files (wherever they are) are just not visible. System restore does not go back far enough. I have looked at many programs to recover the original password or uncover the current one but they are all a bit ambiguous. (Recover/reset Windows password, Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, delete password etc. etc.) and are often not clear as to whether we are talking about the main Windows password or a user ID one. I am aware that deleting passwords will make the encrypted files unrecoverable. So, it seems to me that we either need to find where these account files are and copy them over (which seems a bit of a no-no) or we need to find the current password for this ID. Can anyone advise the best method? Easy to understand (so I can talk to my son about it) and without too much hassle. Many of the programs I have found often don't seem to work with various systems or sometimes even corrupt some of the files we want to recover. As these files are for the Tax Office it is crucial we recover them/make the program use them. If we have to buy a commercial program then so be it but would still like advice from anyone who has experience of the best. Edit: I have given him the full lecture about back up/security etc. etc. but only now does he understand it all.

16. Mar 2011, 03:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Jim, there are various programs available by which you can recover Windows password. I have not tried any of them, but I have often come across them while surfing. I just searched Google for "Recover Windows Vista Password", and got these pages, which might be helpful to you. One of them is from Microsoft itself. If these do not serve your purpose, then just repeat the above search at your end. But, I think these links should serve your purpose. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ndows-password http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolso...ssrecovery.htm http://www.geckoandfly.com/1842/how-...ogin-password/ http://4sysops.com/archives/three-wa...dmin-password/ http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/0...staxp20032knt/ You might have to read them carefully first though. __________________ Anupam

16. Mar 2011, 05:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
garth Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Here. Posts: 1,451	Have you tried this? http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/ https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Ophcrack __________________ garth

16. Mar 2011, 06:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Jim, you would be very lucky, if someone here posts about a tried and tested solution... because this situation is not very common. I think you should try posting on other forums like techguy.org, which are heavily populated with members, and so there are more chances of finding someone who has done this before. But, even if someone posts about a tried and tested solution, there is always the risk of having some problems, because of some reason or other. I think you have created an alternative admin account? If yes, then maybe you should image the hard disk, as a security measure, if you haven't already done so. __________________ Anupam

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16. Mar 2011, 05:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	Thanks Anupam but I have already looked at these (and others) and have not gone ahead with them due to the possible problems as I have said above and as mentioned as possible in their reviews. That is why I have posted here asking for tried and tested suggestions. We cannot afford to lose any of these files.

16. Mar 2011, 07:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	Garth - Yes thanks. That is the main one we are thinking of trying. Anupam - Thanks. Am already asking elsewhere. As I said, my son and his brother-in-law both live in Ireland so I can't be there to physically help. However, I have already recommended that the disk is imaged first before doing anything and have made recommendations as to what programs to use.

17. Mar 2011, 12:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	I recommend: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

17. Mar 2011, 10:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
1002richards Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sussex, UK. Posts: 167	Hi Jim, You say "a program from the tax office called HMRCS." Have you contacted them to see if they know of any work-arounds? Richard

17. Mar 2011, 10:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	I suggested that to him but apparently he would rather we try to sort it first. I think he is worried they may think he is trying to work some sort of tax fraud. Thanks to all for the suggestions.