Computer Question???

[rdaniell]

Can some of you computer literate folks here at the Outhouse give me some advice? I have a HP "netbook" which my son put password protection on. He has now forgetten the password.

How do I get into BIOS to totally reformat this computer. I got into BIOS once and managed to "screw" things up to where now I have to put in an adminstrator password to even start it. It still opens up requiring another user password. No matter what I try, it doesn't open in the BIOS mode. Of course I'm an idiot when it comes to doing anything other than turning on a computer.

I carried it to Staples but, they want $ 139.00 to reformat it. I called HP tech support. They want $ 59.00 to walk me through the process.

So unless someone here can help me, I have a $ 250.00 useless paper weight.

RD

 

[Dangerousdave26]

What operating system is on it?

 

[rdaniell]

What operating system is on it?

Windows 7 (starter)

 

[Dangerousdave26]

You should be able to break into it fairly easily and not have to reformat it.

You will need to download and install UNetbootin on your PC.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

You will also need an empty USB flash drive. I have a 1 GB one I use for this purpose.

UNentbootin is a tool that allows you to use a boat load of other tools as a bootable USB. The tool I would use to break into the PC is http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

Give me a while to make up some screenshots on how to install it to a USB Thumb drive.

Then I need to try it on my PC this is a tool I have used but I use it so infrequently that I forget how to use it until I need it.

 

[rdaniell]

You should be able to break into it fairly easily and not have to reformat it. You will need to download and install UNetbootin on your PC. http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ You will also need an empty USB flash drive. I have a 1 GB one I use for this purpose. Nentbootin is a tool that allows you to use a boat load of other tools as a bootable USB. The tool I would use to break into the PC is http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
Give me a while to make up some screenshots on how to install it to a USB Thumb drive. Then I need to try it on my PC this is a tool I have used but I use it so infrequently that I forget how to use it until I need it.

Thank You. You must be talking about what it asks for when I get to the opening page with the request for password or reset password. When I click on the reset password, it asks for a usb drive thingy.

In the meantime, I'll be downloading the unetbootin thingy here on this computer.

RD

 

[Dangerousdave26]

No this is a tool or utility that will remove the need to enter the password to log on.

We are actually going to boot to the thumb drive and choose options in the NTPassword program to change the registry.

My suggestion is read everything I post thoroughly then decide if you feel you want to tackle it. If you feel its above your skill level box it up and ship it to me. I will unlock it and ship it back (Georgia is too far away to drive from here ).

Keep in mind you don't have a lot to lose by trying it yourself.

Alright back to work...

 

[rdaniell]

No this is a tool or utility that will remove the need to enter the password to log on. We are actually going to boot to the thumb drive and choose options in the NTPassword program to change the registry. My suggestion is read everything I post thoroughly then decide if you feel you want to tackle it. If you feel its above your skill level box it up and ship it to me. I will unlock it and ship it back (Georgia is too far away to drive from here ). Keep in mind you don't have a lot to lose by trying it yourself. Alright back to work...

I love your sense of humor. You are absolutely correct about not having anything to lose. I'm just happy that you are willing to help me with this. Of course knowing what a klutz I am, I may really screw the pooch. Oh well, it's already just a paper weight.... Since I won't be handling anything with sharp edges, maybe I won't get any blood on it.

RD

 

[glh]

I've done this before and I found a local shop to reformat the drive for me for $35. I do NOT use password protect anymore on my machines for this reason. I store ALL my pertinent data on USB drives so that if a computer is stolen or crashes, the data is not lost with it.

Of course, if you want to password protect yours, now you have learned (the hard way) that it is worthwhile to write down the password and store it in the cookie jar.

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Step 1 create bootable USB Drive

You really want to password protect your PC but that is another post I have been working on for awhile for my blog here at SOH.

The reason you want to password protect your PC is to protect yourself online. Again for another post.

Breaking into the PC with a lost password should cost you nothing and is easy enough to do.

The first thing you want to do is format your USB drive as FAT

Simply right click on the drive in the Computer window and select format.

I name my volume Unlocker so I know what it is for later.

Start the UNetbootin program. It should detect your USB drive. Make sure it has selected the right drive before proceeding to the next step.

In the Select Distribution drop down select NTPassword

UNetbootin will download the latest version of NTPassword and install it on the USB Drive and make it bootable.

When UNetbootin has finished do not select "Reboot Now". Simply Exit

This will create the bootable USB drive that we will use to remove the password.

The program can also do some other functions such as elevate a normal user to Administrator but that will not be necessary in this exercise.

Step 2 will be creation of a test user and has nothing to do with what you want to do but is necessary so I don't pork everything in my PC.

 

[rdaniell]

OK, I have exited the program and waiting for step 2

RD

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Step 2 test user creation

This step is for myself more than anything else. When we run the program we are going to have two options to choose from. The first option will be to Blank the password. The second will be to change the password. Blanking the password is safe to do. Resetting the password will cause the user to lose all their documents in their home directory. For most people trying to do this losing all that data is probably not desirable. For me testing on my Live account seems to be a little too dangerous even for me.

From the start button right click on the Computer shortcut and choose Manage

Expand System tools down to Local Users and Groups/Users

Right click on the middle pane and select "New User"

My new users name is Weston Unlocker and the password to his account is Passw0rd.

With the account created I need to log onto it one time to finish the profile creation and create some files to lose.

Once logged on I create a folder in the Documents folder called TestFolder. In that folder I create a text file called PersonalDocument.txt

In that text file I just some text so I can confirm I did not lose any data by blanking the password.

That is it our user is ready to get broken into.

Step 3 will cover booting to the USB drive which will require us to get into the Bios.

 

[rdaniell]

do I need to do step 2 on my computer? Or are you doing it just to show me what to put on the usb drive?

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Step 2 is just for anyone who wants to know what the affect will be on a user on the computer.

I did it just to make sure I did not mess up my normal user account.

You do not need to do it.

 

[rdaniell]

Step 2 is just for anyone who wants to know what the affect will be on a user on the computer. I did it just to make sure I did not mess up my normal user account. You do not need to do it.

Roger that.

RD

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Step 3 setting the Bios to boot to USB drive

Put the USB device into the Computer/Laptop/Notebook/Netbook that you need to reset the password and start the boot process.

Getting into the BIOS is different on different PCs. The normal key to enter the setup is either F2 or DEL.

You need look at your screen when it boots up and see if it tells you. It will normally say something like Press XX to run/enter Setup.

Once in the BIOS you will use the arrow keys to navigate, enter to select, +/- or Pgup/Pgdn to change options, and esc to go back one screen. The key commands should be displayed somewhere on the screen.

Once in the BIOS you need to find the boot sequence

What you want to do is make the USB drive the first option.

On my Laptop there are three options, Removable device (normally I would say this is the USB stick), CDRom, and my Hard Drive.

The funny thing about my BIOS is removable device does not mean USB Drive. I also have to go into the Hard Disk Drives option and choose the USB drive and make it first priority.

What I chose to do was just disable the other two drives since I did not want to boot to them anyway.

Now all I have to do is save the settings and exit. The system will reboot and look for the USB drive as the boot medium.

We should not be booting to the USB drive to run the NTPassword software.

Step 4 will be running the software. It is a graphical interface and the images for it will be grainy as I am taking pictures of the laptop display from my phone.

.... To be continued

 

[rdaniell]

I've got it doing something????Will get back when I see what happens.

RD

 

[rdaniell]

I think I may have screwed the pooch and got ahead of you. Anyway, I did manage to get back into BIOS by following your above instructions. I sorta freaked out when I could not see the same screens. Remember that I warned you that I was a dummy. I did manage to get to the re-format function. That program is now running on my netbook.

Since I didn't have anything on there couldn't be "trashed," this will work for me.

THANKS FOR HELPING ME.

If I hadn't been sober for the past 18 years, I'd have a few with you.

RD

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Step 4 Running NTPassword

First off don't worry if you mess up. Nothing is saved until you save it at the end. Then if you made a mistake it is too late to go back.

For the most part you have nothing to lose but others reading this might not want to lose any data.

The system should be loading up to NTPassword which is a Linux utility.

Read all the text on the first screen. It will explain the process. Most of the options will be default and all you will need to do is press enter to choose them.

Your first choice will be to choose the drive which houses the users data. In my environment it is the 700 GB bootable drive.

Option 1. Press enter

The next option is to choose the path to the config file. Press enter it should be correct.

On the next step you can choose option the default 1 Password reset [sam system security]

Choose the default Edit user data and passwords

You should be presented with a list of users on the system. Enter the name of the user as it appears on the screen. It should be case sensitive. ADMIN means the account is an Administrator account. dis/lock means the user is disabled.

Enter the user name and press enter.

For me I enter Weston my test account.

Press enter to choose the default "Clear (blank) user password"

Password Cleared! should display saying it was successful.

It will prompt you to choose another user.

Press ! to exit the user selection menu.

Press q to quit (you will be asked if there is something to save)

At this point noting has been changed.

Press Y to tell the program to write the file.

Next you will be given the chance to go back and change another user.

Press enter to say no

... Continued on the next post

I maxed out the number of images I can place in one thread.

 

[Dangerousdave26]

This one came out really fuzzy. The only thing you need to know is...

Press ctrl alt + Del to reboot the PC.

While it is booting remove the USB.

When it boots go back into the Bios and set the boot option back to your hard drive if necessary.

You should be able to select the user and the system will log you one without a password.

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Yep if you are formatting you screwed the pooch

Like I said read everything before you proceed to make sure you understand.

Formatting will wipe out all data and leave you with an empty hard drive.