Windows no password

[PJKtris]

My mom got a new computer a while ago and then ditched the old one. Well now she needs files off of it. She cannot remember the password and she needs to get into it. It is an installation of windows 10 and it is a windows live account. When she got the computer it was used and just used the windows live account that was already on it so resetting the password via email is out of the question. 

[RadiatingLight]

Plug the HDD into her current PC, and just grab the files with no password needed

 

[kb5zue]

Have you tried putting the drive in another machine as a slave, such as the D: drive?  That way you could possibly access the data (pics, docs, videos, etc.) without having to go thru the regular operating system (windows) to get there. Once you get the data you want off of it, then use something like AOMEI Partition Manager on it and delete the partition on it, recreate the partition, and then format it.  Be like new with nothing on it.  Put it in the new machine using Windows Media Creation Tool and you got a new machine with a fresh install of Windows.

 

[Martin Noronha]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

Plug the HDD into her current PC, and just grab the files with no password needed

 

Change the boot device to new PC HDD and you are good to go... ?

[Linksys120n]

if all that fails didn't LTT show off a usb stick for hacking windows in secconds about a year ago? someone help me find that video...

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Linksys120n said:

if all that fails didn't LTT show off a usb stick for hacking windows in secconds about a year ago? someone help me find that video...

Yeah, but that's $20 wasted.

[Linksys120n]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

Yeah, but that's $20 wasted.

not if the new laptop is the kind that you can't open or more commonly can only handle one hdd...

[RadiatingLight]

3 minutes ago, Linksys120n said:

not if the new laptop is the kind that you can't open or more commonly can only handle one hdd...

Nobody ever said it was a laptop... but if it is, it's still easier to make a bootable USB to get your files off than spend $20

[Linksys120n]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

Nobody ever said it was a laptop... but if it is, it's still easier to make a bootable USB to get your files off than spend $20

true.

[kirashi]

2 hours ago, Linksys120n said:

if all that fails didn't LTT show off a usb stick for hacking windows in secconds about a year ago? someone help me find that video...

Won't work on Live accounts, at least, not without potentially damaging the ability to login after tampering with the OS files, which defeats the purpose of using it to remove the password in the first place.  That's part of the reason Microsoft was really harping on people to login with a Live account.

 

Anywho, @PJKtris you can just use an external drive enclosure and plug it in to the computer that way to read the files on it, assuming BitLocker wasn't enabled on the old PC too. Or plug it in internally using SATA and make sure to boot from the NEW HDD and NOT the old one.

[GoodBytes]

You can click on "Forgot password", and go through that. You can also go through another PC, go to outlook.com, and pick on the loging screen "forgot password".

 

 

[PJKtris]

17 hours ago, kirashi said:

Won't work on Live accounts, at least, not without potentially damaging the ability to login after tampering with the OS files, which defeats the purpose of using it to remove the password in the first place.  That's part of the reason Microsoft was really harping on people to login with a Live account.

 

Anywho, @PJKtris you can just use an external drive enclosure and plug it in to the computer that way to read the files on it, assuming BitLocker wasn't enabled on the old PC too. Or plug it in internally using SATA and make sure to boot from the NEW HDD and NOT the old one.

Logging in after getting the files is not a concern since she does not use the computer any more.

[kirashi]

2 minutes ago, PJKtris said:

Logging in after getting the files is not a concern since she does not use the computer any more.

What I mean is you may damage the ability to login to even get the files by using such a bootable USB tool if the account is a Live account. One might try using the tools to remove a password from a Live account, reboot the PC, and be presented with NO user accounts which you can even login with anymore. So just be careful, or hook up the drive to an external adapter as suggested.