Step son from hell round 2

So last time I had a problem with my step son he was getting himself into trouble at home, and later we found out at school as well, talking and doing things over yahoo IM. So I came asking for help, and sure enough a few great people step'd up to the plate and helped me out. Well it stopped my son long enough for me to get my point across and he straightened up, or so we thought.

For christmass the "family" got a new PC. Really he will be the only one using it as mom and I have our own laptops, but non-the-less it is a household PC and it was agreed that we would all have access to it with no passwords and no problems. Well on the 27th I had to go out of town for a buisness trip. I got back early today and I come to find out that my son has set up two accounts on the computer. The admin account and a normal free access user account with no password protection. The admin is passworded, but the other is not. His mother informed me that he "accidentally" set it up and no longer knows what the password is to get into the admin account. My knowledge of password recovery is non-existant, but I am searching for a way to dig up what he made the password, I know he still knows what it is, but is playing it off as if he forgot and did it on accident. I can only do so much as far as punishment goes, but that still doesn't change the fact that I am as of now locked out of my own GD PC!

Long story short, does anyone know of a simple way to find out what he made his admin password? I am pulling my hair out, and I don't want to take the PC back in and have to reformat it where I bought it. I am seriously lost.
On a bright note though, he no longer owns a 360 and the ps3 we had specially shipped in for him that would have arrived on January 5th is no longer coming to the house. We made sure to show him the UPS receipts and the gamestop reciepts to prove we weren't kidding. On top of that he will be doing a month of going to his grandpa's retirement home and cleaning the grounds inside and out for free. HAHAHAH I LOVE BEING THE CRUEL PARENT!

Thank you much in advance

Also, I read through the rules again, but I didn't see anything major about this topic. If asking about how to crack a password (even if it is a dad trying to gain control of his own home pc again) is against the rules please delete this thread. I would appreciate the help, but if I am in the wrong for asking I apologize.

 

Ouch man, that's a fine line to walk.Here's
a Linux solution but remember he could do the same to you. Someone else will have to chime in as I've not needed to use this. There may be an easier route. Good luck with this.

 

Much appreciated. I don't know much about linux, but I will give this a shot. Thanks!

 

I made an attempt to follow that guide today, but I must have done something wrong because it didn't work the way it was supposed to. I guess I will have to try to find something else and try that. Thanks for the linux suggestion though. I guess my inexperience was my downfall.

 

Here's a little article with elegance. It seems safer and less error prone than most solutions and seems to be a Windows Operating Feature. LOL

 

I will have to try this. I have to look for a key program though as this computer was purchased at a store that fabricates the system, installs windows, and gives you the PC without the windows disk.

 

There are key programs out there, but they are going to be costly.
Here is a LINK
to the article "Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, Bootdisk / CD".
At the end of the article is a link to download an image to burn to a cd. read everything in the article'.

"cd060213.zip" is probably the file you want to download.
Again read everything even the part that says "it doesnt always work

I have used it, it is a pain in the backside; but it does work

 

key programs?????

If you mean programs that retrieve your Windows product key, it doesn't have to be costly, and it doesn't have to be unreliable! (Also, if your machine is OEM, as your post seems to imply, then the COA with product key MUST be on the side of the box)

In fact, a Majorgeeks member has written a darn good program called KefinderThing Lite that gets the job done and is free.

 

Sorry, bad choice of words. Intended "programs that allow recovery of passwords", but I was too lazy to type it all out.

And yes, I have, and have used, KeyFinder

 

some computers have a jumper (plastic and metal thing on the motherboard) that allows password resetting, would that work?

 

Nah, that's a BIOS password stored in the CMOS chip (as opposed to software)... it won't allow access to Windows. Only BIOS.

And GaryG, no need to apologize, it was actually the OPs words you are using! I misuderstood his post... he can't do the steps prometheos linked to...

 

That would work, if his goal was to reset the bios password, not the windows xp password. First step i would do is try rebooting in safe mode,(push f8 on bootup into windows) and seeing if theres a password set on the hidden adminstrator account, which usually isn't, then once logged into that you can reset any password on the machine.

 

This method is the best & easiest I've used. It's always worked for me! I've used both the CD & floppy methods...CD is faster but they both do the same thing.

 

No the simplest is not downloading any tools or what not, its using windows builtin methods

 

As a father of a 15 y/o boy I strongly suggest changing the account he set up for himself to a limited account once you have this mess sorted out.

I can empathise with dealing with rebelious boys. My son lost his tv, stereo, creative mp3 player, ps2 and his bedroom door for most of last year after a string of indiscretions. I have told him a few times, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to raise responsible new adults, when you become one, maybe you'll then realise why I had to do what I have done.

You are right to take the hard line. Good on you mate.

Peace.

 

You could try the freebie family version of this program. I've never had a need for anything like this myself, but it might do the job for you. Good luck, I can relate to your problem. http://www.kmint21.com/download.html

 

Im sure you a great parent, but for god sake software can't monitor kids, you can. Your kids smarter then any software you can come up with to monitor/spy on him any way. Put your computer in a high traffic place in the house or actually sit down and watch him.

 

not to get back on topic, but i am pretty sure you can boot up in safe mode, and change the administrator password from there, or manage accounts however you please.

 

Yeah... this is not meant to be a thread about parenting.

However this ends, I'd love to hear some opinions on the various methods of recovering passwords. I'm slightly paranoid and also absentminded, which means I put passwords on everything, and then forget them. It created a minor problem that time when it involved the router firewall...

/Mimsy

 

Hi pussum,

I agree with earlthemailman, I think it's possible. However, whatever you think up, your step son will probably counter. I can't speak from experiance cause my son is only 3½ ,but Xbox 360, new PC, and was gona get a PS3. Perhaps your step son is used to getting his way to much, and is just expecting you to cave in. Just hoping you stick to your guns.:major

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck.