RE: locked out of XP, need file access

["Kris Wingard" <krisw () csrinc com>]

If you have another machine handy, you could just take the hard-drive
out of your XP box, hook it up in the other machine as a slave, and copy
the files off.  I don't think you'll have any NTFS permissions issues,
but I haven't really had to use this trick in a while.

-----Original Message-----
From: J. Yoon [mailto:supercool9000 () hotmail com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 10:46 AM
To: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: locked out of XP, need file access 

I'm locked out of my own Windows XP box.
Being a paranoid,
I have not provided myself with any password hints
even for the administrator mode.

I do remember about 2 characters from it though
but there's just too many combinations.

There are personal files in there that I need to access.

I remember that with the old Win98,
it was possible to do something with the .pwd file
(not that we needed it,
since all the files are accessible anyway)
but I'm sure things have changed significantly since.

I did infact try using a XP password recovery tool kit
and global-resetter thing I got from the net...
but the software asks me to enter root password
and then tells me to get lost.
It's strange and ironic,
because the passwd is precisely what I'm trying to figure out.

I don't wanna read a 1,000 page book just yet
cuz I need access to my files asap.

What would be some of the necessary simple steps to take at this time?
Thanks in advance...

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