How do I login to the hidden Admin account?

[Tysl332]

Hello everyone,
I recently was given a laptop to fix up by my brother in law that seems to be infected with a nasty troublesome Trojan.

Anyways I cannot login to his username with the password he has provided me with and he has some documents that he would like me to backup if possible.

So, I was wondering if their is a way to get into the hidden admin account within the login screen, I hate how Microsoft disabled the feature of hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del to get into the admin account. So I was just wondering if their was another way to get in, I've already tried Safe Mode and the hidden Admin account doesn't pop up. If you can get back to me ASAP with a fix, that would be great!

Thank you,
-Steve

 

[cluberti]

You can indeed log in with the hidden admin account if you boot into safe mode (it is automatically enabled), but of course you'll need to know the password. If it isn't enabled, then are we sure the account is still even there? The only other real option is to boot it offline from a bootable DVD or USB key that can read NTFS volumes and copy the files that way.

 

[Tysl332]

You can indeed log in with the hidden admin account if you boot into safe mode (it is automatically enabled), but of course you'll need to know the password. If it isn't enabled, then are we sure the account is still even there? The only other real option is to boot it offline from a bootable DVD or USB key that can read NTFS volumes and copy the files that way.

Lol yes but I've tried safe mode already and the hidden admin account isn't their, like I said.

And on top of that, his password he provided me with doesn't work. Keeps saying "Username/ or Password is incorrect."

 

[cluberti]

Probably because it's broken. If you can get a recovery disc and boot from it (either DVD or USB), you can get his files off that way. If you're more interested in cleaning the machine, the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper tool (that can be copied to a bootable USB or DVD drive) can be used to try to clean and salvage the machine offline.

 

[Tysl332]

Probably because it's broken. If you can get a recovery disc and boot from it (either DVD or USB), you can get his files off that way. If you're more interested in cleaning the machine, the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper tool (that can be copied to a bootable USB or DVD drive) can be used to try to clean and salvage the machine offline.

Thank you anyways,
but I've found my much useful software that'll help me out!

 

[Ztruker]

Directions for enabling or disabling the Administrator account here.