How to SET Administrator Password???

[zapp22]

why is this such an obscure topic???:sarc:

amazing what a Google search turns up for this: not much.

I do not need to 'break in' to Win7, I'm just wanting to setup/establish and Administrator password. Simple...

I read on one geek forum a Command-Line command that was supposed to do it and it failed and that has me mildly concerned that something got changed without my knowledge.... I ran "net user administrator password"
and what I got back was "command completed". huh? what was the password???
I expected to get two fields, enter a new password, check match, and go.

help

 

[zapp22]

Can someone vouch for this answer: Lost administrator password on windows 7 any way around it?

I think what I may have done was changed/set the 'real Administrator' password to "password" !

 

[theog]

Take a look here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/288-password-create-user-account.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/64742-password-reset-disk-windows-7-vista.html

 

[merkat106]

did you try this site? In Windows 7, Vista, or XP, how do I set the administrator password? - Knowledge Base

 

[theog]

Can someone vouch for this answer: Lost administrator password on windows 7 any way around it?

I think what I may have done was changed/set the 'real Administrator' password to "password" !

Administrator Account - Vista Forums

 

[zapp22]

I don't THINK that is correct.
If the Administrator [root] account is inactive, it will not show, invalidating everything else in the article. I think.... but I could be wrong.

it turns out my hunch was correct. incredibly, one could very easily accidentally set a password and not know it. its that easy/insecure/unverified. If the Administrator is set to "active", then the command Net user administrator _________ [fill in the blank with password of your choosing] is all that is needed to change from password A to B.

awfully dicey and uncharacteristically insecure way to do this, but there it is.

zapp

did you try this site? In Windows 7, Vista, or XP, how do I set the administrator password? - Knowledge Base

 

[theog]

I don't THINK that is correct.
If the Administrator [root] account is inactive, it will not show, invalidating everything else in the article. I think.... but I could be wrong.

it turns out my hunch was correct. incredibly, one could very easily accidentally set a password and not know it. its that easy/insecure/unverified. If the Administrator is set to "active", then the command Net user administrator _________ [fill in the blank with password of your choosing] is all that is needed to change from password A to B.

awfully dicey and uncharacteristically insecure way to do this, but there it is.

zapp

did you try this site? In Windows 7, Vista, or XP, how do I set the administrator password? - Knowledge Base

You would need the A password first, to change to B.

 

[Jacee]

How about a screen locker? Matrix Screen Locker Freeware download and review - lock your desktop from SnapFiles Don't forget the password!

 

[merkat106]

THIS IS HOW YOU ENABLE AND SET A PASSWORD FOR ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT!!!!
I just figured this out, I did not see this anywhere that I can remember...
Control Panel
System and Security
Administrative Tools
Local Security Policy
Local Policies
Security Options
right click on "Accounts: Administrator account status"->properties->click enabled
then go to user accounts in control panel
Manage Accounts
Change an Account
administrator will now show up and give the option of setting a password

*** I actually went through these steps on one of my computers, so I know it works.

OR CLICK HERE:
http://sites.google.com/site/bluesp...rials/enabling-the-administrator-account-in-7

 

[zapp22]

Nope.

Nope.
that's part of my point. no checks or balances or verifications or matches or any of that stuff. Command line just drives it through. Done like dinner.

You would need the A password first, to change to B.

 

[Jacee]

You're talking about a 'secure password' for the Administrator's account that no one else can breach, right?

 

[Barman58]

As the net user command has to be run as an administrator, to work on an admin level account, there is control on the net command . As long as the system is correctly locked down this should not cause a security issue.

The actual command is set to run without user input to allow batch action - For example It may be required to set the local admin password on a domain of thousands of systems. This is where batch scripts have to be used as not all accounts have Group policy/Security Policy templates.

To be honest it's just as likely to be used to disable or delete the accounts than to set passwords, but scripts are an essential part of a sysadmin's tool-kit

 

[zapp22]

well, that makes more sense to me than anything I had thought of, but it sure is a hole in the walls of the system!! think how easy that is to break.
I don't recall XP being quite that forgiving.

I have not yet tried this, but if I go crank up from a cold start and select "Safe Mode - Command Prompt", I bet I will have zero challenge in running the script to activated Admin and change that password to whatever I [or someone nefarious] wants??

As the net user command has to be run as an administrator, to work on an admin level account, there is control on the net command . As long as the system is correctly locked down this should not cause a security issue.

The actual command is set to run without user input to allow batch action - For example It may be required to set the local admin password on a domain of thousands of systems. This is where batch scripts have to be used as not all accounts have Group policy/Security Policy templates.

To be honest it's just as likely to be used to disable or delete the accounts than to set passwords, but scripts are an essential part of a sysadmin's tool-kit

 

[Barman58]

As far as I can recall the Net command and it's subset has not changed much if at all since it's inception in the windows product line - NT3.5 I believe. XP had access to the same commands

As for the safe mode workaround that was present in XP, this loophole was closed with Vista - even if you select safe mode with command prompt you are still required to provide login credentials. If you do not have administrator credentials available you will not be able to to run the Net command to work with administrator level accounts.

There are ways to circumvent the current windows security, of course, but even these can be made more difficult by hardware and bios controls such as preventing the boot from external devices.

As for the hidden administrator account it is good practice to enable this add a secure password (30+ character strong password), and then disable it again.

 

[zapp22]

and hard drive?

we have sorta crept into a broader topic, but even boot password is not going to protect if hd is lifted. I recently cracked a HD that had its own password, and I was a tad disappointed. Are passwords on HD's peculiar to just some mftrs? the one I reference was a toshiba laptop drive, branded by toshiba.. .not sure the origin of the firmware.
It fell to Paragon B&R

 

[Barman58]

The problem of data security is one that depends on the value of the data concerned. In areas where data is hyper-critical it is not unusual for the drive to be lifted at the end of the working day - and stored in a secure fireproof location. Physical security taking over where software leaves off.

In the good old days this was a case of a floppy or Zip drive which was the o9nly place mission critical data was stored and even the temp files were deep erased at the end of each day.

There are also various military strength encryption systems for current drives which are, although not un-breakable, beyond the tools available to the normal user.

The lock systems provided by drive manufacturers are more to dissuade the casual thief than the professional data miner, the problem with OEM security is that it tends to be friarly simple and also made available to too many people by default.

 

[zapp22]

That's a good point, but I'm wondering if the massive move to virtualized devices is a response to the failure of other measures? All server farms that I know of today are virtualized by one means or another. if a "server" is compromised, it merely dissipates to the bit-bucket. no material harm done. No forensic trail at least on the premises.

But if I follow you, ultimately this is the best for now: make a removable device bootable and storable, run everything that matters on that device, encrypt the device on a platform other than the one the work was done-on, and remove from the physical premises.

 

[techwtips]

There is an quality article here. I think it must be read: Create Administrator Account and Password on Windows 7