I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?
--
Jim the Geordie

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Hello

Jim the Geordie <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> schrieb

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

Install a new OS and then you can use it.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

Yes. And No. And maybe.

There are multiple ways to protect a PC.
The nature of the machine (business laptop with HIPAA requirements),
mean that more schemes than a person could really want, could be
applied to it.

There could be a BIOS password. There could be a Bitlocker
protection scheme. There could be an MSA account, or a
local account for OS login. Local accounts can be cracked
with John the Ripper, or reset with various registry-based schemes.
An MSA is going to be harder to deal with, as it is an Internet
strength password (and written on a PostIt note).

If the person keeps business records on a machine (self-employed)
the machine could be more protected than a home users.

Look on the bottom of their home router, for a PostIt note
with the passwords on it. The router needs a password,
and there could be a paper there. On a laptop with a battery bay,
check the battery bay for a PostIt note. People who were forgetful,
leave more PostIt notes than others.

If the person is computer savvy, the job could be easier (don't
like passwords, remove all passwords), or the job could be harder.

Be careful you do not exceed any retry limits (permanent lockout).

You of course, don't need to use their OS. You can boot a Linux stick
and examine the files on the machine that way. Visit Documents folder
and so on. but if there is a BIOS password, that will be your first
challenge. Consumer laptops, the BIOS password is in CMOS RAM, and
removing the CMOS battery or using a Clear_CMOS jumper can remove
the password. However, on business laptops, the password is stored
in a 2KB EEPROM, and cannot so easily be removed. The company making the laptop, offers to reset the BIOS password... if you ship the laptop back
to the factory or so :-/

If you screw around with an MSA too many times, you could be locked out.

Paul

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

  You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to set
my own password if I change the name of the computer?


--
Jim the Geordie

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to set
my own password if I change the name of the computer?

You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/12/25 11:17 AM, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to set my own password
if I change the name of the computer?

   You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

+1
You never know what the previous owner did to the system. Undoing tweaks could take much
longer than just loading a new OS.

--
Linux Mint 22.1, Cinnamon 6.4.6, Kernel 6.8.0-53-generic
Thunderbird 128.7.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 134.0.2
Alan K.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 12/02/2025 16:17, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to
set my own password if I change the name of the computer?

   You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

I did that and went for a full reset.
All seemed fine until it got to choosing the language (US or UK) then
there is no cursor and up/down or any other button to get a response.
So it just sits there, teasing me.

--
Jim the Geordie

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/12/2025 2:51 PM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 16:17, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to
set my own password if I change the name of the computer?

    You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

I did that and went for a full reset.
All seemed fine until it got to choosing the language (US or UK) then
there is no cursor and up/down or any other button to get a response.
So it just sits there, teasing me.

Strange. Arrow keys and Enter key? You don't want to pick UK.
They spell color wrong. :)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Jim the Geordie wrote:
On 12/02/2025 16:17, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:
On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:
On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:
I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to
set my own password if I change the name of the computer?


You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

I did that and went for a full reset.
All seemed fine until it got to choosing the language (US or UK) then
there is no cursor and up/down or any other button to get a response.
So it just sits there, teasing me.

--
Jim the Geordie

What do you have plugged into it?


This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=683699976#683699976

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 12/02/2025 20:27, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 2:51 PM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 16:17, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to
set my own password if I change the name of the computer?

    You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

I did that and went for a full reset.
All seemed fine until it got to choosing the language (US or UK) then
there is no cursor and up/down or any other button to get a response.
So it just sits there, teasing me.

   Strange. Arrow keys and Enter key? You don't want to pick UK.
They spell color wrong. :)

WrongLY - adverb:)

Anyhow no buttons work although they do work if I escape to BIOS (just
to test them)

--
Jim the Geordie

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:34:09 -0500, "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> wrote:

On 2/12/25 11:17 AM, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 11:05 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

On 12/02/2025 15:30, Newyana2 wrote:

On 2/12/2025 7:55 AM, Jim the Geordie wrote:

I have just acquired a new PC from someone who has died.
Is there any way to get into it without a password?

   You're sure it has a passowrd set in Windows? If it's a BIOS
password, take out the battery for a few minutes. If Windows,
look up your manual and find out how to do a factory restore.
That should give you what the computer looked like when it
was bought.

Seems fine. Windows opened at first go. Can I now, (or do I need to set my own password
if I change the name of the computer?

   You don't have to have a password. I always set mine to "",
so it boots without pause. Changing the name of the computer
won't matter. But you might want to consider a factory restore,
anyway, just to make sure the system is clean.

+1
You never know what the previous owner did to the system. Undoing tweaks could take much
longer than just loading a new OS.

Any tweaks my heirs find will have made the OS better than when it was
new.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)