How can I put a CD image on a USB drive?

[Vinze]

Hey, the ex of my mother left without leaving us the admin password of her PC. Of course we'd like to retrieve this password so I've searched the internet a bit for programs that do this for us. I found this and this, but they both require you to make a bootable floppy or to burn a .iso onto a CD. Unfortunately, my mother does not have a floppy drive and we have no CD burner. Is it possible to put the CD image on a USB stick?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Daniel0]

You could put the files for the bootable floppy on the USB stick and then boot from it. That would probably work, I'm not sure though.

[redbullmarky]

unless i'm missing something, i'd safely guess that 9/10 computer dealers/repair centers would happily burn a recovery CD for you for pennies (if not free) if you ask them nicely...

[MadTechie]

try an old classic

 

at the login screen

if you have a selection to pick an account then

press ctrl+alt_del (twice)

a new (old style login screen will appear)

try

username Administrator

password (blank) <-- no password

 

if all else fails try this

 

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/01/01/usb-knoppix-510

 

[neylitalo]

try an old classic

 

at the login screen

if you have a selection to pick an account then

press ctrl+alt_del (twice)

a new (old style login screen will appear)

try

username Administrator

password (blank) <-- no password

 

um... I knew Windows was insecure, but I wasn't aware that it reached that far.

[Koobi]

if your BIOS allows you to boot via USB i don't see why you can't do this.

 

i had a linux distro that ran off the USB once, like a live CD and i used to boot it via USB from my BIOS.

[448191]

Not only do you need to configure the BIOS to boot from a USB drive, you'll also need to add a bootsector to the stick.

 

Here's a tool to do that: Mkbt

[Daniel0]

try an old classic

 

at the login screen

if you have a selection to pick an account then

press ctrl+alt_del (twice)

a new (old style login screen will appear)

try

username Administrator

password (blank) <-- no password

 

um... I knew Windows was insecure, but I wasn't aware that it reached that far.

 

In some versions of Windows XP it doesn't ask for a password for 'Administrator'. It doesn't even tell you it is there as it is hidden, though in Windows XP Home it is disabled when not in safe-mode. It did ask for a password when I installed the Media Center Edition version on my computer though.

[448191]

Just for clarification of the above as I think it could be misunderstood: SETTING a password for Administrator is optional. If it is set, you'll have to enter it.

[neylitalo]

In some versions of Windows XP it doesn't ask for a password for 'Administrator'. It doesn't even tell you it is there as it is hidden, though in Windows XP Home it is disabled when not in safe-mode.

 

My head hurts.

[Koobi]

Not only do you need to configure the BIOS to boot from a USB drive, you'll also need to add a bootsector to the stick.

 

Here's a tool to do that: Mkbt

 

yeah that's a good point. but some distro's do all that for you i believe. but i'm talking about linux here and he is probably talking about windows in which case he would need to create the boot sector.

 

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

[MadTechie]

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

 

I wasn't aware that any PC fully supporting vista  unless you want to run vista by itself (it doesn't play nice with others)

 

Techie trick #2

If you have WinXP..

Get a Win2000 CD and goto recovery console.. ooow no password required..

now

CD %SystemRoot%\System32
rename logon.scr logon.old
copy cmd.exe logon.scr

 

reboot wait for screen saver io mean command prompt now

net user Administrator letmein

if this part fails

do the following

start explorer.exe

now you should be logged in as System

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

To make your system less vulnerable to this type of hack, you should disable logon.scr from loading at bootup. This can be done with a registry edit:

 

    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

 

For the value screensaver.exe, change it to none and set the value ScreenSaverActive to No.

[Daniel0]

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

 

I wasn't aware that any PC fully supporting vista  unless you want to run vista by itself (it doesn't play nice with others)

 

Techie trick #2

If you have WinXP..

Get a Win2000 CD and goto recovery console.. ooow no password required..

now

CD %SystemRoot%\System32
rename logon.scr logon.old
copy cmd.exe logon.scr

 

reboot wait for screen saver io mean command prompt now

net user Administrator letmein

if this part fails

do the following

start explorer.exe

now you should be logged in as System

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

To make your system less vulnerable to this type of hack, you should disable logon.scr from loading at bootup. This can be done with a registry edit:

 

    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

 

For the value screensaver.exe, change it to none and set the value ScreenSaverActive to No.

 

Or just take your WinXP cd and boot into recovery mode (or whatever it is called), then run the net user command from there to change the password.

[MadTechie]

Or just take your WinXP cd and boot into recovery mode (or whatever it is called), then run the net user command from there to change the password.

 

Windows XP CD Will ask for administrator password win2000 will not

 

also

net user Administrator letmein doesn't seam to work from the Recovery console.

 

humm infact it maybe 50/50

[Vinze]

Not only do you need to configure the BIOS to boot from a USB drive, you'll also need to add a bootsector to the stick.

 

Here's a tool to do that: Mkbt

 

yeah that's a good point. but some distro's do all that for you i believe. but i'm talking about linux here and he is probably talking about windows in which case he would need to create the boot sector.

 

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

 

It's Windows XP.

 

I know that USB sticks can be booted, but can they also boot a CD image? I guess the .iso would need to be extracted in some way or something, right?

 

I was also planning to put Xubuntu on that USB stick after I had recovered the password for my mother, but if you also know of a way to retrieve that password with Xubuntu then that would be great too.

[Koobi]

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

 

I wasn't aware that any PC fully supporting vista  unless you want to run vista by itself (it doesn't play nice with others)

 

i don't think i understand what you've said there. how do you mean?

 

 

 

It's Windows XP.

 

I know that USB sticks can be booted, but can they also boot a CD image? I guess the .iso would need to be extracted in some way or something, right?

 

I was also planning to put Xubuntu on that USB stick after I had recovered the password for my mother, but if you also know of a way to retrieve that password with Xubuntu then that would be great too.

if you want to run linux of a USB later on, consider Slax Linux instead.

 

i don't think you can use Linux or any other version of Windows to get your password back other than the Windows XP that you have already installed and are having problems with.

 

have you looked around the microsoft knowledgebase for this sort of thing?

[Vinze]

 

It's Windows XP.

 

I know that USB sticks can be booted, but can they also boot a CD image? I guess the .iso would need to be extracted in some way or something, right?

 

I was also planning to put Xubuntu on that USB stick after I had recovered the password for my mother, but if you also know of a way to retrieve that password with Xubuntu then that would be great too.

if you want to run linux of a USB later on, consider Slax Linux instead.

 

Well, Xubuntu is my favourite distro, and as it's for fun that I'm putting Linux on the USB stick, I'll go with Xubuntu

 

 

i don't think you can use Linux or any other version of Windows to get your password back other than the Windows XP that you have already installed and are having problems with.

 

have you looked around the microsoft knowledgebase for this sort of thing?

 

Well, I guess you're not supposed to be able to retrieve the admin password.

 

However, the programs I linked to are able to retrieve or at least change that password, if only you can put them on a bootable floppy or burn them onto a CD.

[MadTechie]

Sorry i was just poking fun at Vista, it seams to hate all my software and video card.. ended up removing it after 4 days..

 

PS my PC is update..

 

what is the OS you are trying to get into vinze? XP?

 

I wasn't aware that any PC fully supporting vista  unless you want to run vista by itself (it doesn't play nice with others)

 

i don't think i understand what you've said there. how do you mean?

 

 

You can get the password back but overwritting it is quicker..

[Daniel0]

You could also crack the password: http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

 

OR ask the person who has the password what it is.

[Vinze]

You could also crack the password: http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

 

OR ask the person who has the password what it is.

 

That program seems too complicated for me.

 

And we've asked the ex of my mother, but he won't respond (he also still owes her a lot of money - no sign of that too )