my boss has a public comp, that they let clients use and the last IT-er has long been gone and they dont know the password they set-up to connect... i know the info for this must be hidden in some file somewhere, the thing is I have no idea where, so could someone please help, with this... thank you co

I have had to have customers call the ISP to get the information for usernames and passwords. There is no clear text file for dial-up passwords on the PC. It means calling and explaining what you are doing and that you need the password reset and help getting the account active. Depending on how long it has been since the account has been used the ISP might have disabled it. Good luck Richard Lyon

i found the file .pwl and the file is encrypted, you think if i use a hex prog that i could tell then what it says??? if not then I'll try hounding the ISP...lol thanks co

I am not aware of any program that will decode this. Have you done a google search for finding passwords? Richard Lyon

No, looking at the file will not help you. There are programs that can crack the password, but it would take to long to find them and sort out how to use. Go to Start, Settings, Dial-Up Networking, and look at the connection Icon(s). From the Connection box, you can get the User name which is the account and the phone number being dialed to make a connection. You will need the user name when you contact the ISP. Make sure you can still use the existing connection and set password to get into the mail for that user ID. Normally in cases like this, the ISP will insist on sending the password to the account mail box, so you have to be able to open mail to the account in order to get the password they send. Then go to the ISP's web site and in Support look for procdures for lost passwords.

hey thanks a ton for helping out!!! Ill definently take your advice and hopefully I can get this thing working again, regards co

There is a program called RSTAR that will retrieve passwords hidden under the astericks. It somewhere out on the net. You run it and the application, when you place the mouse pointer over the password field it shows the password.