This is from windows secrets/fred langa joint newsletter. I had not seen this before so was unaware of it being possible. So thought that I would share it.. Anyone with a Windows 2000 CD can boot up a Windows XP box and start the Windows 2000 Recovery Console, a troubleshooting program. Windows XP then allows the visitor to operate as Administrator without a password, even if the Administrator account has a strong password. The visitor can also operate in any of the other user accounts that may be present on the XP machine, even if those accounts have passwords. Unbelievably, the visitor can copy files from the hard disk to a floppy disk or other removable media - something even an Administrator is normally prevented from doing when using the Recovery Console. Anyway thought it to be a handy bit of information as people are always forgetting how to get into their windows xp programs after setting a password. In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

ye, found that out some time ago by accident :-) but what's the fuzz about accessing restricted files? they're only protected within windows xp. any bootdisk with ntfs4dos or live CD (bartPE, linux) will knock out all restrictions/access policies. Today's subliminal thought is: 'Calm down ... it's only ones and zeros.' icq 10183575

Thanks. Had that happen to me when i installed 'Net Framework'. I did not have any passwords set but Net Framework created a new account and all of a sudden windows began asking me to login and type in a password which it had never done before. I never created a password to begin with and windows would boot straight to my desktop. No matter what i tried, i was locked out of my computer.

yeah, this is obvious. anyone with Linux disk can access your drives, and anyone can change any users' passwords with Offline NT Password & Registry Editor makes sense, doesn't it? if you can boot arbitrary things on a computer or otherwise have physical access to it, then you pretty much possess it, and then it makes sense for you to be able to change whatever you want on it