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| older Windows 7 laptop. Forgotten windows log on password. (Page 1/2) |
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maryjane
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JAN 01, 11:33 AM
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My wife's old Toshiba laptop... I drug it out yesterday to use for storage of family photos but when I asked her for her password, it's been so long she doesn't remember, even with the hint she left herself. I prefer not, to 'reset' back to the barebones win it came with, since there's already a lot of her side of the family photos on the machine. AFAK, she did not create a password recovery disc way back when.
Is there any reliable and legal hack/app to allow us to get past the log on screen?
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williegoat
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JAN 01, 01:58 PM
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There used to be Linux based disks that you could burn which allowed you to reset the password, but I don't know if they work on Win7. I haven't done that in twenty years.
You might want to take out the drive and copy what you need to another machine.
Edit: Here is something you could try: https://community.spicework...ndows-password-reset
You will need another machine to create a bootable disk or thumb drive.[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 01-01-2024).]
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IMSA GT
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JAN 01, 03:15 PM
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maryjane
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JAN 01, 03:40 PM
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Thanks!! I will have to give it a try later.
Wife wants the Christmas decorations down today and me to fix supper.
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theogre
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JAN 01, 05:42 PM
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Resetting/Clearing a Windows PW helps when you Don't use Bitlocker & other whole disk encryption.
If have Windows Folder Encryption turned On for any folder then may loose data in those folders but most people never even know is available.------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)
The Ogre's Fiero Cave
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CoolBlue87GT
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JAN 01, 08:35 PM
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In the past, you could remove hard drives and install them into external platform, then access the data on another computer.
Good luck.
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Cliff Pennock
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JAN 02, 09:08 AM
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Yes, I wouldn't bother trying to retrieve the old password either (for several reasons, even though it's pretty easy to do).
On most laptops it's pretty easy to just take out the drive and put it in an external enclosure and simply use it as an external drive. Flip the laptop over and see if there are any lids. Usually they have a few screws that hold them in place. Unscrew them and see if any has the hdd underneath.
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williegoat
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JAN 02, 03:42 PM
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As several others have mentioned, an external drive enclosure might be the quickest and easiest way to go, if you are just interested in preserving the data. They are cheap, usually $10-15, easy to use, readily available and handy to have around. You just need to know what kind of drive you have.
In addition, you could buy a spare drive and use it as a backup drive. SSD's are cheap, nowadays.
In the above picture, the drive on the left was about $22 and the enclosure was about $8. On the right, the enclosure was about $16 and the drive was about $25.
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Jake_Dragon
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JAN 03, 11:33 PM
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maryjane
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JAN 06, 09:45 AM
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Thanks all. I sure learned something here but in the end, she opted to just reset back to factory settings with fresh install of the OS.
(we already got way too many dang family photos anyway)
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