What to do if I forgot my laptop password?

[tudx]

I have a shitty winows 8 laptop that I was planning to downloud linux on but I completly forgot the password for it. Should I just give up after all it is a real shitty laptop

 

[Kosher Dill]

Where is the password, in the BIOS or in Windows? If it's Windows it doesn't matter and you can just wipe out the drive and start over. If it's the BIOS, check online for how convenient it would be to reset the password. Sometimes it's as easy as taking out the CMOS battery or setting a jumper, sometimes it's pretty much impossible.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Like Kosher said, unless you've got some weird setup it's really only the hard drive that's locked by a password.

If you can open the laptop up then you can take out the old hard drive and shove a new one in, or if I'm not mistaken just format the drive by either putting it into a different computer or, assuming the drive isn't an M2, connect it to a SATA to USB adapter (which you can get off amazon for like 10 bucks) then formatting it from there.

 

[Kosher Dill]

format the drive by either putting it into a different computer

Really you shouldn't even need to do that, just run the Linux installer from a CD or USB, and tell it to reformat the drive.
Then say Yes, do as I say!

 

[Aidan]

>planning to downloud Linux on
Do you mean putting Linux on the laptop? If so, then the installer will wipe the drive for you. If not, then just download it using any other computer, even a phone.
If the issue is data, I don't think Windows 8 did default file system encryption so you can likely just live boot and then yoink all the data you care about off of there, assuming there is any.

If it is encrypted and there's data you care about then there is always a way to access an account on a computer as long as you have physical access, not sure how to do it on Windows 8 but a quick search showed it's do-able.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

If it's just the windows password and you want to access the files then pop the drive out and put it in an USB enclosure or do the old cmd-line trick to copy them to a USB drive from the laptop itself. You can usually reset the password but it can be either super easy or a total pain in the ass, depending on if you're following a russian or indian guide on youtube.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Do you still have the email you used for that account? If so, try resetting the password for your laptop from there.

 

[tudx]

Where is the password, in the BIOS or in Windows? If it's Windows it doesn't matter and you can just wipe out the drive and start over. If it's the BIOS, check online for how convenient it would be to reset the password. Sometimes it's as easy as taking out the CMOS battery or setting a jumper, sometimes it's pretty much impossible.

I figured you where the best person to ask this and I dont want to start a whole new thread but I plan on selling a diffrent laptop how should I clear the laptop best with out opening up the laptop should i just factory reset it

 

[Kosher Dill]

should i just factory reset it

I don't go in for the "overwrite a billion times" voodoo, but it's probably worth using some sort of erase tool to fully zero out the drive before you use a restore disk (or whatever), if you're planning on selling it. If you don't want to open up the computer you'll have to find some sort of boot disk that has an erase tool on it. Maybe try this:

GitHub - PartialVolume/shredos.x86_64: Shredos Disk Eraser 64 bit for all Intel 64 bit processors as well as processors from AMD and other vendors which make compatible 64 bit chips. ShredOS - Secure disk erasure/wipe

Shredos Disk Eraser 64 bit for all Intel 64 bit processors as well as processors from AMD and other vendors which make compatible 64 bit chips. ShredOS - Secure disk erasure/wipe - GitHub - Partial...

github.com

 

[Snigger]

Format your HD and load from backup

 

[MadStan]

Darn. That's a real a real problem.

But hey, just send me your DOB, SSN, tell me your favorite color, first school and the name of your first pet and I'll take of it for yah mate.

Always ready to help a brudda out.

 

[Banana Hammock]

Try L0phtCrack, maybe? Not sure if the current version is safe, but I played around with an older version back in the Windows XP days.