forgot xp pro password..

a friend asked me to recommend a data recovery ap to retrieve some
files..

He explained it:

i cant access the main partition on my other drive cuz i dont remember
the passowrd.....its using WIN XP PRO
so im just gonna use a data recover prog to read the info on it and
copy the data i need and then reinstal the OS , and this time without
the password thing

any suggestions to his dilenema??

 

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password
Expires
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321305

To log on as Administrator and reset the password:

Restart the computer. After the Power On Self Test (POST),
press the F8 key.

On the Windows Advanced Options menu, use the ARROW keys to
select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.

When you are prompted to select the operating system to start,
select Microsoft Windows XP edition (where "edition" is the
edition of Windows XP that is installed), and then press ENTER.

On the To begin, click your user name screen, click
"Administrator".

Type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
NOTE: In some cases, the Administrator password may be set to a
blank password. In this case, do not type a password before you press ENTER.

Click Yes to acknowledge that Windows is running in Safe mode.

Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings,
and then click Control Panel).

Click User Accounts.

Click the user account whose password you want to change.

Click Change Password if you want to keep using a password,
or click Remove password if you do not want to use a password.

If you remove the password, skip the next step.

Type the new password for the user, and then click "Change
Password".

Quit the User Accounts tool, and then restart the computer.


Cannot Change the Password for the Administrator Account in User Accounts in
Control Panel
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=298252

Resetting Passwords
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/ex_password.asp

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lost/Forgotten Windows XP Password
http://8help.ohio-state.edu/878.html
http://www.mirider.com/ntaccess.html

XP passwords rendered useless.

Anyone with a Windows 2000 CD can boot up a Windows XP box and start
the Windows 2000 Recovery Console, a trouble shooting 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.
Source: http://www.briansbuzz.com/w/030213/

Recover/reset lost passwords:

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, Bootdisk / CD
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

John the Ripper - http://www.openwall.com/john/

LC4 - http://www.atstake.com/products/lc/

SAM Inside - http://www.insidepro.com/eng/saminside.shtml

 

if he had a second hard drive he could format that; then attach the other as
a slave and copy all his data off.