Expired Password within Windows 2000

4 Apr 2005 1:59 PM

Zinzan

I have a friend who updated his PC from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 a few
years ago. HE has religiously amended his password every six weeks as the
system request him to do. He had been informed that his password would
expire in 4 days but did not change it. He then never used the PC for a
number of days and tried to login after the expiry date. The computer now
tells him that his password has expired and won't allow him access to the
PC. Is there any way around this situation?

I am unsure as to whether he set an administrator password when he
originally updated but he has tried accessing the system using the username
administrator but to no avail. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

4 Apr 2005 2:06 PM

Pegasus (MVP)

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"Zinzan" <billy.***@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:d2rh8o$riu$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
> I have a friend who updated his PC from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 a few
> years ago. HE has religiously amended his password every six weeks as the
> system request him to do. He had been informed that his password would
> expire in 4 days but did not change it. He then never used the PC for a
> number of days and tried to login after the expiry date. The computer now
> tells him that his password has expired and won't allow him access to the
> PC. Is there any way around this situation?
>
> I am unsure as to whether he set an administrator password when he
> originally updated but he has tried accessing the system using the
username
> administrator but to no avail. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
>

When a password has expired then the user must enter a
new password immediately. If he does not then he won't
be able to use Windows.

4 Apr 2005 4:22 PM

Wolf Kirchmeir

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

> "Zinzan" <billy.***@virgin.net> wrote in message
> news:d2rh8o$riu$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
>
>>I have a friend who updated his PC from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 a few
>>years ago. HE has religiously amended his password every six weeks as the
>>system request him to do.

He should have set the system not to require password changes. That's a
security feature for networked machines (and IMO should not be the
default setting, a) because it's not needed for stand-alone machines;
and b) there are lot of security issues with networked machines, and the
defaults should be that the admin and the user must make explicit
decisions about them, and not rely in defaults.)

> He had been informed that his password would
>>expire in 4 days but did not change it. He then never used the PC for a
>>number of days and tried to login after the expiry date. The computer now
>>tells him that his password has expired and won't allow him access to the
>>PC. Is there any way around this situation?
>>
[...]

Google on "Windows 2000 change forgotten password", and you'll find some
utilities that allow you to get into W2K and change the password. AFAIK
they all require bootable floppy disks. However, even with these
utilities it's not easy.

Good luck!

4 Apr 2005 9:16 PM

Java Jive

There's one called something like 'NT Key' or 'Windows NT Key' or 'Windows
2000 Key' which I use, that'll do it for you ...

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"Wolf Kirchmeir" <wwolf***@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:5Pd4e.1053$6k4.257157@news20.bellglobal.com...

> Google on "Windows 2000 change forgotten password", and you'll find some
> utilities that allow you to get into W2K and change the password. AFAIK
> they all require bootable floppy disks. However, even with these
> utilities it's not easy.

5 Apr 2005 12:04 PM

Gunrunnerjohn

Reset the password with http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

I should charge for this I post it so often. :-)

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On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 13:59:52 +0000 (UTC), "Zinzan" <billy.***@virgin.net> wrote:

>I have a friend who updated his PC from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 a few
>years ago. HE has religiously amended his password every six weeks as the
>system request him to do. He had been informed that his password would
>expire in 4 days but did not change it. He then never used the PC for a
>number of days and tried to login after the expiry date. The computer now
>tells him that his password has expired and won't allow him access to the
>PC. Is there any way around this situation?
>
>I am unsure as to whether he set an administrator password when he
>originally updated but he has tried accessing the system using the username
>administrator but to no avail. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>

5 Apr 2005 7:54 PM

Steven L Umbach

He will be able to gain access if he creates a new password which will first
require that he enter his current password. If he is using a home computer
he may want to extend his password expiration quite a bit or maybe never
change it if he uses a strong password. It is OK to write down your password
as long as you leave it in a safe place where it will not be found by those
that you do not want to see it. However for a business/office/school
environment, passwords should be changed on a regular basis or implement
smart card logons. --- Steve

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm -- last resort
option.

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"Zinzan" <billy.***@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:d2rh8o$riu$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
>I have a friend who updated his PC from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 a few
>years ago. HE has religiously amended his password every six weeks as the
>system request him to do. He had been informed that his password would
>expire in 4 days but did not change it. He then never used the PC for a
>number of days and tried to login after the expiry date. The computer now
>tells him that his password has expired and won't allow him access to the
>PC. Is there any way around this situation?
>
> I am unsure as to whether he set an administrator password when he
> originally updated but he has tried accessing the system using the
> username administrator but to no avail. Any help would be gratefully
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>