The most rediculous thing...

[Shadowfalcon]

I cant believe my luck...

Yesterday, I was configuring a newer computer for my cousin to take back to college. After about 8 hours of hassle with this piece-o-crap, I finally got Windows XP Pro to install correctly.

When prompted to enter an Admin password, I did what any sane computer literate person would do, and entered a ten character password comprised of letters and numbers, writing it down on a piece of paper as I typed.

I went to bed, happily knowing that things with this computer were going my way. Little did I know, my luck had already turned against me.

I awoke this morning ready to finish configuring it (installing FireFox, Ad-aware SE, BlackICE, things of that nature). She bootstrapped without a problem, then loaded to the login screen. I needed to log in as the Admin, as I had made the other account a restricted one.

\"a-d-m-i-n-i-s-t-r-a-t-o-r\"
\"Tab\"
Password:
\"oh, I dont remember the password. Good thing I wrote it down.\"

The paper was blank.

The pen I used to write the password, was a pen used for marking fabric. It is filled with disapearing ink.

This story has no point, I just wanted to share with you all the most rediculous part of my most rediculous day.

[ArcaneFalcon]

Is it one of those blacklight pens?  If it isn\'t I\'m sure the ink is still there so you could try soaking the paper in random chemicals to see if it reappers (I\'d start with something a little more volatile than water to begin, maybe gas and rubbing alcohol?).  Also, I\'m sure you can find a utility for changing the admin password.  Isn\'t there some file or other you can access in a hex editor that contains the password?  If nothing works then I\'m sorry to hear it, and good luck with the reinstallation. :\\  

:emerald:

[Shadowfalcon]

The pen had actuall disapearing ink, vanishes after a few hours. But dont wory, Im way ahead of you. The password is being brute forced as we speak. should be done in a few days...

[ArcaneFalcon]

Yeah, I know that the pen has disappearing ink.  Many of those inks are visible in blacklight.  Soaking it in random things may be a solution as well, though that is just a wild guess (after all, what\'s he got to lose?  a blank sheet of paper?).

:emerald:

[Shadowfalcon]

You know, your blacklight idea might work, after all the chemicals are still sitting on the paper, problem is, i dont have a black light. As for soaking it in chemicals, that was the first thing I thought of doing, but I dont think my uncle would want me soaking things in gasoline, and i dont think they have any Isoprophyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol, maybe... but I think they might not want to waste any of it, if you know what i mean. If I were at home, i would just toss some butanol on it, but I cant do that here.

[Under the moon]

There is a trick using milk and a candle to see invis ink.  I can\'t remember quite what it was though.  Russian spies used it to sneak secret info about the US nuke project out of secured buildings.  Try a google.

[swift]

While bruteforcing will work, you might be waiting a VERY long time !

Remember that most forecast times are the average time it would take to crack a password x characters long, and don\'t relate to an actual time.  

What are the specs of this machine?

I would try
 
a) reformat / reinstall
b) Backup any important files to another partition via knoppix, then reinstall and restore files.  
c) Use a tool such as \"Advanced Windows Password Recovery\" to look up the password.  The trial version won\'t show it, but I think you can simply drag your user with limited permissions to the \"administrators\" group.

[lynx_lupo]

Originally posted by Under the moon
There is a trick using milk and a candle to see invis ink.  I can\'t remember quite what it was though.  Russian spies used it to sneak secret info about the US nuke project out of secured buildings.  Try a google.

Milk *is* the almost invisible ink.

[Shadowfalcon]

well, this discussion has become acedemic. Its done. swift, you give up too easily. Brute forcing doesnt take THAT long, it cracked it after 10 hours. You just have to have the right programs. Just remember, next time you write down a password, dont do it with INVISIBLE ink!

[Androgos]

ERD Commander
http://www.winternals.com/products/repairandrecovery/index.asp?pid=ap#erd

# Key features:
....
# Includes the Locksmith utility to reset lost Administrator passwords
....

[Shadowfalcon]

I use LC4. Its never taken more than 24 hours to bruteforce a password, though ive only done it a few times. Might just be lucky.

[JellyWerker]

poor you, but at least the story had a happy ending, ten hours later.

[Shadowfalcon]

Believe me, its still not a happy ending with this thing. now it is unable to contact DHCP server, so it cant connect to the net. I\'m never gonna get this thing to work properly.

[Annah]

She bootstrapped without a problem ...

 Is a she? 0.o

[Shadowfalcon]

most people personify machines as a woman, usually cars and boats, and computers. But in this case, its a she, cause she\'s a biatch. Anyone know how to connect to a DHCP server? Im out of ideas.

Edit: Did you know cuss words are replaced with the word \"peanut\"?