OK, time to fess up here. I screwed up, so needed to find out how to do this for a machine we set up some time back that has been sitting idle - I was *sure* I recorded the authentication details in the OneNote build documentation for this client, but for the life of me, I can't find it. Now I need to finish the install and, well, that's a little difficult without logon details...
So, I Googled and found these instructions that I've added to a bit (net group) and added some handy screen captures as well:
1. Boot from DVD or USB media - this media can be Windows Server 2008 RTM, 2008 R2, SBS 2008 or even Windows 7.
2. Change the language to English (Australia) if you want - but we're not installing anything, so it really doesn't matter right now
3. Click on the "Repair your computer" link
4. Choose the OS instance that you wish to reset the Administrator (or other Administrative) password for, taking note of the drive letter that was chosen for it (normally D:)
5. Choose "Command Prompt"
6. Change to the Windows\System32 directory of this OS instance and move the Utilman.exe file to a backup, then copy cmd.exe to Utilman.exe
7. Remove the USB Key, reboot into the Windows install you need to change the password for and when at the Login prompt, hit Windows+U
8. Type 'net group "Domain Users"' to see a list of all the domain users on this system (Domain Controllers only)
9. Type 'net group "Domain Admins"' to see which administrative accounts exist on the system (Domain Controllers only) then type 'net user Administrator Select_a_decent_passphrase' to change the password of the Administrator account
10. Log in using the new password. Immediately go and change this password to a nice, secure passphrase.
11. Reboot with the DVD/USB boot media and copy the backed up Utilman.exe.bak file to Utilman.exe to make sure we don't leave this hole open for now. And that's it! :)
So, I Googled and found these instructions that I've added to a bit (net group) and added some handy screen captures as well:
1. Boot from DVD or USB media - this media can be Windows Server 2008 RTM, 2008 R2, SBS 2008 or even Windows 7.
2. Change the language to English (Australia) if you want - but we're not installing anything, so it really doesn't matter right now
3. Click on the "Repair your computer" link
4. Choose the OS instance that you wish to reset the Administrator (or other Administrative) password for, taking note of the drive letter that was chosen for it (normally D:)
5. Choose "Command Prompt"
6. Change to the Windows\System32 directory of this OS instance and move the Utilman.exe file to a backup, then copy cmd.exe to Utilman.exe
7. Remove the USB Key, reboot into the Windows install you need to change the password for and when at the Login prompt, hit Windows+U
8. Type 'net group "Domain Users"' to see a list of all the domain users on this system (Domain Controllers only)
9. Type 'net group "Domain Admins"' to see which administrative accounts exist on the system (Domain Controllers only) then type 'net user Administrator Select_a_decent_passphrase' to change the password of the Administrator account
10. Log in using the new password. Immediately go and change this password to a nice, secure passphrase.
11. Reboot with the DVD/USB boot media and copy the backed up Utilman.exe.bak file to Utilman.exe to make sure we don't leave this hole open for now. And that's it! :)
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