HACKING YOUR ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT PASSWORD - WINDOWS XP

This article addresses the situation where the Administrator account created during the installation of your operating system is used to break into your machine.

The article is not meant to show the different ways to break into computers but rather to show how to protect your computer from being broken into.  It focuses on Windows XP since it is more vulnerable, compared to Windows Vista or Windows 7.   

During the installation of your computer, the Administrator (the first default user) account created is left unpassworded by most people.  Since this is the most important account with unlimited rights and privileges, anyone in control of it controls the whole machine and the users.  Unfortunately, any account created after the installation hides the Administrator account and only shows the new account on your login screen.  This article shows you how to test and see if the Administrator account is password protected or not, and how to protect it.


STEPS:

1. Reboot your computer or Log Off (Click on Start -> Click on Log Off) if you have already logged in;
2. By default Windows XP displays a Graphical login (Welcome) screen with icons and usernames.  Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys twice to change the screen to the Traditional login screen as shown below;
3. In the User Name text box, type Administrator.  Leave the Password text box blank (don't type anything there); 

     4.  Press the OK button to login. 

Here is the catch.  If the machine logs you in successfully, you are not safe because anybody with this information could get into your machine, create other accounts, have access to the information in your account, disable your account, install any malicious software, etc., etc.

But if the machine requests that you put in a password to login you in, then the Administrator account is already having a password.  The big question then is, "Who passworded it?"

Normally, after installing computer for anyone, I have a password that I put on the Administrator account to prevent situations like this.  If you have somebody who works on your machine for you and trust that he will always be there to help you, it is not a bad idea to let him have control of the Administrator account.  But if for instance you buy the machine with the Administrator account passworded and you don't know the password, I will advice that you change it.

Look out for the next post that shows you how to change the Administrator account password without knowing the present password.