Lost passwords

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MN Blue Skies

MN Blue Skies

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I have the same a problem on two computers that my mother owned when she was alive.  As the eldest sibling I ended up with all the genealogy research she had done and a lot of her research is on those computers and I've forgotten the passwords.  The computers are old desktops with the bulky monitors so it would be nice to get the info off the computers so that I can sell or give them away and free up space in my home office.
 
MN Blue Skies said:
I have the same problem on two computers that my mother owned when she was alive.  As the eldest sibling I ended up with all the genealogy research she had done and a lot of her research is on those computers and I've forgotten the passwords.  The computers are old desktops with the bulky monitors so it would be nice to get the info off the computers so that I can sell or give them away and free up space in my home office.
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Assuming neither of her computers are Apples, you should be able to take the drives out and connect to your computer - either install in your computer or put in an external drive enclosure.  If the data is not in an application database, you should be able to copy directly.  If it is, you may have to install the application then read the data.  If hers were Apple computers, you can probably do the same thing by connecting the drives to another Apple.
 
Sorry for hijacking this thread.  I misunderstood what the OP was asking.  If possible my post should be deleted and I should start a new thread with my question. 
 
No need to start a new topic; I split your question/replies into a topic of their own.
 
    Max, as Molaker said, if the information is in a genealogical program, then that is an area where you should look.  Everyone who does genealogy is taught to back up their data, I do it regularly for DW.  So, if you can find the back up disk, CD, external hard drive, or cloud that she might have kept, then you need to access the program.  For the most part there are only a handful of programs, and any genealogical group or the nearest LDS Centre I am sure would help you download the information or program.
    Another option is to take the computers into the Computer Lab at the University that you attend and let the hot kids crack the password.

Ed
 
If the computers can be booted from a CD, then there are a lot of programs that can reset the passwords.
 
IF it's the logon password to the computer then this tool will do the job for you.  It will also tell you the logon ID.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/active_password_changer.html

There are dozens of others password reset & rescue tools at majorgeeks.com.  Enter password reset in the search field and you'll see them all.

Just like this site there are adds there, be careful to only download programs from either majorgeeks or the authors site.

 
This might help you for the future. I'm a Web Site Admin myself also and manage servers and web sites. But with web security being a big issue I had to find a way of managing a mess load of passwords. Well I found a excellent program that does just that. KeePassX.

http://www.keepassx.org/

It manages all my Usernames, password and URL's and even creates good strong passwords too. Most of mine are between 20-64 characters long. This little program will even auto-type most of your stuff for you!
 
Regarding hacking into my Mother's computers and records I need to find the passwords for the two computers as well as the password(s) for the program(s).  To make matters more complicated I think I inadvertently got rid of the cables and power cords for the two computers.  Cloud wasn't an option for her back then but knowing my Mom she did any excellent job of backing up her research on disks or floppies until she could know longer sit at her computer.

I might not have a chance to work on recovering the data from her genealogy projects and the book she was writing until mid summer.  I will have a busy spring working toward graduating in May and Eric retiring in May or June.  Then we plan on taking the TT on a long trip to celebrate both events. 

If I don't stumble across the passwords in the mountain of genealogy records and pictures I inherited I will probably bring the computers to a local computer expert.  I talked to several students in the IT programs at the college I attend and they didn't have a clue where to start with the old technology. 
 
I have a document I need to give to darling daughter,, It will contain some passwords.

Regarding net based password vaults,, There are several out there, Most all of em work,, Some very well,, The one I use (Which shall remain nameless for security resons) shares the vault over all my internet capable devices,  Also my password assoicated bookmarks.  Very handy.. IT will not always let me log into the web page automatically (Sometimes I have to copy passwords manually) but it still puts 'em where I can find 'em.

Some of my passwords looke like 2Fq78gH9Bp  Which is kind of hard to guess (And that is not one of 'em, I just hit random keys on the KB just now)
 
It would help if you could tell us exactly what kind of password your dealing with.

Is it a password box that pops up a few seconds after you power on the computer?  If so it's a BIOS password and is easily disabled.

If it's a logon password that appears after windows starts you can boot from a CD and reset it to whatever you want as I previously mentioned.

If it's a specific program you may find a password reset utility on the net.

If it's web based There will probably be a forgotten password and ID link somewhere.

If it's encrypted MS word docs, spreadsheets etc. there are ways to crack it.  Might cost money and take lots of time.

If it's a disk encryption system such as TrueCrypt, bitlocker etc. there are ways to crack it.  Money & Time as above.
 
First steps are to find or replace the power cords and cables.  For the time being I have to set aside this project but I hope to get back to it in late June, if I'm lucky. I'll refer back to this post for hints on what to do after I replace the cords and cables.  I keep thinking that Mom must have written down the passwords someplace. 
 
Desktop and tower computers mostly use the same cables.

Laptops can be kind of tricky as every laptop I had save one used different power cords.. And those two were both IBM Thnkpads of similar age. (Older and newer use different voltages and plugs).
 
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