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Kali

(54,990 posts)
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 10:02 PM Jan 2014

password issue

I sort of inherited a couple of laptops. ( )

One is an HP that I think has windows 7, but the screen seems to be damaged, is it worth taking somewhere for repair or is that something I might try myself?

The other is a gateway with 8 on it. it seems to be locked with a password. Any way to get around it? I don't have any experience with 8 whatsoever so I am flying blind even on the start "page" but almost anything I do takes me to a sign in form with the previous owner's yahoo email address above a box for a password. I haven't been able to guess what that might be.

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woodsprite

(11,853 posts)
1. There used to be a jumper setting you could set on the motherboard that would bypass the password
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 10:50 PM
Jan 2014

and reset it back to factory settings. Do you have the manual, or can you google one on line. I haven't had a Gateway for a few years now and don't have any of the old docs.

Kali

(54,990 posts)
4. I can probably find a manual on line
Thu Jan 23, 2014, 10:02 PM
Jan 2014

would it be worth taking to somebody to work on it?

I didn't even know Gateway was still around

My first desktop came in a cow print box, but I thought they went out of business.

hobbit709

(41,694 posts)
2. If the screen is broken, it can be a major pain to replace
Tue Jan 21, 2014, 07:22 AM
Jan 2014

The Windows 8 could be a problem. They no longer put a product key sticker on the machine, which would make it easier to just wipe the drive and reinstall windows. If there is a restore function on the computer you might be able to restore it to the state it was in when it first came out of the box.
what are the model numbers of the laptops?

ChromeFoundry

(3,270 posts)
3. A few options...
Tue Jan 21, 2014, 09:37 AM
Jan 2014

On the laptop with the busted screen.. Is it cracked or is the backlight just burned out? Laptop screens are not that hard to replace... check on eBay to determine cost. You can probably connect an external monitor to the SVGA port to see if the laptop is worth salvaging.

To crack the Windows 8 password, this utility uses a LiveCD (boot up into Linux to access the Windows files) to brute-force the password:
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

Kali

(54,990 posts)
6. screen is neither
Thu Jan 23, 2014, 10:21 PM
Jan 2014

there is "light", no cracks
here are a couple of photos of what it looks like:


what it looks like after it sits for a few moments





if I hit enter (or any key) - and those horizontal bands in the upper 2/3 jiggle or are wavy




the splotch in the lower right is inside the screen, it is not a reflection and you can just make it out in the "rest mode" if not in the upper photo of rest mode, but it is much more noticeable after hitting a key. also there are sometimes two of the lighter colored vertical bands, right nest to each other (the second would be just to the right of the one showing in the lower photo)






ChromeFoundry

(3,270 posts)
7. looks like the video board
Fri Jan 24, 2014, 07:13 AM
Jan 2014

If you have an external monitor which you can plug into the VGA port...
if it looks the same it is surely a bad video adapter.
If it works, it may be a bad connection (usually in the screen hinge) or bad display (less usual).

gvstn

(2,805 posts)
8. I've been testing ophcrack in Win8.1
Mon Jan 27, 2014, 10:39 PM
Jan 2014

And so far I have had 100% success.

I was worried that it couldn't get the password for the Microsoft Managed accounts (the ones that use an email address as the user name) but it has found it on two different accounts of that type with no problem.

I don't think the other password reset programs will work for win8 (the ones that just remove the password) but I am going to try PCLoginNow to see what it does. This is just a quick load of Win8 for testing so I will let you guys know how it works.

So far Ophcrack is the way to go to get into the Win8 machine. I can give Kali instructions on loading "tables" if she needs help since I just did it.

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