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My partner has an old work computer she has personal files on. She has been using a new laptop for some time and seems to have forgotten her password to the desktop, or it just won't connect to the work network. Their IT can't see it on the network so she would have to take it in (which won't be possible for some time). The irony is that she is desperate to leave but all of her up to date CV and portfolio stuff is on there -_-

I have tried various methods:

  • When I plug it into another pc it doesn't show in explorer (but it is there in device manager), even when booting it to command prompt and trying it.
  • Pressing windows button + r at the login screen doesn't do anything.
  • I can get to the recovery screen but trying to do anything asks for an admin password and doesn't give me any other options.
  • I have a bootable USB plugged in but I don't know how I could even get into the bios to boot from it as it doesn't currently do so. This is assuming it can, but i'd imagine booting from cd/dvd wouldn't be enabled if everything else is disabled.

I'm not sure why I can't even see it when it is plugged into another machine, I would have thought encryption would just block me from accessing it. I miss Windows 7!

Anyway, does anyone know how I could gain access to the files on the desktop?

Thanks

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    Please provide a screenshot of Disk Management with the drive connected. It is most likely just a matter of assigning a drive letter.
    – Daniel B
    Commented May 24, 2022 at 8:27
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    Please clarify wording as "...seems to have forgotten her password to the desktop..." doesn't make sense with "When I plug it into another pc it doesn't show in Explorer" - If it is the drive itself, either adapter used to connect it to another PC is bad or drive is bad, but if the drive is bad, it wouldn't boot, which doesn't jive with the first quoted statement. If drive isn't encrypted, passwords are meaningless with physical access to a PC since files can be accessed by either removing the password via DOS boot programs or by connecting the drive to another PC, booting Linux or WinPE
    – JW0914
    Commented May 24, 2022 at 12:29
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    @Oguru (Cont'd...) "It says I can't add an image, but it shows as a foreign drive.". Windows will auto-assign drive letters by default when it automounts externally connected drives, and while it shouldn't be necessary due to this, if a drive letter is not assigned, it can be mounted in Disk Management [DiskMgmt.msc] or DiskPart (lis vol → sel vol # → assign letter=Z → exit)
    – JW0914
    Commented May 24, 2022 at 12:34
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    You can always add images on Super User, as links. Without the screenshot, we cannot accurately judge the situation.
    – Daniel B
    Commented May 24, 2022 at 13:08
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    Does this answer your question? What can I do if I forgot my Windows password?
    – Moab
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 20:19

1 Answer 1

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Unless the drive is encrypted, this is trivial from any linux live environment. If the drive is encrypted then you're SOL, and take this as a learning experience, the value of not doing personal stuff on work hardware, backing up important files to multiple locations, and setting good, memorable passphrases.

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