3 ms·

I didn't know that one back then but there was another one, where you could remove a file(or rename it) from C:/Windows(I don't remember which one it was, but 1

I didn't know that one back then but there was another one, where you could remove a file(or rename it) from C:/Windows(I don't remember which one it was, but 10 year old me definitely knew, but somehow I think it was C:/Windows/passwd) from DOS. Then you type in any password and it let you in and then you just swap the file with the old one once you are done. Sigh the number of times my classmates asked me to use it on our math teacher's computer in order to copy the tests...

afandian 6y ago
Our target was Visual Basic 3. You could start it through Microsoft Access, which somehow let you execute arbitrary commands.
- neltnerb 6y ago
  Don't forget hypercard, that let us run whatever we wanted on Macs. On windows though, we discovered that if you use the save or open dialogs you can just browse wherever, right click, and run the exe. It sounds like that was a bit before your time, security was even more laughable then. Oddly, the network was set up perfectly, at least according to the standards of the time.
brian_herman 6y ago
I think you are thinking of this one use it all the time at work. https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-a-windows-10-password/ https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-a-windows-10-password/
- gruez 6y ago
  That's not exactly the same, because it's essentially modifying the operating system files to bypass the security checks, whereas this article and the gif are basically loopholes in the OS that gives you access.
- axegon_ 6y ago
  Could be(or something similar I guess, I moved over to the penguin army in 2000).
elteto 6y ago
You could bypass the screensaver lock this way. If the C: drive was shared over the network (and more often than not it was!) you could just rename c:\windows\scrnsave.exe and the process would crash. Fun times!
harikb 6y ago
Well technically that is possible in any OS. You can mount the drive elsewhere or to a live cd, change root password. That is the recommended way to recover from lost root password (assuming FS is not encrypted - which was the case you were talking about) Let us assume one can’t easily modify the filesystem or special boot options are not available

afandian 6y ago

Our target was Visual Basic 3. You could start it through Microsoft Access, which somehow let you execute arbitrary commands.

neltnerb 6y ago
Don't forget hypercard, that let us run whatever we wanted on Macs. On windows though, we discovered that if you use the save or open dialogs you can just browse wherever, right click, and run the exe. It sounds like that was a bit before your time, security was even more laughable then. Oddly, the network was set up perfectly, at least according to the standards of the time.

brian_herman 6y ago

I think you are thinking of this one use it all the time at work. https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-a-windows-10-password/ https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-a-windows-10-password/

gruez 6y ago
That's not exactly the same, because it's essentially modifying the operating system files to bypass the security checks, whereas this article and the gif are basically loopholes in the OS that gives you access.
axegon_ 6y ago
Could be(or something similar I guess, I moved over to the penguin army in 2000).

elteto 6y ago

You could bypass the screensaver lock this way. If the C: drive was shared over the network (and more often than not it was!) you could just rename c:\windows\scrnsave.exe and the process would crash. Fun times!

harikb 6y ago

Well technically that is possible in any OS. You can mount the drive elsewhere or to a live cd, change root password. That is the recommended way to recover from lost root password (assuming FS is not encrypted - which was the case you were talking about) Let us assume one can’t easily modify the filesystem or special boot options are not available