Re: Win10 password?

Robert Baer wrote:
>   So i got a nice collection of "programs"/"apps carefully selected on a 
> USB stick ready to go.
>   After an hour or so, had the "new" Lenovo connected keyboard/mouse/VGA.
> 
>   Nice splash screen.
>   What the hell do i do for the unknown password?
> 

During the OutOfBoxExperience (OOBE, those dialogs that ask
about setting up the machine), did you define a password ???
Is the password blank ?

If you got this machine and it did not prompt for a new name
("baer") so you could have C:\users\baer , then the machine
may be used and maybe it had C:\users\wally and you did not
notice ?

*******

Step 1 : Around the login screen, there should be an icon
          with various options in it and one of the options
          should be a shutdown-type option.

That's to get you out of the prompt. Without just pushing
the power button, as I might do if I was upset or angry.

The second question is, whether your setup autologs at boot.
Some people have their machine set up, so it locks and prompts
for a password, if the machine is inactive for ten minutes.
Whereas, when the machine boots, they'd used "netplwiz" to remove
the need for a login password.

If this was the case, then

Step 2 : Now, boot up again, and if you have autolog, then
          you'll be back into the screen, and you can use
          Start : Run : control to get to control panels, then
          use the Power control panel to disable the screen locker.

          If you don't have autolog, you'll have to use a password
          reset hack if the account is a local one. If you've been
          using an MSA password, then that's going to be tougher
          to fix, if you've lost the MSA password. You can do a password
          reset, but this requires that the email account used to set up
          the MSA, to still be available.

The only way this password is "unknown", is if
this machine is used. If you haven't set it up yet,
you can use the "reset" procedure in the Lenovo
manual, to reload C: . Then it should go through OOBE
again, and you can define the local account and
its local password. Do the local account first,
so you have an account with your preferred name.

If the Lenovo is so used, it has "Refurbisher Windows 10"
on it, then you would need the "Refurbisher Windows 10"
DVD to reinstall. The Refurb machines don't seem to have a
restore partition on them. A Refurb machine doesn't have
a Lenovo OS on it either. It's closer to a generic
copy of Windows that a retail DVD would make. If you wanted
a restore image, you have to make one (on a USB stick for example).
Windows has some procedure for preparing such. I made one
a few years ago as an experiment, and it took a couple
tries to complete.

If the machine has Refurbisher Windows 10 on it,
one of the first things you do is use Nirsoft Produkey
or MagicJellyBean, to record the 25 character license key
for later. As the key on a Refurb, might not be the same
as the license key the machine came with. (The refurbisher
scrapes the COA off the machine sometimes, before shipping,
leaving nothing for the qualifying OS.)

Are we having fun yet ? I've been through some of this,
I don't know if you can tell or not. One diff with me,
is I asked the seller (store downtown) for the installer
DVD and they had one. Mine is a Windows 7 Refurbisher.
Microsoft stopped shipping those hologram DVDs some
time ago. But no matter what media you use, you'll need
a key, and the key isn't necessarily in the BIOS as an
ACPI MSDM table either. That's why you need Produkey.

*******

Using the "windir" option here, you can carry the hard drive
from the Lenovo, over to your working technician machine,
and while booted with the C: of the technician machine,
check the E:\Windows of the Lenovo drive you installed
into the computer for maintenance.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

It is possible to capture the key off the Lenovo drive,
even if you can't see the screen. It just means plugging
the drive into another machine so ProduKey can get at it.

Windows Defender considers ProduKey to be "hackware" and
it will attempt to quarantine it. This is just harassment
from Microsoft. The software performs a necessary function
for maintenance purposes.

    Paul