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top 200 commentsshow all 439

[–]Charmeleon25 1553 points1554 points ago

This would be so helpful if I lived in 1994

[–]ninja_at_law 885 points886 points ago

. . . . when the gif was originally posted.

[–]lexypher 710 points711 points ago

it would have been faster to reinstall than download that gif.

[–]PK_Fire 176 points177 points ago

You underestimate dial-up networking! On a 9600 baud modem it would only take 2 minutes, a very tolerable download time in 1994.

[–]ectod 207 points208 points ago

Minutes were seconds in 1994.

[–]Anon_y_mous 2 points3 points ago

How tall are you?

[–]Darknezz 1 point2 points ago

He's pretty tall, man. I dunno if he can hear us all the way down here.

[–]imPrettyTall 0 points1 point ago

6'10" lolz

[–]wojosmith 20 points21 points ago

Hey man. I remember dial up and it took 4 minutes to see a nude lady!

[–]ectod 7 points8 points ago

Those were the times... we actually savored it, it made our day. Now it's just a line on a schedule.

[–]Kreivi 10 points11 points ago

56k was not as bad as modern day makes it to be.

It was the standard at one point, and download and image sizes were "compatible" with that standard (as well as the resolution standard), which means images were about 10kb - 100kb on average, and video clips would be a few megabytes.

I recall downloading full seasons of Dragonball with ease, getting two or three episodes a day!

[–]eidetic 16 points17 points ago

Yeah, it wasn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

Though one memory that sticks out for me is back in 1994 or so my friend and I spent weeks trying to download a 10mb video file of a news report about an exploding whale.

This was back in 8th grade or so, and every morning we'd ask each other if we had any luck downloading it the night before (or rather, overnight as we slept). The problem wasn't so much the file size, as it was our connections lasting long enough to download the file, and/or the server itself staying online long enough for our downloads to complete.

Dial up seems so terrible now in part because so much of the internet today is geared towards broadband connections. Back then, downloading video, music, etc, wasn't a priority for most people. For everyday browsing, it wasn't too bad. And for stuff like movies/games/music/etc, it may have taken much longer, but things were also smaller back then too. Sure, today we can download a full game in just a few hours (or even less), whereas in the past it might have taken overnight or something, but it still wasn't that terrible an ordeal.

I think another reason it seems so much worse is because today, the internet is always on with broadband connections. It's very easy today to be able to quickly just look something up. Back then, one had to actual connect to your ISP prior to doing such, or use some kind of method to keep your connection from dropping due to inactivity (my personal favorite was to set up a script in IRC to ping myself every 5 minutes or so). But back then, the internet didn't play nearly the role it does today, as very few companies had major web presences, and we didn't have nearly the same resources available that we do today.

Basically, I think the issue is that people project how terrible today's internet would be on dial up, rather than remembering the internet as it was when dial up was the standard. Yes, quite a few people still use dial up today, but they're probably using it just to periodically check their email, or other "low demand" uses. But back then, the web was geared, and optimized for such lower speed connections.

[–]gingerlemon 5 points6 points ago

I remember using GoZilla to get my download speeds up 20%! (6 Kb/s up from 5 Kb/s) !

[–]Kreivi 6 points7 points ago

GoZilla! I thought it was magic. It even had those crazy graphs showing how much OVERdownload it was doing or something.

[–]flamingboard 7 points8 points ago

It still takes that long on satellite or 3G where I live. If you can get a signal at all.

[–]CoffeeFox 26 points27 points ago

Poor satellite data users, your internet has to walk 44,472 miles both ways just to show you a cat picture.

[–]Squeejee09 14 points15 points ago

And it walks up a 90 degree hill.

[–]flamingboard 5 points6 points ago

Still worth it.

[–]roobens 1 point2 points ago

But it's travelling at the speed of light, so in human walking terms it's like wiggling a toe.

[–]thisusernametakentoo 1 point2 points ago

Only if you had all driver floppies at hand

[–]alkalinelito 88 points89 points ago

Sorry, but that's Windows 98 (Or 95) .

In 1994 , Win 3.1 or DOS

Edit: It's 98, quick launch was introduced with Windows 98

[–]barryfc 10 points11 points ago

Or 95 with IE4...

[–]alkalinelito 2 points3 points ago

I think it's Internet Explorer 3.0 icon

[–]I3rucew 12 points13 points ago

what the fuck am i watching....

[–]davidrichfield 5 points6 points ago

I dunno, but it's hilarious.

[–]Iggyhopper 3 points4 points ago

i want to watch more.

[–]alkalinelito 7 points8 points ago

That was amazing !, that guy should read reddit comments

[–]thesundeity 0 points1 point ago

thanks a lorra lorra lot.

[–]gingerlemon 3 points4 points ago

If only I could reatch :(

[–]Sciophobia 0 points1 point ago

I felt like the only one who noticed! Right before I posted the comment saying so, I looked down at the comments and there it was! I'm glad you didn't fall into the whole hive-mind deal. Ahaha. I mean, really they were just one year off!

[–]zaphod777 18 points19 points ago

Or you could just hit the escape key. Yea .... security on windows 98 was awesome.

[–]chickenfun1 10 points11 points ago

or cancel

[–]MTGandP 3 points4 points ago

If you have an old computer, it's easier to just enter Safe Mode and then reset your password.

[–]thenoblekoala 525 points526 points ago

Prepare yourself local library branch.

[–]cojafoji 91 points92 points ago

We're all vista and Win7 now. Deepfreeze, Webroot, MSSE, GP locked down IE, and locked down firefox.

Suck it.

[–]mirv321 57 points58 points ago

USB+Puppy Live=good times.

[–]joshjje 16 points17 points ago

What if they have all other boot options disabled, and security on their BIOS? WHAT THEN?

[–]pr1ntscreen 34 points35 points ago

Reset bios settings by opening the machine and removing battery and shorting it. Your move.

[–]cojafoji 66 points67 points ago

Then, watch as the circulation staff sees you and calls the police which are conveniently located right next door.

[–]SpermWhale 44 points45 points ago

But Dunkin Donuts is having a buy-1-take-1 promo, so library staff fail.

[–]antimony51 4 points5 points ago

This software might do the trick, although I've never tried it myself.

[–]brophylicious 13 points14 points ago

Durable lock for case. Your move.

[–]jax9999 2 points3 points ago

lock pick motherfucker!

[–]tylerwatt12 8 points9 points ago

pick the lock to gain entry into the case, to open the case, to hit the cmos reset to reset the bios to clear the bios passwords to gain access to the boot menu to boot into linux to do what you actually wanted to do in the first place. right, easy.

[–]jax9999 6 points7 points ago

or i could just find the librarian, tie her up and beat her till i got the admin password

[–]tsimon 3 points4 points ago

Open the case and LIVE BADGERS! NOW WHAT?

[–]odsquad64 6 points7 points ago

A lot of places have computers with locks on the case.

[–]Aedalas 10 points11 points ago

[–]joshjje 2 points3 points ago

And if we put a blanket over the computer station, nobody would suspect a thing.

[–]Dwokimmortalus 1 point2 points ago

No security settings will protect against physical access to the machine. I sometimes go with the pentest guys on out wargames because I was a locksmith apprentice for a short time. Once the locks are off, it takes less than two minutes for them to control a machine.

This is why internal network security controls are just as important as the ones protecting you from China and 4chan.

[–]sam_hammich 3 points4 points ago

Not mine.

[–]loookitsatravis 3 points4 points ago

Webroot, MSSE

This must be legit. Only the government would install two anti-virus services.

[–]SlyHeist 236 points237 points ago

The exploit is in HP's printer interface and not the windows OS. The default printer interface would not allow you to do this.

[–]bureX 49 points50 points ago

When activation periods expired in Windows vista (pre SP1 days), you couldn't log in at all, you just got an info box. I managed to run explorer.exe just by viewing help and clicking a helpful link, which opened an Internet Explorer browser, in which I simply went to File > Open and found explorer.exe.

[–]Dunge 18 points19 points ago

Did the same thing, but unfortunately there was a "quota" limit of the number of process that could be opened at the same time.

[–]enigmamonkey 1 point2 points ago

Simple. Just download VMWare and install another copy of windows on a virtual machine.

[–]Magnora 24 points25 points ago

Simple!

[–]lancexxiii 5 points6 points ago

...instead of mounting that iso on a usb drive or burning a dvd and hard-installing it...

[–]Catsler 6 points7 points ago

I thought the same... but then again: the OS and its login screen should not allow any poorly written UI to allow the desktop to be launched.

[–]aboardthegravyboat 0 points1 point ago

Good point.

Also, I think this gave you access to the local computer, but you still weren't authenticated on the network. Depending the version of windows, you still may not have had much access to the local machine either.

[–]wildgordo 0 points1 point ago

Upvote for you sir. Most (but not all) of the time, it's not Windows, but the crap software on top. HP has a long history of borderline-virus software.

[–]NibblyPig 35 points36 points ago

Our old windows NT network was locked down, but I found a nice security hole - it ran screensavers under the administrator role. Rename your .exe to .scr, set it as your screensaver, wait 5 minutes, boom.

[–]iamNebula 27 points28 points ago

At first, I thought you were just showing how many pointless dialogues you could open.

[–]DerpVonGroove 12 points13 points ago

Had I known this back in '96 I would've gotten so much pussy.

[–]dougal24 57 points58 points ago

Or just Alt +F4 to close the password window... Yes that actually worked

[–]JustCallMeBen 10 points11 points ago

in Win95/98, yes. This screenshot however is from Win NT, in which I think that didn't work.

The reason for this however is not that Win 95/98 had flawed security (they had, but this quirk is not the result from that), but because the reason for logging in in 95/98 was just so different users could have their own preferences. The login was not meant to make sure only someone authorized got access to the system, but just to offer people to save different profiles. It was a usability feature, not a security measure.

Therefore iirc Windows NT only allowed those things to work if you set up a guest account.

[–]que_pedo_wey 8 points9 points ago

The screenshot is of Win9x, not NT 4:

  • The logon window is not that of NT 4
  • explorer defaults to %windir%\system, not %windir%\system32
  • the content of "system" is full of stuff (like *.hlp files) that's not there in NT; instead, this stuff is in "system32" in NT 4.

[–]Snoopyalien24 2 points3 points ago

Or boot UBCD and clear the password offline

[–]vgxmaster 2 points3 points ago

Wait. Are you serious?

I mean, if this is true, how was it so successful with business? Every single terminal's security is compromised if you can just alt+f4 your way into an account...

I mean, that'd be AWESOME.

[–]dougal24 6 points7 points ago

Yeah, however I wasn't doing it on networked computers in an office though.

I did piss my friends off saying I could break their passwords

[–]slimmtl 4 points5 points ago

ALT+F4 often worked on computers with a special password/timer program. Like in many net cafes and gaming etc.

The default one didn't let you go through with alt-f4 iirc.

[–]ThagaSa 10 points11 points ago

In XP you can get past the "must activate windows" screen by launching Windows Narrator (winkey+u I think? don't remember), and clicking the blue help link. It'll launch IE from which you can launch anything else, including cmd or explorer.

[–]jbird123 7 points8 points ago

Including AntiWPA you mean ;)

[–]IntellingetUsername 83 points84 points ago

Loos to me like the vulnerability here is in the print driver written by HP, not Windows.

[–]resqual 44 points45 points ago

Maybe, but it looks like the stock Help system (which has the File menu).

[–]IntellingetUsername 23 points24 points ago

Good point, that should not be accessible from that context menu.

[–]JimJonesIII 10 points11 points ago

Even if this were the case, the vulnerability would still be in Windows to allow a badly written driver to bypass security.

[–]Sinjo 20 points21 points ago

Yeah...erm...revisit your assumptions about how drivers work. In fact (short of a heavily sandboxed OS), about how applications work. An OS being secure doesn't guarantee that everything run on it is.

[–]flyingbuttressman 8 points9 points ago

Well, should the OS be loading the printer driver prior to login? Is the ability to print the login screen worth giving an unauthorized user access to a 3rd party driver?

[–]johnt1987 5 points6 points ago

If its a multi-user computer, acting as a print server for networked computers, or is displaying troubleshooting information for errors that prevent new user sessions and is needed when looking up information on another distant computer, then yes.

More importantly, why is a 3rd party driver requesting higher level privileges than what is required/necessary?

[–]flyingbuttressman 5 points6 points ago

I'm not sure that Windows 98 actually had differing privilege levels.

[–]AFatDarthVader 4 points5 points ago

No it isn't. That could be expected for a regular application, but certainly not a driver.

[–]89oo5 2 points3 points ago

You do realize that drivers have lower level access to your system than any application on your PC, correct? Drivers get kernel level access in most operating systems (monolithic and hybrid kernels).

[–]MatrixOperator 39 points40 points ago

Well there are still plenty of ways to do stuff like this in newer operating systems. Burn a lightweight linux to a usb and boot into it. You'll have access to all the files.

You can boot an ophcrack cd if you want to know the password, and finally boot a registry editor and reset the password.

There's nothing microsoft or any other os manufactorer can do to prevent it, files are not truly secure until they are encrypted

[–]andrejpk 58 points59 points ago

If a guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722487.aspx#EIAA

[–]mysticrudnin 11 points12 points ago

Apply the same critical thought to a program that you would to a sandwich, and you'll usually be safe.

Beautiful.

Great read, thanks for the link.

[–]brophylicious 6 points7 points ago

"He could mount the ultimate low-tech denial of service attack, and smash your computer with a sledgehammer." LOL this is great.

And also ... "He could boot the computer from a floppy disk [...]" Oh man, I wish I still had my stack of floppy drives.

[–]subdep 3 points4 points ago

I could say the same thing about your mom.

[–]TehFence 17 points18 points ago

Burn a lightweight linux to a usb and boot into it. You'll have access to all the files.

You know, that's really.. not comparable at all.

[–]disaster_face 6 points7 points ago

the point is that making the login screen to an OS super-secure is kind of pointless, as it's easy as pie to circumvent the OS entirely

[–]TehFence 6 points7 points ago

There's a difference between an exploit and regular access.

[–]disaster_face 2 points3 points ago

yes, but if the data can be regularly accessed regardless of whether or not the exploit is used, I just don't see what the big deal is... It's like putting bars on your windows and leaving your front door wide open. How secure the bars are doesn't really matter.

[–]Repostology 113 points114 points ago

Anyone seeking more info might also check here:

title comnts points age /r/
Forgot your windows 98 login? No problem! 16coms 87pts 7mos gifs
[Repost] How to open a Windows 98 session without password 181coms 742pts 1yr geek
The most epic log-on of all time 52coms 571pts 1yr gifs
Forgot password? No problem. 5coms 3pts 1yr reddit.com
Forgot your Windows 98 password? No problem. 81coms 216pts 1yr pics
Epic Windows 98 Logon 691coms 1686pts 1yr funny
Younger Redditors don't know about real security problems 1com 23pts 6mos gifs
Windows Security... 67coms 532pts 8mos gifs

source: karmadecay

[–]duiker101 5 points6 points ago

you can still do something similar, or at least I did it on Vista and i suppose it works also on 7. The login screen has a button for help, just get a linux live cd and replace the exe for the help function(i don't remember exactly which one was it) with the cmd, go to the login screen and click the help button

????

Profit!!!

(remember to change it back for super stealth mode)

[–]Ironbird420 6 points7 points ago

You can replace the sticky keys shortcut with cmd.exe so at login you press shift 5 times to open the command prompt which you can use the net user command to make a new password for desired user. Just remember to switch it back the exe after you are done.

[–]Aoeeoaaoeeoa 2 points3 points ago

or you could just reset the local administrator password

[–]modestproposal81 5 points6 points ago

...the operative word there being "ol'."

[–]mexicanmusicman 5 points6 points ago

"I tried this with windows 8 an it didn't work..." - My dumbass brother.

Good luck, gentlemen

[–]coleosis1414 2 points3 points ago

GAH if only I knew this in high school :(

[–]wilsonliam 14 points15 points ago

If I remember rightly, on Windows 98SE you could just clear all the fields and click on OK, and it would log you in to a blank user. Not sure if that worked on all installs or was just something wrong with mine though.

[–]WaruiKoohii 12 points13 points ago

No, you could do that. You wouldn't have access to your network resources, but that was kinda the whole point of having a password.

[–]TheNomrak 23 points24 points ago

and today u boot an "offline registry editor" from a usb stick and reset the password in 2 minutes. and for the mac fans: u delete the first registration file and the next boot you see the "welcome to mac" screen and you can make a new account.

[–]phishf00d 45 points46 points ago

Yeah, but it has always been true that any computer you have physical access to is owned. Worst case is to take the drive out and read the data directly.

[–]sebso 15 points16 points ago

Which is why, if you store sensitive data on your computer, you use full disk encryption.

[–]shanedoth 10 points11 points ago

If the disk is mounted already there are ways to read the encryption key from memory.

[–]DTJ20 4 points5 points ago

It doesn't help if you get iced tea on your keyboard.

[–]MenaceInc 3 points4 points ago

Hence the need for TrueCrypt

[–]Nostrap 6 points7 points ago

on mac you can reset the password using the install disk

[–]crumblybutgood 14 points15 points ago

On a Mac you can reset the password in single-user mode.

[–]qkoexz 6 points7 points ago

What's the method for a locked BIOS?

[–]nightwraith35711 24 points25 points ago

Unplug, open the case, remove the CMOS battery, then put it back. Clears the CMOS, resets all the BIOS settings, including any password protection. A lot of newer computers have a jumper on the motherboard that will let you reset everything without even having to remove the battery, making it that much easier.

[–]WaruiKoohii 25 points26 points ago

"A lot of newer computers"? Man, we really are back in 1994. This has been true for the better part of 20 years.

[–]nightwraith35711 13 points14 points ago

I read this, and at first I thought "it hasn't been that long since they really started becoming commonplace..." and then I realized I was mixing terms. I realize that these have been around for quite some time.

What I meant was the ones that have something like this, where the black button will reset the CMOS without needing the case to be opened. That's something that's fairly new (last 5 years maybe?), at least in my experience.

[–]MEaster 10 points11 points ago

That button is asking to be accidentally pushed.

[–]nightwraith35711 2 points3 points ago

The one on my motherboard has to be held down for a couple seconds, so it's not something you'll do if you're just blindly feeling for an empty USB port or something. Although that hasn't prevented me from nearly having a heart attack every time I do accidentally tap it.

[–]SSChicken 3 points4 points ago

You can gain access to any unencrypted system (Mac, Windows, and Linux) easily if you have physical or USB boot access. Turn on Bitlocker, Truecrypt, FileVault, LUKS, or otherwise and see how easy it is then :)

[–]darkreality20 3 points4 points ago

What does the exploit do? It still returns an error when he tries to access My Computer.

[–]Seele 6 points7 points ago

The error is because the help wizard did not find the document it was expecting - it reads "Cannot find the file etc.". He still has gained access to Windows.

[–]zloog 25 points26 points ago

No, that isn't quite right.

The desktop environment in windows is provided by explorer.exe. Another function of explorer.exe is as a file manager. So, normally, if you wanted to browse the contents of c:\foo\ you can run explorer.exe c:\foo on the command line and the file manager will pop up.

These are two very different kinds of tasks, and the question arises: How does explorer.exe know when to act as a desktop environment or when to act as a file manager? The answer is this: when explorer.exe is started it will check to see if there is another copy of explorer.exe running. If there is no other copy running, then the user must be just now logging in and explorer.exe will act in it's capacity as a desktop environment. Otherwise, if there is at least 1 other copy of explorer.exe running, then there must already be one acting as a desktop environment, in this case explorer.exe will act as a file manager.

So the trick is this: When the user selected to "Explore" my computer, the dialog box had to invoke the explorer.exe program. Since no one had logged in at this point, there was no other explorer.exe running. As a consequence, the explorer.exe acted as a desktop environment. (Meaning it started to display the full windows UI rather than the login screen).

The error message that you see is simply the fact that explorer.exe , when acting in it's capacity as a desktop enviroment, did not understand what it's command line arguments meant (Since those arguments would only make sense if explorer.exe was being invoked as a file manager).

[–]bojack2424 1 point2 points ago

Could someone explain what happened in the gif? Things were moving a bit fast

[–]xkringerx 2 points3 points ago

watch again. the first part is the login screen. he uses the help and print features to gain access to the filesystem without having to log in.

[–]johnt1987 3 points4 points ago

My high school computers had some software called "fortress" (I think) to limit student access and permissions. Why they paid for 3rd party software instead of just creating a group policy is beyond me, but showing everyone else how to open a web browser to play flash games online wasn't.

The software only prevented students from launching IE, but it didn't prevent other applications from launching IE. So I would open up MS Word/Excel/Power Point, make a hyperlink, and ctrl+click. Admittedly it took me far longer than it should have to realize that I could use hyperlinks to start other programs besides IE and open up explorer windows as an administrator. It didn't help that they installed all software with administrator accounts/permissions thereby bypassing a lot of the techniques used by the 3rd party security software for user level access control.

There were some attempts to close the hole, but after we found out that the network administrator played EQ, all day in her office, and we didn't need the exploit any more. We had the password to disable the security software.

[–]Cranimesao 5 points6 points ago

[–]momadeen 58 points59 points ago

Wtf whys this windows so boxy and ugly?

[–]nuclearblaster 588 points589 points ago

it's the new Windows 8

[–]thatpaxguy 3 points4 points ago

Yeah, they're jumping on the whole "vintage" retro bandwagon.

[–]lethargicwalrus 23 points24 points ago

Controlled with the tips of your fingers... seriously, I have other things I need to use those for.

[–]Intolerance 106 points107 points ago

he means his penis guys

[–]Lcar210 59 points60 points ago

oh

[–]Dresdin 5 points6 points ago

bring it back down here, guys.

[–]sebzim4500 13 points14 points ago

no, screw you

[–]lethargicwalrus 10 points11 points ago

No, I was referring to the crocheting I like to do when I'm using the computer. Get your mind out of the gutter.

[–]rathgus 8 points9 points ago

"He's a grape... how is a grape gonna r... what are you talking about?"

[–]mick4state 50 points51 points ago

You must not be very old.

[–]mojorisin2592 39 points40 points ago

please, please be trolling.

[–]201109212215 61 points62 points ago

Upvoting you just to keep you afloat so that other people can see nuclearblaster's comment.

[–]3_snaps_up 3 points4 points ago

European date format? Pffft. You guys probably don't even have to put IE on the desktop. What are YOU complaining about?

[–]Cepheia 20 points21 points ago

For the love of god I seriously hope you're trolling.

Please.

...

Please...

[–]lunartree 14 points15 points ago

Only 90's kids will remember this...

[–]RickyBigRigs 2 points3 points ago

Alternatively you could press esc.

[–]Thecardinal74 2 points3 points ago

When Windows 95 first released, upon initial install you get to the point where you are forced to put in the license key. If you clicked "cancel" it continued on with the full installation anyway. It wasn't long, obviously, before it was caught. The second wave correctly cancelled the entire install if you did not put in a correct code.

[–]UnfoldablePages 2 points3 points ago

there's a computer a walmart that you can walk up to and scan things and check what's on the walmart.com website, it tries to block everything else, but if you mess around enough with it you can get it to print different things and get to the vista start menu. Fun stuff

[–]QQexe 0 points1 point ago

[–]SG_Dave 0 points1 point ago

Unfortunately there wasn't a workaround like this for XP. I was given a computer from my dads workplace a few years back that I was asked to crack. The original owner had locked it with a password that no-one could figure out (we assumed it was a random keyboard slam as a last fuck you) and no-one was computer literate enough to do anything more than turn it on or off.

For 4 days I tried all kinds of Win 98 exploits hoping they carried over. I couldn't find one. We never did get into that computer. Not sure what they needed off it.

[–]roflulz 4 points5 points ago

... you can bypass windows passwords in safe mode -.-;

[–]CarolusMagnus 0 points1 point ago

For the next time you need it: Download ophcrack or l0phtcrack, create a CD of it, run it on the computer.

[–]phorum 2 points3 points ago

That only gets you onto the local machine. It still does not log you into the network, as the dialog suggests the "attacker" is trying to do. It does absolutely nothing different than simply clicking the Cancel button normally or the X. You can see the error about failing to mount the network in one of the last frames. This is bullshit.

[–]erode 4 points5 points ago

I think it's really Hewlett-Packard that dropped the ball here.

[–]WaruiKoohii 10 points11 points ago

It was that Windows 98 wasn't really designed to be password protected. The password really only granted you access to network resources.

[–]Hyper_Inferno 3 points4 points ago

[–]midbc 2 points3 points ago

get with the times OP......or quit being a repost whore

[–]herr0there 0 points1 point ago

That was miserable, but yet i couldn't look away

[–]RExOINFERNO 0 points1 point ago

Could someone please explain what just happened?

[–]Radioactv_jelly 0 points1 point ago

Psshhhh I just keep a password reset disk in my desk at all times

[–]seraphwhynot 0 points1 point ago

Can someone explain what's going on here?

[–]having_sex_right_now 1 point2 points ago

wow nice exploit. should have known it 18 years ago.

[–]43443405 0 points1 point ago

We used to do that when I was in elementary school.

Good times!

[–]electric23sand 0 points1 point ago

wat.

[–]aMillionLasers 1 point2 points ago

my fathers computer has Windows Me (yeah...), one time he set up a password and you could just tap the "cancel" button on the password box... aaand you're in. idk what that was...

[–]janosaudron 0 points1 point ago

That's stupid, you could have just cancelled and the result would have been the same, you are still not authenticated into the domain and don't have network permissions.

[–]Deep-Thought 0 points1 point ago

In XP almost no one had a password for Administrator set up. You could boot up in safe mode and have full access to change any password.

[–]ndchristie 0 points1 point ago

I thought this was stupid until it saved my ass in the basements of Bobst (NYU library) trying to send myself microfilm scans in a timely manner (I did not attend NYU, but did have some library privileges...it's a long story).

[–]ObviousAnswerGuy 1 point2 points ago

Wow - I'm totally updating to Windows ME tomorrow

[–]dugdiggers 1 point2 points ago

That was literally the slowest gif on the planet

[–]josieisabunny -1 points0 points ago

oh, that's why it's so easy to backdoor those things

[–]wayndom -1 points0 points ago

Just ask Mitt Romney...

[–]eNomad 0 points1 point ago

I think if you clicked cancel, you would had saved much more time

[–]drink_your_milk 0 points1 point ago

It's even easier in windows xp home. The default admin password is blank, and 99% of OEMs shipped computers with the admin account enabled but hidden. Press Ctrl+alt+del+del to get the classic login, type 'administrator' as the username, and hit enter. You're in, with access to change any user's password.

[–]ColfaxJones 0 points1 point ago

Oh my

[–]Double_Che 0 points1 point ago

This also works when trying to remember you pin for your bank card :)

[–]DSTFU 1 point2 points ago

I can't tell if the lag in this gif is from slow internet or this gif is just like that.

[–]not-my-cabbage-corp -1 points0 points ago

tl:dw

[–]red_firetruck 1 point2 points ago

Way to represent something from 2007. The 2007 version even has music.

[–]lisabadcat 0 points1 point ago

Are you fucking kidding?

[–]kcmasterpiece347 0 points1 point ago

Boot in Safe Mode. Use the Administrator account. Run CMD. Enter the following lines of command consecutively:

net user net user [username] --Don't type "[username]," type the username of the account that you want to change the password of. net user [username] *

It should prompt you to enter a password. As you type, you won't see anything show up, but you are actually entering the password. It will ask you to re-enter the password. Same thing. [HINT: It's easier just to hit Enter and not type in anything at all. This will remove the password from said account entirely.]

[–]DoneRedditAlready 0 points1 point ago

works in XP too, slightly different method

[–]ElmertheAwesome 0 points1 point ago

Was I the only one who heard the old Windows ding at the last error?

[–]brainofbo 0 points1 point ago

guess you had to be there....

[–]PartyOnAlec 0 points1 point ago

I'll remember this the next time I'm hacking the computers in my elementary school computer lab.

[–]dawarrior_vex 0 points1 point ago

you could just hit esc....

[–]DontYouDare 0 points1 point ago

Watching that made my mouse hand itch.

[–]bhamby 1 point2 points ago

EPIC YTMND.

[–]MrYum 0 points1 point ago

Just press Cancel works too

[–]MrXaero 0 points1 point ago

You could have simply bypassed that whole mess by pressing [ESC]

[–]Deaki -1 points0 points ago

It does not work anymore, troll

[–]whatupnig 0 points1 point ago

Good OLD windows

FTFY

[–]Zooph 0 points1 point ago

That only worked to access the local computer, not the domain.

And if you have physical access to any computer, passwords don't mean shit.

[–]BabyBrown87 0 points1 point ago

What is that Win95?

[–]turboknight 0 points1 point ago

I remember reading that the first windows version to have user accounts had a button to simply say 'skip password', because people hated typing in passwords so much. I wish I could find the article (maybe it was on DailyWTF), but typing in windows + password into google gives about 2000 pages of shit.

[–]ClassicalFridge 0 points1 point ago

I wish I could overcome laziness to do something this awesome lol

[–]yyx9 0 points1 point ago

Fucking Microsoft. Wooops!

[–]BonsaiWasabi 0 points1 point ago

who would take the time to figure that out?

[–]willfaptodownvotes 0 points1 point ago

In windows 98 you could have just closed the login box to bypass it. See that little x? Push that thing.

[–]Sweet_Insanity 0 points1 point ago

This is funny how?

[–]Mugford9 0 points1 point ago

Is this that "hacking" thing they talk about?

[–]jon_titor 0 points1 point ago

In XP you used to be able to just boot up in safe mode and turn off the password settings.

[–]Norgenator 0 points1 point ago

Holy shit. I'm too young for this..

I'm 25