[mikefletcher85]

I am attempting to build a USB bootable toolkit to use at work. At this point we are using Hirens but really only use it for Ghost and the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor. I already have Ghost working (that was a piece of cake), but now I am trying to find something similar to the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor that will work in a WinPE 3.0 environment. From my understanding that tool just edits the Windows registry to Clear passwords and Re-enable accounts. Would it be possible to do this from WinPE? We occasionally come across PC's where the user attempted to log in too many times with the wrong password and locks their local account. Usually we would just log in as Administrator but a new rule that came down from above disabled the Administrator account. So when we run into these PC's we boot Hirens and run the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, log in as Administrator, then reset the user's password. Some times we run into an older PC that used a different password for Administrator then our current standard so we would just use Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and clear (and enable) the Administrator account to do what we need to.

Any know of a tool (or a manual way) to Clear passwords and Re-enable accounts from within WinPE 3.0? Most of the host machines are Windows 7 now, with just a few left on XP.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Hirens is warez and as such you'll find no support for anything related to it here.

You are also likely to be banned for it.

[mikefletcher85]

Kelsenellenelvian, on 24 January 2013 - 12:27 PM, said:

Hirens is warez and as such you'll find no support for anything related to it here.

You are also likely to be banned for it.

I was not asking for support for Hirens, I was actually saying I was trying to NOT to use it by creating my own tool. Also I could completely omit Hirens from my post and would still be in the same place. I can create a Ghost boot disk from Ghost Boot Wizard which is a standard tool in the Ghost Solution Suite (which we own). The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is freeware and can be setup on a CD or USB drive. I was just hoping to put both together, and maybe other tools that could help us in our day to day.

So I guess ultimately I was looking for a way to duplicate the functionality of Offline NT Password & Registry Editor but in WinPE 3.0.

[Tripredacus]

mikefletcher85, on 24 January 2013 - 08:50 PM, said:

The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is freeware and can be setup on a CD or USB drive

This program looks to be built on Linux right? WinPE 3.0 already contains regedit.exe.

[submix8c]

Grub4DOS + the ISO maybe? Grub4DOS as ISO Boot would allow for loading WinPE and other utilities as well (AFAIK)...

[mikefletcher85]

Tripredacus, on 25 January 2013 - 09:58 AM, said:

This program looks to be built on Linux right? WinPE 3.0 already contains regedit.exe.

Thats along my line of thinking, but I do not know what/how that tool modifies the registry to complete its task

submix8c, on 25 January 2013 - 12:06 PM, said:

Grub4DOS + the ISO maybe? Grub4DOS as ISO Boot would allow for loading WinPE and other utilities as well (AFAIK)...

I have used something like this is the past, but want to avoid having to reboot to change tools. I was hoping to build it into WinPE

[WinOutreach4]

If your company has Volume Licensing with Software Assurance, then you already have access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). MDOP has several tools to help IT Pros, one of which is the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset (DaRT). DaRT includes 14 tools including Locksmith (for resetting passwords), Defender to scan for viruses while Windows is offline, File Restore to recover deleted files, Crash Analyzer and more.

With DaRT, you can create a bootable image that can be used from USB, CD, DVD, deployed locally to workstations, or via network boot.

There are many articles and videos that will help you at the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset page of the Springboard Series on TechNet.


Hope this helps,

David
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

This post has been edited by WinOutreach4: 25 January 2013 - 12:26 PM

[mikefletcher85]

WinOutreach4, on 25 January 2013 - 12:22 PM, said:

If your company has Volume Licensing with Software Assurance, then you already have access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). MDOP has several tools to help IT Pros, one of which is the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset (DaRT). DaRT includes 14 tools including Locksmith (for resetting passwords), Defender to scan for viruses while Windows is offline, File Restore to recover deleted files, Crash Analyzer and more.

With DaRT, you can create a bootable image that can be used from USB, CD, DVD, deployed locally to workstations, or via network boot.

There are many articles and videos that will help you at the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset page of the Springboard Series on TechNet.


Hope this helps,

David
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

I do have access to that, I will have to look into it. By any change do you know if it would be possible to add Ghost to DaRT?

Thanks!

[WinOutreach4]

As a Microsoft representative, I cannot comment on 3rd party imaging tools. However, you might also want to take a look at the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for your imaging and deployment needs.

MDT is a free solution that uses file based imaging rather than sector based imaging. It also manages device drivers, packages and software outside of the image. This allows you to update those items without recreating your images.

MDT can also be used with DVDs or USB drives, or over the network using WDS or SCCM.

A great video to show you how powerful and flexible your deployments can be with MDT:

DeploymentDay Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012


Hope this helps,

David
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

This post has been edited by WinOutreach4: 25 January 2013 - 03:53 PM

[mikefletcher85]

WinOutreach4, on 25 January 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:

As a Microsoft representative, I cannot comment on 3rd party imaging tools. However, you might also want to take a look at the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for your imaging and deployment needs.

MDT is a free solution that uses file based imaging rather than sector based imaging. It also manages device drivers, packages and software outside of the image. This allows you to update those items without recreating your images.

MDT can also be used with DVDs or USB drives, or over the network using WDS or SCCM.

A great video to show you how powerful and flexible your deployments can be with MDT:

DeploymentDay Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012


Hope this helps,

David
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

WinOutreach4, thanks for the replies. I will have to check those out come Monday.