Laptop Lock Out by Administrator...Need HD Data

[RockerDood]

Hey there... Not sure if this is the right area for posting this!!

I have an instance where I cannot log onto a laptop computer that was set up through a corporate admin and I need to gather personal info off of the hard drive and onto my backup drive.

I only have like a day or so to backup my info. How can I access it? It is Dell D620 Latitude, running XP Professional, I believe it has a 160 Gig HD, no Floppy Drive, 1 CD/DVD Rom Drive, USB Ports, etc. I want to get the data onto my external backup drive, but since it's locked, I can get the USB connection. Is there a way I can boot to DOS and transfer there? Without a Floppy Drive?

Or how about removing Hard Drive and transfering via connection to my desktop PC?

Let me know if any more info is needed.

Thanks for the help ahead of time!

 

[reeve]

removing the hd wont do a whole lot of good as the files will be protected still.

have you tried hitting F8 during boot up to access boot options and run safe mode? this should allow you into the administrators hidden account and you should be able to access alll files on the hdd from there.

other than that or getting the password i dont think there is a whole lot more you can do to get the data.

 

[berry120]

What do you mean by "locked?" If you just mean the windows accounts are password protected then you should be fine - just slot the drive in another machine. If however the drive itself is encrypted and you can't remember the password then I'm afraid you're most likely out of luck...

 

[dude_56013]

You'll probably need to remove the hard drive, connect it up via a different PC and then take ownership of the files.

 

[cboucher]

If you can boot from a CD try running UBCD4WIN. There are a couple of password tools in there that have helped me in similar situations.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

I would advise contacting the corporate administrator and getting the password from him. If it's legit, I'm sure he'll give you the needed info.

 

[RockerDood]

It is legit in the sense that I need to get my files off the pc... I got laid off and the company I used to work for assigned me a laptop to VPN to the server from and conduct my duties. It's an obvious unexpected layoff and with no time to plan and backup, etc...well they will be getting their laptop back. It's their policy to not re-activate pc's removed from the server. I actually asked to be able to get back on and the afore-mentioned was the answer.

That said...my lay-off wasn't heated in nature. So I'm not trying to screw the company, perse.

As far as login---when windows boots, you control-alt-delete to log into the domain. Since I would have to run a VPN client program "After" bootup, I thought that maybe it would still allow login....but since I was connected the day I got laid off, they must've sent an instruction that disabled it. My mistake is that I shut it down before I could back up my stuff! Dang-it!!

In regards to taking to another machine (like on another Dell D620)...I would imagine that the system files would react the same way on start-up, right? I mean, unless there's something written in the DOS commands.

And it makes sense that the files would need ownership to be able to manipulate.

I read that the laptop HD's need a special cable to hook up to a standard PC. This true for this particular HD?

Also, am I out of luck with DOS and transfering that way with a USB connection?

Let me know your thoughts!!

Thanks again!

 

[dude_56013]

Unfortunately, most companies' policies are that any work that you have done under them is legally theirs. You many not have any right to the files. I would suggest you speak with a lawyer about the issue.