Password protection Windows XP... (1 Viewer)

[Andre F]

Ok mods, if this ends up being inappropriate then my apologies to HTF and please remove the thread.

I've been asked by my parents to look into some password protected files on the family PC (I don't live with them so I have not have a chance to look yet). Anyway, it appears a member of the family might be doing some stuff on the computer that they should not be. So I'm looking for information on the password protection used in Windows XP (I believe they are using the regular password protection found in XP).

1. Are the folders and contents encrypted? Is so then how high is the encryption?
2. Is there a way to get around the password etc?
3. What do the parents here, use for snooping on young members of the family? I wouldn't want anything blatant.
4. Where would you look? Cookies? Temp Internet Files? Internet History? I will probably bring Ad-Aware over to look for spyware etc...

Thanks and I hope I didn't break any rules.

 

[DougRogers]

I am pretty sure if you log in as the Administrator you can see whatever you want. Otherwise, you would have to log into you parents account, install a password cracker program such as LC4 from l0pht, and run it until it finds the password. I have run it on my machine to see how long it took it to find my password and it only took about 30 seconds to find my easy password and 20 minutes to find one with numbers and characters. YMMV. If I was looking for stuff I would look in Cookies and History. Anyway, if this is inappropriate just delete the post.

Doug

 

[Randy_T]

You could install Key Logger on your parents computer. All keystrokes are recorded and logged. It's Free.
Key Logger
Randy T

 

[Danny R]

Logging into administrator will get you access to all the files. However if the files have been further encrypted, then you have some work to do. If they used default password protections found in programs like word, then some standard hacking programs will get in for you. If however they used something like PGP, then fo'get'about'it.

If you are looking for things like what websites they visit, a look at the history and cache will reveal wonders.

HOWEVER, I strongly advise against this sort of snooping. If you suspect something, then confront the person involved about it. If you don't trust them, then don't let them use the computer.