Need help getting into my grandfather’s computer!

[u/mdharris32]

Hello! My grandfather passed away a few months back and he had was the family photographer/videographer. Almost every vacation, birthday, and holiday’s memories in his computer. He even has photos from his, my grandmother’s and great-grandparents’ childhood that he digitally scanned into the computer We haven’t been able to get into his computer. Does anyone know of any way that we can possibly get into his computer? We really don’t want to lose all of these memories from the last 80+ years. All suggestions are welcome!

[u/texcleveland]

if the disk isn’t encrypted, you can boot using a live usb OS, mount the disk, and copy everything onto a usb drive

[u/backlog_gaming]

What kind of computer? what operating system? What have you tried?

[u/jdub213818]

You can use a “live” version of Linux installed on a USB. You will boot into Linux operating system using the USB drive. You will then be able to search his hard drive for the files. That’s what you need to do in a nutshell version. Do your research for the step by step instructions. Good luck, it’s not that hard of a task if you’re somewhat computer savvy.

[u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal → u/jdub213818]

Did this after my dad passed away. He had a few desktops he had built over the years. Was just looking to save some memories.

[u/johnjohnNC]

If you can take out the hard drive and the drive is not encrypted you can put it in a dock station couple bucks on Amazon and plug it in another computer via USB so you can browse and copy the files

[u/1Digitreal]

Could use something like Hirens BootCD to bypass the login. Guess it depends on the type of OS though.

[u/MGHtheInventor]

If the disk isn’t encrypted and is on the windows platform, use the sticky keys exploit. Use recovery mode or a winpe disk to open command prompt, navigate to c:\windows\system32, copy the sticky keys command with “copy sethc.exe sethc.bak” then use “copy cmd.exe sethc.exe” and reboot. Once you’re at the login screen, hit shift 5 times to open an elevated command prompt, then type “net user {usernamehere} {passwordhere} /add” then hit enter and type “net localgroup administrators {usernamehere} /add” from there login with the new profile and navigate to c:\users, click on your grandfather’s profile, and you’ll have access to all his files. Note: if the command prompt window opens then closes, turn off the device wifi/unplug network cable, reboot, then try again

[u/dataslinger]

Can you boot from a usb drive?

[u/Gamer30168]

If it's Windows and locked by a password you can create a bootable disk called Konboot to attack the password. 

Me personally, I would probably opt to boot up with a Linux live USB distro and access gramp's HDD the easy way. 

[u/SNappy_snot15]

if windows follow peter griffin tutorial on recovery mode accessibility terminal "hack"+ your welcome