How secure is the Windows Admin password ?

Hi

How secure is the Windows Admin password ?

I'm just wondering if someone stole my laptop how easy it would be to login.
It seems quite trivial from a quick google.

http://www.wikihow.com/Hack-or-Break-Into-a-Windows-XP-Computer-Without-Changing-Password.

I'm using XP Home SP2

& I'm not taking about taking the hard drive out and accessing it that way.
Just wondering if the methods posted on the web actually work against the Admin password.

 

Hi,

Very trivial.

Most people do not even know that there is a seperate "Administrator" account in safe mode that most of the time doesn't have a password set, from which you can easily boot and change the passwords of all other users on the computer (on XP)

Secondly, restricting access to windows via an admin password does not secure your data. They could easily use a boot cd to access your files and documents.

As far as I am concerned, the Windows password is purely cosmetic and has very limited security potential (in a theft scenario)

 

So say I have an admin a/c password protected for "normal" booting.
If I boot in safe mode , there is a separate admin a/c without a password ?

 

If a bad guy has physical access to your PC then almost all security bets are off.

Good encryption is probably the only fool-proof(?) method.

 

If you want the drive/computer to be protected from someone who will have physical access, then you have to employ encryption for whatever you want protected. This will often involve encrypting the whole operating system. TrueCrypt and PGP are probably the most commonly used and trusted software that can do this.

If you just set a log-in password without encryption, you have no protection at all but from the most casual observer. It might protect you if you take a 5 minute bathroom break at work and you turn on the screensaver (something along those lines).

 

By default yes, but you can easily use your admin tools for disable the default admin account or creating a password for it. Stealing the data is on the other hand very easy, so one should encrypt the OS/folders as others already mentioned, or get a HDD that have encryption incorporated.

/C.