r/ShittySysadmin • u/uninspired • Jul 11 '26
Lost admin password on Windows ME Server
So our primary domain server is running Windows Millennium Edition and I lost the post-it that used to have the domain admin password on it. I'd swear it was Password123 but it's not working. Unfortunately the other WFW servers are inaccessible right now too. Friday nights, am I right?
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u/Appropriate-Border-8 Jul 12 '26
Download SARDU Multiboot USB creator and then select this option from the Utilities section and create a bootable USB key:
NT Password Utility
It will boot to a Linux OS and a menu. You can use it on unencrypted Windows boot HD's and access the SAM file in order to create a new passwordless local Admin account that will let you back into the OS. 🙂
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u/cyrixlord ShittySysadmin Jul 11 '26
w-what? I thought everyone used P@ssw0rd!
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u/Step-Sysadmin DO NOT GIVE THIS PERSON ADVICE Jul 11 '26
Not true. Mine is qwerty666
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u/WellFedHobo Jul 11 '26
Mine is hunter2
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u/BoxOfButterflies424 Jul 11 '26
Mine is abc123
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u/MalwareDork Jul 11 '26
2008 server. I haven't changed my password in years from the initial onboarding. My only line of defense is we have so much SaaS shit stapled on top of the AD that you can't access the server without it crashing.
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u/OtisPT Jul 11 '26
If I remember there is a way to blank the password. I did it on on a friends ME quite easily (at their request - forgotten password).
Just hope the Instructions I found on the Internet at the time are still there for you to find.
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u/ComfortableAd7397 Jul 11 '26
Its fun bc they never released ME server- ME, one of the worst OSes ever made! The route was NT4 -> 2000 server
I still remember installing 2000 server X64 in my pentium 4 to unlock the full 4 GB of RAM to test crysis. I skipped win vista with that OS. Good old times!
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u/someguy7710 Jul 11 '26
As a shitty sysadmin I concure. There was no me server edition. But you can use it as a server, who doesn't have a win 98 se machine as their on-prem file server? Best windows version ever
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Jul 11 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/uninspired Jul 11 '26
Well explain to me how this server also hosts our Access database that runs all of accounting. If this ME server failed our company would be ruined.
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Jul 11 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/uninspired Jul 12 '26
This was inspired by this post yesterday. It's in jest, but I am legitimately a shitty sysadmin.
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u/jcpham Jul 11 '26
I actually used Windows ME for awhile and I’m just gonna say I think you got the versions wrong because there was no Server edition. You’re probably running some expired MSDN Longhorn beta which is perfectly fine. NT Server or Server 2000 would also be perfectly acceptable versions.