Can I access files on a disk that I don't know the login for? - Printable Version

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Can I access files on a disk that I don't know the login for? - synthetix - 09-06-2020

I have a hard drive that came out of a machine used at a high end visual effects house that I don't know the login/password for. I want to see what's on it. Would it be possible to connect the disk as a second drive in an existing system and read the files that way?

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RE: Can I access files on a disk that I don't know the login for? - hamei - 09-06-2020

(09-06-2020, 03:50 AM)synthetix Wrote:  Would it be possible to connect the disk as a second drive in an existing system and read the files that way?

Yes. In fact, that's the easiest quickest way to bypass the password ... while you're in there, you might want to delete the root password, too.

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RE: Can I access files on a disk that I don't know the login for? - synthetix - 09-06-2020

(09-06-2020, 04:39 AM)hamei Wrote:  

(09-06-2020, 03:50 AM)synthetix Wrote:  Would it be possible to connect the disk as a second drive in an existing system and read the files that way?

Yes. In fact, that's the easiest quickest way to bypass the password ... while you're in there, you might want to delete the root password, too.

Cool. How would I do that, just edit /etc/passwd on the second disk?

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RE: Can I access files on a disk that I don't know the login for? - Raion - 09-06-2020

If /etc/passwd contains the crypt hashes, then yeah. Just swap with a known root password crypt hash, and you should be good. If it doesn't check, for /etc/shadow. You can do the same thing there.

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