Quick info as I forgot my Windows password and was going to fetch it from a saved Remote Desktop Protocol connection file (RDP). I have done this in the past to grab saved credentials from Windows Services using Run As User credentials. Theoretically, you could find the same for stored network shares too. I presume this still works for Windows 7 to 11 but now a days, this NirSoft recovery tool from 2014 flags as “malware”.
You can grab Remote Desktop PassView from NirSoft but you will likely need to disable defender to make it run. I made this thread as it followed my mental rule for making a note of something handy I used in the past.
In my recent Windows 11 case this week, I forgot my main user password but logged in from another PC with saved RDP credentials, changed the password on a second local admin ( You can change another user’s password without their old one, but while logged in locally as the same user, you need the current ( forgotten temporarily ) to change the current pass.
Logging in as second admin, I could then reset local admin password to something new, without the existing pass being needed.
I just made a crabby twitter comment ( as opposed to any other kind on there? ) about many No-CD fixes getting spirited away from Windows 7 onward and Defender’s choice for ‘bad files’. Typically removed with no notification or direct logging either. If you like it and want to archive it, store it on a Non-Windows based file server.
Bonus random note of old: If you are logging into another device without a domain, you can set your username and password to the same on local and your network share or what have you. Most all the time, you will be able to connect without being prompted for a password, since they are already the same.
Fun WiFi migration? Set your Access Point ( AP Network Name ) and password to be the same as a Wifi network you have already connected to. Your devices will be on the new access point without issue, most of the time. There are extra settings that could handle this change but the likelihood of them being a factor are very low. Save time migrating off access points and testing things or pretending to be an existing network,
Auto-connect being a client default makes this extra handy based on whatever you may be working on or with.