Bypassing user password protection in Windows 9x

The password protection in Windows 9x is very low, if not configured correctly.

  • If there is a standard local login request then at most times one can just press Esc to get past it, or just login as another user.
  • If there is a forced local login then one can just press F8 at startup to enter DOS and remove all .pwl files in the Windows directory.
  • If there is a forced network login then one can just press CTRL+ESC, which starts the task manager, from which you can start “explorer”.

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