bravotech
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NT4 cached logon, need logon to admin to install driver for new NIC
My client has an NT4 SP5 workstation w/ a bad motherboard w/ built-in NIC. Here's the delimma:
I replaced the motherboard w/ a different model, which changes the NIC as well. Upon boot, it couldn't find the domain controller and went to cached logon as the previous user. Logging off manually only result in immediate auto cached logon.
So far I only found solutions to disable cached logon by registry edit, which is not available as the logon is trapped in limited user. I do have physical level access. Is anyone aware of any file-level edit/deletion method to disable auto cached logon?
An alternative way to solve this problem might be somehow "plant the new NIC drivers" in-place to be auto installed during boot. Is this feasible?
I replaced the motherboard w/ a different model, which changes the NIC as well. Upon boot, it couldn't find the domain controller and went to cached logon as the previous user. Logging off manually only result in immediate auto cached logon.
So far I only found solutions to disable cached logon by registry edit, which is not available as the logon is trapped in limited user. I do have physical level access. Is anyone aware of any file-level edit/deletion method to disable auto cached logon?
An alternative way to solve this problem might be somehow "plant the new NIC drivers" in-place to be auto installed during boot. Is this feasible?
ASKER
The inability to logon to local admin is precisely the problem here. As I indicated in my original post, logging off manually will only result in an immediate automatic cached logon to the same limited user.
I have already blanked out the local admin account password using EBCD, so that's not the issue. The problem is inability to logon to the admin account due to cached logon, and all the solutions floating around involves logging in as admin and changing registry.
I am currently looking into implementing RUNAS in NT4 in order to disable cached logon and regain ability to logon to local admin. The current account has major restrictions, outside of running that one custom database app.
I have already blanked out the local admin account password using EBCD, so that's not the issue. The problem is inability to logon to the admin account due to cached logon, and all the solutions floating around involves logging in as admin and changing registry.
I am currently looking into implementing RUNAS in NT4 in order to disable cached logon and regain ability to logon to local admin. The current account has major restrictions, outside of running that one custom database app.
I'm still missing something... If you log off, you can't press ctrl+alt+delete and change the UserName field? Or you cannot change the Domain field where the local PC name is?
I can be daft sometimes... I just don't see how your forced to use the same user after loging off, my apologies. If that is the case... I'm not sure how you fix that... do you think that you could copy Sysprep to a floppy and run that? It would try to reset everything and basically run through the setup wizard again... and even try to detect a new PNP drivers if you copied the drivers to winnt/system32. You shouldn't loose any data if you run Sysprep.exe...but you may want to make a ghost image just in case.
If you don't have permission to copy to that folder with this account, take the drive out and put it in another PC as a slave and then copy the files over that way.
The registry entry can be changed while the drive is in the other computer as well... or maybe you can edit the .ADM file that my be locking down the box for that user. (use config.pol from the nt resource kit I believe)
-rich
I can be daft sometimes... I just don't see how your forced to use the same user after loging off, my apologies. If that is the case... I'm not sure how you fix that... do you think that you could copy Sysprep to a floppy and run that? It would try to reset everything and basically run through the setup wizard again... and even try to detect a new PNP drivers if you copied the drivers to winnt/system32. You shouldn't loose any data if you run Sysprep.exe...but you may want to make a ghost image just in case.
If you don't have permission to copy to that folder with this account, take the drive out and put it in another PC as a slave and then copy the files over that way.
The registry entry can be changed while the drive is in the other computer as well... or maybe you can edit the .ADM file that my be locking down the box for that user. (use config.pol from the nt resource kit I believe)
-rich
ASKER
Thanks for your reply. Yes, if I log off, it IMMEDIATELY goes right back into the same account. I believe this is how cached logon works. You never see the logon dialog box, hence unable to change user name/domain.
That's exactly why I'm looking for something to be done outside of that running OS, changing things at the file level. I have been booting up w/ Linux CD and mounting the NTFS drive as a directory. I have complete read/write to the NT hard disk. A ghost image has already been made for falling back.
Using Sysprep to set new SID and join domain sounds promising. I'd image it should allow me to logon to local admin afterward. I've never used sysprep before. Is that on the CD or a download?
Copying drivers to system32 doesn't sound too promising to me because I'm sure there will be additional settings in protocol and binding, etc. that needs to be done in local admin.
That's exactly why I'm looking for something to be done outside of that running OS, changing things at the file level. I have been booting up w/ Linux CD and mounting the NTFS drive as a directory. I have complete read/write to the NT hard disk. A ghost image has already been made for falling back.
Using Sysprep to set new SID and join domain sounds promising. I'd image it should allow me to logon to local admin afterward. I've never used sysprep before. Is that on the CD or a download?
Copying drivers to system32 doesn't sound too promising to me because I'm sure there will be additional settings in protocol and binding, etc. that needs to be done in local admin.
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http://is-it-true.org/nt/atips/atips36.shtml
Can you load the NIC driver to a floppy or CD-ROM and install it from those? Or is the privledge too small for that? Perhaps you can copy the driver to the winnt system32 folder, and NT may find it on it's own with PNP.
Perhpas I've missed the problem... you can reset the local admin pass with a certain boot floppy, or use the floopy to write down the hash and then crack the pass if it can't be remembered with John the ripper.
Domain Controllers, the Local Admin is the Domain "Administrator" account's password.
GL!
-rich