Mu husband was a software writer not just for work but it was his whole life he had a major stroke in 2013 which lost him even the ability to speak. I never knew his passwords and to be honest would not have touched his computer.
Now 8 years one I need to access his computer to get important information he does not remember his password I have tried several he may have used but with no luck
Just tried the unbuntu recover password but it is not working just stops (the word dummy is there?) I think he said something about it being encrypted?
Is there any chance I can get back in to his computer?
You could try asking what kind of password he would create. What words or letter combinations he would use. Then use those combinations to create passwords and try all those out. People who made a password some time ago, probably would create a new one in the same way. So you just have to find out the pattern of password creation he used back then.
Sorry to hear about your husband’s condition. If the disk was encrypted, it will be really difficult to get the data. Normally, you could recover Ubuntu password or even use a live Linux to access the data on disk.
But if you mention encryption, things change. It won’t be the same anymore. The disk is encrypted and you’ll need a lot of computing power and specialized software (and hardware) to decrypt the data. This is something an average computer user like us cannot do.
If you boot the computer using a live-boot USB or DVD the hard drive or SSD will be accessible. You will be able to access all the files. But, as mentioned, if it’s an encrypted drive you are stuck. The encryption is very strong and it’s not practical to “break” it.
It’s not hard to create a live-boot USB in Ubuntu Linux but I don’t know your level of comfort with computers. If you can scare up some local help that would be another way to approach the problem.
That’s very sad, sorry about your husband
I’d try to boot a live system, and try to acces the his /home data.
If you can get real data, problem solved.
If you can’t get the data, or just get some garbage, encryption is confirmed…
First, make a clone of the drive, not a copy. Work with the clone.
Was he using MS/IOS/Unix/Linux/?
Do you know what he used to encrypt (software/hardware/his own system)? That will be the first hurdle to get over. Some encryption systems use the machines information as part of the algorithm for encryption which makes the task that much more of a challenge.
If he encrypted the files on the drive there is not much hope for recovery.
There are however, companies that can try to recover the files but again, do not touch the original drive. Always use a clone.
You can try Akito’s suggestions regarding memory. There are a few physiological procedures you can use depending on your husbands abilities. Is there any chance he wrote the password down someplace? Or perhaps a keyword to help remember what it was?
Since he wrote software, he may have a backdoor script someplace to do what you’re trying to do.
Since it’s been 8 years I’m thinking what you want to recover is memories (i.e. photos, personnel documents, etc.) If so, photos are a bit easier to recover but again it all depends on what he used to encrypt.
Best of luck to you.
