Remove Admin Password from ZK Attendance Management Program

Reset ZK Attendance Management Software Admin Password

INTRODUCTION :

ZKTeco (ZKT) Attendance Management Program (or zktime 5.0) is the classical software for managing biometric and attendance devices of the famous manufacturer ZKTeco. Until today so many people (including me) are still using it because it's easy to maniuplate in the eyes of the customers (Boss, HR Manager, Secretary...etc)

By default when you run this software it doesn't ask for login or password, so in order to prevent any malicious actions by strangers (or intruders from the company itself!!), you can configure an "administrator" to secure the attendance management program. And so everytime the customer (the user) runs the software it will ask for login and password to have access to it.

HERE IS THE PROBLEM :

But sometimes - for some reasons - you (the software admin) may forget these credentials (login & password) and cannot open the attendance management program anymore. This issue can happen when :

• The Admin changes the software password and forget about it.

• The Admin left the company without giving the password to his/her employer/superior.

• The user adds an Administrator accidentally into the software without knowing what he is doing. 

And then you come and find that the Attendance Program is blocked and don't know what to do !

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION ?

Don't worry and don't panic, you can remove the admin password from zkteco attendance management software, all you need to do is :

1. To find where the software database is located on your computer.
2. To have MS Access installed (2007 version or later) to modify the database. It's included with MS Office.

LET'S GET STARTED !!

Step 1 : Locate the software database :

The default database file location is inside the software folder under Program Files :

• For Windows 32 bits : C:\Program Files\ZKTeco

• For Windows 64 bits : C:\Program Files (x86)\ZKTeco

The default database file name is "att2000.mdb". 

What if you didn't find the database file inside the software folder ? Well continue reading below to find out what to do.

You have Three solutions : 

Solution 1 : there is a file named "att.dat" inside the main software folder that contains the extact location of the software database. 

You can open and read this file with NotePad, but the best tool for me is Notepad++. 

Go to the line that begins with DBConnection=Provider and you'll find the path to your database in the Data Source section (The example above shows the location to my database in Documents folder). 

If your file att.dat is empty or doesn't have the line DBConnection, jump to the next solution.

Solution 2 : Sometimes the software uses another folder called virtualstore to store its files such as database file or attendance reports files. The path to reach this folder is :

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore (where Username is your Windows user name). 

You can reach this folder by typing %LocalAppData% in Run window and click OK.

When Windows Explorer is open you can see VirtualStore folder, just double-click on it and you will see the Program Files folder.

Go to this folder (Program Files (x86)) which inside of it you can see the database file.

If none of this is working, you can jump to the next solution.

Solution 3 : try to find the database file by using the command line 

Launch the Command Line Prompt or execute Run -> cmd -> hit Enter.

Type the following commands :

cd\ = Jump to the beginning of the drive (C:\)

dir /s *.mdb = Search for any MS Access Database file in all the folders and sub-folders.

Depending on the results you must open any .mdb file you have found until you get the right one that contains the database tables (like the screenshot below)

Example of ZKTime database content :

Step 2 : Edit the database database:

Once you have found the database file, now all you need to do is modifying some data :

• Open the database file with Microsoft Access (make sure you don't have a warning about Read only Mode). Otherwise copy your database file to another location such as Documents or Desktop.

• Locate the table USERINFO and open it with a double-click.

• Find the column SECURITYFLAGS and locate a line where you have the value 15 (you can use the filter option to get only the rows where the value 15 exists).

• Replace the value 15 by 0 (15 means the user is Administrator / 0 means administrator is disabled)

• Save the changes and close MS Access.

• Go back to ZKTeco Attendance Management software to open it again.

Congratulations ! Now you have eliminated the Admin login screen and you can open the software with no need for password.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL ABOUT THIS TOPIC HERE: