Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista?

**Strider** · 27-02-2008, 12:48 PM

Ever wondered what'll you do if you forgot your Windows XP / Vista PC's administrator password. What will be the first option, a Reinstall?

Ok You have a number of options:

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor + Now with Vista Support

Quote:

* This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system.
* You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
* It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD.
* Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
* It is also an almost fully functional registry editor!

NT stores its user information, including crypted versions of the passwords, in a file called 'sam', usually found in \winnt\system32\config. This file is a part of the registry, in a binary format previously undocumented, and not easily accessible. But thanks to a German(?) named B.D, I've now made a program that understands the registry.

http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Òphcrâck 2.4.1

Quote:

Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a GTK+ Graphical User Interface and runs on Windows, Mac OS X (Intel CPU) as well as on Linux.

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/oph...0&big_mirror=0

Ophcrack LiveCD 1.2.2

Quote:

The ophcrack LiveCD contains a small linux system (SLAX6), ophcrack for linux and rainbow tables for alphanumerical passwords.

The liveCD cracks passwords automatically, no installation necessary, no admin password necessary (as long as you can boot from CD).

Windows Vista SAM can also be cracked.

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/oph...4&big_mirror=0

Windows Password Recovery from LoginRecovery

Quote:

Login Recovery is a service to reveal user names and recover passwords for Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. As long as you have physical access to the computer, your passwords can be recovered

By following three simple steps, 98.5% of passwords are recovered in less than ten minutes. This service does not overwrite passwords, does not write anything to the hard drive and does not alter the computer in any way, it simply reveals your passwords.

Here you should download a Bootable CD/Floppy, Boot using that image, Get the encrypted password file, upload it to their site and wait for a few days ( free service ) or a few hours ( paid service) for their email with your password!
http://www.loginrecovery.com

PS: Feel free to add more methods/tools. W'll add it to this post and make it a sticky.

REDANT21LTD · 10-06-2008, 03:20 PM

You can also use E.R.D. Commander or (Emergency Recovery Disk) by Winternals

1. Just restart your computer
2. insert the ERD Commander
3. go to cmos using "del" or "F2", etc.
4. change your boot sequence,first boot = cdrom
5. the ERD will load

6. click the START button
7. System tools
8. go to LOCKSMITH
9. Choose the account that do you want to change the password, in this case you need to choose the ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT.
10. Enter your new password.
11. close the window
12. click the START button again
13. select LOG OFF
14. Restart
15. Eject the cd
that's it! now you can access the files without knowing the password...

happykaka · 02-06-2009, 02:52 PM

What should your do when you forgot the password to login to windows system? Ask an administrator to reset the log on password for you. If you yourself are administrator, and you can't remember the administrator password, the problem get a little tricky, and probably hard to recover the "forgotten password" again. Before you search for recovery CD or Windows DVD to format and reinstall Windows onto the computer, here a few solutions you can try to unlock the windows to gain access to the system again, at least by resetting the password

Method 1: Take a rest, and try hard to remember the forgotten password
Sometimes, human being is a little weird. You won’t get the thing that you urgently need. So have a coffee, take a snap or even come back after a few days, you may found that you suddenly ‘remember’ your Windows password.

Method 2: Try No Password Administrator Login Backdoor
In Windows XP (not Windows Vista as Administrator account is not enabled by default), there is built-in Administrator user account, that has administrative credentials, enabled by default, and without any password to protect the account from been access. If you didn’t change this Administrator’s password, then try to sign in to Windows XP without password.

Method 3: Reset password from another user account with administrator credentials
If you cannot log on to Windows by using a particular user account, but you can log on to another account that has administrative credentials, follow these steps on how to do the trick: Log on to Windows by using an administrator account that has a password that you remember. You may need to start WinXP in safe mode. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type “control userpasswords2″, and then click OK. Click the user account that you forgot the password for, and then click Reset Password. Type a new password in both the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and then click OK.

Method 4: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) third party recovery tool

1. Login to a computer that can link to Internet. Download Windows Password Unlocker 4.0 and decompress it on that PC. Note that: there is a .ISO file. Burn the .ISO file to a CD.

2 Get out the newly created CD and insert it to the locked computer.

3 Re-boot the locked computer and then follow the process of instructions. Just a few steps, the old password was removed.'''

4. Setting new password:

Step one: Open the "Control Panel"
Step two: Click the "User Account "
Step three: Select the account you wanna to set a new password.
Step four: Click "changing Account " and "set up password", then fill out the form as listed. Click "Create Password".

linky1124 · 04-08-2009, 03:55 PM

I find another recovery tool.

try

http://www.resetwindowspassword.com

Admin Edit:- This is a commercial software

dolreich_c · 18-11-2009, 04:11 PM

Hi ,
i agree with happy kaka and strider . i have tried both the methods and it has worked very fine for me .
Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables.

good luck

cheers

10-06-2008, 03:20 PM	#2
REDANT21LTD Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Age: 28 Posts: 14 Thanks: 0 Thanked 12 Times in 6 Posts Rep Power: 2	Re: Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista? You can also use E.R.D. Commander or (Emergency Recovery Disk) by Winternals 1. Just restart your computer 2. insert the ERD Commander 3. go to cmos using "del" or "F2", etc. 4. change your boot sequence,first boot = cdrom 5. the ERD will load 6. click the START button 7. System tools 8. go to LOCKSMITH 9. Choose the account that do you want to change the password, in this case you need to choose the ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT. 10. Enter your new password. 11. close the window 12. click the START button again 13. select LOG OFF 14. Restart 15. Eject the cd that's it! now you can access the files without knowing the password... __________________ Michael Louie C. Jose System Administrator Power Skills Technical Center Philippines

02-06-2009, 02:52 PM	#3
happykaka Newbie Join Date: Jun 2009 Age: 21 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Rep Power: 0 OS:	Re: Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista? What should your do when you forgot the password to login to windows system? Ask an administrator to reset the log on password for you. If you yourself are administrator, and you can't remember the administrator password, the problem get a little tricky, and probably hard to recover the "forgotten password" again. Before you search for recovery CD or Windows DVD to format and reinstall Windows onto the computer, here a few solutions you can try to unlock the windows to gain access to the system again, at least by resetting the password Method 1: Take a rest, and try hard to remember the forgotten password Sometimes, human being is a little weird. You won’t get the thing that you urgently need. So have a coffee, take a snap or even come back after a few days, you may found that you suddenly ‘remember’ your Windows password. Method 2: Try No Password Administrator Login Backdoor In Windows XP (not Windows Vista as Administrator account is not enabled by default), there is built-in Administrator user account, that has administrative credentials, enabled by default, and without any password to protect the account from been access. If you didn’t change this Administrator’s password, then try to sign in to Windows XP without password. Method 3: Reset password from another user account with administrator credentials If you cannot log on to Windows by using a particular user account, but you can log on to another account that has administrative credentials, follow these steps on how to do the trick: Log on to Windows by using an administrator account that has a password that you remember. You may need to start WinXP in safe mode. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type “control userpasswords2″, and then click OK. Click the user account that you forgot the password for, and then click Reset Password. Type a new password in both the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and then click OK. Method 4: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) third party recovery tool 1. Login to a computer that can link to Internet. Download Windows Password Unlocker 4.0 and decompress it on that PC. Note that: there is a .ISO file. Burn the .ISO file to a CD. 2 Get out the newly created CD and insert it to the locked computer. 3 Re-boot the locked computer and then follow the process of instructions. Just a few steps, the old password was removed.''' 4. Setting new password: Step one: Open the "Control Panel" Step two: Click the "User Account " Step three: Select the account you wanna to set a new password. Step four: Click "changing Account " and "set up password", then fill out the form as listed. Click "Create Password". Last edited by Strider; 02-06-2009 at 04:43 PM..

04-08-2009, 03:55 PM	#4
linky1124 Newbie Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0 OS:	Re: Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista? I find another recovery tool. try http://www.resetwindowspassword.com Admin Edit:- This is a commercial software Last edited by Strider; 04-08-2009 at 06:07 PM..

18-11-2009, 04:11 PM	#5
dolreich_c Newbie Join Date: Nov 2009 Age: 33 Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0 OS:	Re: Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista? Hi , i agree with happy kaka and strider . i have tried both the methods and it has worked very fine for me . Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. good luck cheers

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Forgot the Administrator Password in Windows Vista?

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