How to recover a Windows XP / Vista password
It truly is possible to forget your Windows XP or Vista password, especially after you have just entered a new one. When that happens, you need to recover your password fast! Here’s how.
There is a class of utility known as the password recovery tool. Many are fairly expensive, but others are completely free. If you changed your password late last night before you went to bed, and now you can’t remember it, these utilities could be your salvation. We will just detail what seems to be the most effective utility.
The best-known free password recovery utility is named Ophcrack. One of the beauties of this utility is that you don’t need access to your specific Windows system in order to use it. But you will need to prepare for the lost password eventuality in advance, and save the media containing the solution, or have access to another computer, even if it is not yours, after the problem has occurred.
Ophcrack is an open source (GPL licensed) program that cracks Windows passwords by using LM hashes through rainbow tables. You don’t have to know what all that means to use the utility. The program includes the ability to import the hashes from a variety of formats, including dumping directly from the SAM files of Windows. These tables can crack 99.9 percent of alphanumeric passwords of up to 14 characters in usually a few seconds, and at most a few minutes.
Ophcrack does not require any direct access to the Windows OS on the machine from which you are recovering the password(s). All you need is the ability to boot from your CD drive, available on almost all modern systems. Ophcrack will handle the recovery from there. It will recover the passwords for all of the accounts on the system, including that of the administrator.
To get started, visit the Ophcrack site. There, you will find two different Ophcrack LiveCD downloads available, one for Windows XP and another for Windows Vista. Download the file that matches the system that you want to crack. What you are getting is an ISO file, which contains all of the data you will need to make the CD that will allow you to recover your passwords. It is a big file and may take a while to download.
Next, you will need to turn that ISO file into a CD, which is a bit different than burning a music or data CD. If you have never done this, you probably don’t have a tool that will do it. Worry not! All you need to do is download another utility: Free Easy CD DVD Burner. It is also a completely free utility. Follow the instructions in Free Easy CD DVD Burner for the burning of a CD from an ISO file, using the file that you downloaded from the Ophcrack site.
Take the Ophcrack CD to the computer from which you need to recover passwords. Insert it into the target computer’s CD drive and turn on the computer. It should boot from the CD, which contains a miniature operating system that contains everything needed to get your passwords back for you. It will look like your computer is starting normally at first, but it will not. If your computer boot’s into Windows, or does not boot at all, you will probably need to change the boot order in your Bios so that it can boot from the CD. If the CD was properly made, and your computer is set to it will boot from the CD as an option, your system should boot into the Ophcrack opening screen.
This opening screen will ask you to select a program mode. The one that is highlighted (Ophcrack Graphic mode) is the right one. You can either press enter at this point or wait a few seconds and the program will continue automatically. When the program continues, you will see a text window (like that used by DOS) and a number of lines will scroll by, showing the progress of the Linux operating system boot and the preparation to run the password recovery task. These may include a quickly flashed message saying that a hard disk partition with hash tables has been found, which is good since that’s where the passwords are.
Finally, the Ophcrack program itself will run and the recovery of passwords will begin. The program runs completely automatically. The Ophcrack program screen looks like this:
The important results will be shown in the first column (User) and the last column (NT Pwd). The former is the name of the user account and the latter is the password for that account. There are some important things to remember about this information. If the password column says “empty” it means that the password for that account is blank. You can log on using that account without entering a password; just enter the account name, leave the password blank, and press enter.
If the account that you are looking for is not there, it means that Ophcrack did not find that password on the target computer. It may have been deleted inadvertently, which is another reason that you would not have been able able to log on in the first place. If the “NT Pwd” column is blank, Ophcrack has not yet found the password for that account.
When the program has competed, write down the user names and passwords that you were trying to recover. Then remove the CD from the drive and re-boot the system as usual. Use the desired name and password to log into the computer as you always do, and your problem is solved. If Ophcrack does not find a password, which is rare, you may have to move on to another solution. In this case, perhaps a program called Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, which erases the Admin password so that you can log in and make any other required changes, would be your best bet, though it requires a bit more admin work.
June 18th, 2009
Long time ago , I was confronted with the password problem. Finally , my friend Jane introduce the Windows password Reset.It helps me access windows. It’s great! http://www.resetwindowspassword.com
June 25th, 2009
There is a instruction about windows password reset 6.0 as follows:
1.Free download the iso file : http://www.resetwindowspassword.com
2.Burn it to a disk to create the boot disk, that simple.
3.Configure your pc or laptop to boot in the cd drive,
4.Insert the CD, reboot from CD drive, and then just follow the process of instruction. A few steps later, admin password would be cleared
Took about 5 minutes for the whole process.
June 25th, 2009
Try your best to recall your windows password, or you have to reset it or reinstall your computer. I do not recommend you to reinstall the OS, which may cause a data loss. So if you really can not remember the password, try the following steps:
1. Log onto a computer that can link to the Internet. Download Windows Password Unlocker 4.0 from http://www.passwordunlocker.com 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 after a few steps, the old password will be removed.
4.Set new password:
Step 1: Open the “Control Panel
Step 2: Click the “User Account
Step 3: Select the account you wanna set a new password.
Step 4: Click “Changing Account ” and “Set Up Password”, then fill out the form as listed. Click “Create Password”.
July 14th, 2009
I have purchased Windows Password Recovery Tool 2.0. it not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password. I Wrote it to an old 128mb USB flash drive do this. Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm.
You can get it from: http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com
September 17th, 2009
You can download Windows Password Unlocker 4.0 to remove Adminstration password
Get started with the download – 3 simple steps:
Step 1 – Download the indows Password Unlocker 4.0 iso file from http://www.passwordsunlocker.com/products/wpu.html
Step 2 -Burn your indows Password Unlocker 4.0 CD:
Step 3 – Put in your newly created CD and remove your Windows password.
September 23rd, 2009
Welcome to my blog http://pdf-to-wrod.blogspot.com , I am interested in password recovery. Besides, http://wiki.e107.org/?title=Bypass_Windows_XP_Password there is an article about how to reset windows password. It must be helpful for those who have been locked out of computer .Besides, there is a smart solution at http://sn.im/wpu , which can help you bypass windows passwords without knowing it. It never delete anything else but the unknown password
October 24th, 2009
Here is a tool to reset windows password.
Free DownLoad it.
http://sn.im/freeresetwindowspassword
October 28th, 2009
You can use Lazesoft Recover My Password easy and instantly reset your Windows password.
With Lazesoft Recover My Password, you just need 3 simple steps to recover your Windows password. Here is the guides:
http://www.lazesoft.com/how-to-recover-windows-login-password.html
November 18th, 2009
I have downloaded windows password key 8.0. It is a very quick and useful utility for resetting passwords. It not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password.
Just an easy to use bootable CD/DVD . It can also be used on a USB Flash Drive. http://www.lostwindowspassword.com/
December 1st, 2009
Just run this program on startup- within 3-4 minutes your password is reset..
http://www.recoverlostpassword.com/products/windowspasswordrecoery.html
It called Windows Password Recovery 6.0
works on ALL windows versions
December 26th, 2009
just googlt it.
a lot of recovery tool support vista.
http://www.resetwindowspassword.com
January 19th, 2010
I know a simple way to reset windows password to blank when you forgot windows administrator password,it need not to reinstall windows OS,and wont loss any data,by using “Any Windows Password Recovery 3.0 “. Maybe this could help you.
The reference link to windows password recovery soft: http://www.anypasswordrecovery.com/download.html
January 20th, 2010
you can go into safe mode (F8 when booting up) to recover windows password when you forgot user account password,but if you forgot administrator password,it is difficult to change administrator password when you forgot it,you must use software to recover administrator password.http://www.windowsloginrecovery.com
January 27th, 2010
I suggest a good windows password recovery tools.
http://www.windowsloginrecovery.com
January 29th, 2010
I know a way to reset windows password, I used it last time, it worked great for me. You can have a try.
http://digg.com/software/Advanced_Windows_Password_Recovery_Password_Reset
February 27th, 2010
I personally tested a software named “Windows Login Recovery” that can recover windows xp/vista password.
March 7th, 2010
hmm… what about http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/ it’s opensource, which means you can get it for free… ‘kay, it doesn’t have a nice gui (it runs in textmode), but it’s still very effective and reliable… and by the way, if you use ophcrack with rainbow tables, most passwords are recovered in less than 10 minutes, counted from bootup…
March 8th, 2010
This windows password recovery tool can easily bypass windows xp password http://www.anypasswordrecovery.com/ for your forgotten windows xp password.And it also can be burned into a password reset disk.
March 9th, 2010
[HowTo] Windows 7 Vista XP 2000 NT Password Reset/Recovery Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-z_lH0l44I
March 10th, 2010
http://www.windows7password.com
April 28th, 2010
I would like to introduce Windows Password Key 8.0 . it not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. It creates a password recovery CD/DVD,USB Flash Drive for home, business and enterprise. It works perfectly to reset your Windows password.
May 14th, 2010
http://www.top-password.com/how-to-reset-windows-password.html there is an article about how to reset/bypass/remove windows password. It must be helpful for those who have been locked out of computer
June 17th, 2010
I have locked out of my computer for a while,and have tried everything i could do but failed.Until I found this great tool
Windows Password Key 8.0 as recommend above.It works great,Such a marvellous and useful tool
July 16th, 2010
I would like to introduce Windows Password Recovery 6.0 . it not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password. I Wrote it to an old 128mb USB flash drive do this. Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm. You can download it from: http://sn.im/windowspasswordcracker
July 22nd, 2010
Most of us experience Windows password lost for one reason or another. Indeed, there is nothing worse than forgot your password when you have a great deal of work to do.You can watch this video to solve your windows password problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRpw9ygSEys
July 26th, 2010
I have locked out of my computer for a while,and have tried everything i could do but failed.Until I found this great tool – Windows Password Reset Kit as recommend .It works great,Such a marvellous and useful tool.
http://www.reset-windows-password.net/
November 19th, 2010
If you lost windows password. I found a windows password reset tool. you can wrote it to an blank CD or USB flash drive to reset administrator password. Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm.
more info:http://www.windows-logon-password.com/
January 27th, 2011
another admin password recovery solution is recommended because of their simple manipulation and high quality. It would reset the lost password in any Windows system quickly. In my eyes, It’s worth a try!
To remove Windows Passwords with Windows Password Recovery 6.0 only needs 3 steps!
Step 1 . Download and install Windows Password Recovery 6.0
Step 2 . Burn windows password recovery 6.0 to CD/DVD or USB Flash Drive
Step 3 . Reset your Windows password:
for more info:
http://lost-password.net/products/windowspasswordrecoery.html
January 30th, 2011
Forgot Windows password? Windows Password Resetter 1.7 removes any forgotten Windows login password, and get you logged back in, quickly & safely.
http://www.resetlostpassword.com
February 11th, 2011
SMARTKEY Password Recovery Bundle is a must-have toolkit to recover/remove/reset passwords for Windows, Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook, Outlook Express, PDF, RAR/WinRAR, ZIP/WinZIP, MSN, AOL, Google Talk, Paltalk, Trillian, Miranda, Opera, Firefox and IE Browser, etc. Over 21 types of passwords can be Recovered instantly. Until now, these password recovery tools are the fastest on the market, the easiest to use and the least expensive.
http://www.google.com/search?q=SMARTKEY+Password+Recovery+Bundle&btnG=Search&hl=en&source=hp&gs_rfai=&cad=&cad=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
April 12th, 2011
A lot of the goodness is by reader responses. Go readers!
August 17th, 2011
Here are something that mihgt help you!
1 . Log into safe mode
2. Log in as the computer Administrator, “Administrator” for the username
3 . Leave the password blank
4 .Control panel and change the password for your account
If you don’t want to change the password:
1 . find a program called Windows password seeker and Download the password seeker
2 . Burn the file to a CD
3.Boot the locked computer from CD/DVD and remove Windows password
More Windows password recover tools: http://www.passwordseeker.com
August 18th, 2011
A few days ago , I was confronted with the password problem.
Finally , my workmate James introduce the Windows password
Seeker.It help me access windows successfully. It’s official
site： http://www.passwordseeker.com
September 5th, 2011
1. Download and install Windows Login Recovery
2. Burn a Windows Vista password recovery CD/DVD.
3. Set CD/DVD as the first boot device in BIOS.
4. Windows Vista password reset with the CD/DVD/USB flash Drive
Note: This solution can also be used when Windows Vista/XP/2000 password is forgotten and unknown.
http://www.windowsloginrecovery.com/windows-vista-password-recovery.html
September 19th, 2011
I know how to reset windows Vista password, you can refer to this article, it tells you how to reset Windows Vista password with several methods.
help page:
http://www.daossoft.com/documents/how-to-reset-window-2000–xp-vista-win7-password.html
October 13th, 2011
A few days ago, I found the password reset program _useless spam garbage_ which has been recommended at about.com and use it to recover my lost password successfully. It is a very simple and helpful utility. Follow the step-by-step instructions at _useless spam garbage_
November 11th, 2011
Have you tried starting up in safe mode (pree F8 when you start/restart the computer)
If you can get in that way you might be able to make a new administrator account, then try starting up as normal and logging into the new account. Or else, you need to use some password recovery tools to help you solve the problem.
This article may help you:http://www.daossoft.com/documents/how-to-reset-window-2000-xp-vista-win7-password.html.
November 20th, 2011
Just download the Windows Password Key and burn it to a CD or USB drive, then insert the disk to your locked computer, reboot, press the button it says on the screen. then it will auto reset the password in minutes.
http://www.comtips.net/break-windows-7-password.html
November 23rd, 2011
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January 7th, 2012
A lot of methods are available to recover or reset the Windows password. The famous Ophcrack is used for recovering the password.The big disadvantage of ophcrack is the large ISO file. We need to download a file of size 500MB to recover the password.And I have tested it ever,it actually can not dispay the password as the instruction says.
However, there is also a plenty of software which can help us reset the Windows password by a bootble DVD/CD or USB driver. As those Windows password recovery software with a small ISO image file, you can save a lost of time and space to download such program. But the problem is you need operate in Dos environment, which is more suitable for PC expert.
So I thought we can simply reset Windows password using Windows Password Rescuer program. The friendly and intuitive interface of Windows password Rescuer makes it easy to use, even for a novice.You also can use Windows Password Rescuer to add a new user with administrator privilege to your Windows.
January 25th, 2012
Dobre dobre :D
February 11th, 2012
Hi there, simply became aware of your blog via Google, and located that it is really informative. I am gonna be careful for brussels. I’ll be grateful should you continue this in future. Lots of people will likely be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
February 14th, 2012
Try ophcrack or windows password recovery tool 3.0 . Ophcrack is free but very large. 496Mb and sometimes doesn’t work and may crash your system data. Password Cracker Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 is not free but can 100% reset the forgotten password. Hope to help you.
May 27th, 2012
Useful information. Fortunate me I discovered your web site by chance, and I am surprised why this accident didn’t came about earlier! I bookmarked it.
June 8th, 2012
I just come across a blog: http://www.windows7password.com, there are many ways to recover Windows 7/Vista/XP passwords.
April 11th, 2013
This Video help me recover Windows XP password a lot.
http://youtu.be/YCFjfSOqtsk