Vista forgotten password!

Discussion in 'Software' started by asje1, Jan 17, 2008.

  1. asje1

    asje1 Byte Poster

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    Hi all, similar to topic: http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread21791.html

    Basically my mum got a new PC, shes new to all this 'computer stuff'.

    Any how, shes forgotten her password - no hint set either!

    I have the vista disk, its late and i have work tomorrow - busy over weekend, so i thought before wasting my time trying to boot from disk and use that to reset password if possible...

    You guys got any resolutions?

    Thanks
     
    Certifications: A+, N+
  2. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Have you tried the administrator account with a blank password?
     
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    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  3. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    I'd say use a password changer tool like ERD commander.
     
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  4. JohnBradbury

    JohnBradbury Kilobyte Poster

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    Vista is rather more difficult for cracking passwords than XP. This is because Vista uses NTLM Hashes to encrypt the passwords in the SAM database. XP on the other hand uses LM Hashes by default for all passwords below a certain length.

    However it is still possible provided the user hasn't followed good password practices:

    alpha numerical
    upper and lower case
    avoided dictionary words
    used a length greater than 14 characters

    If they have used the above then forget it! Whilst it could still be done it would take years to crack using your average PC.

    Follow the steps listed here using the CD boot image:
    http://www.loginrecovery.com/

    Type in the NTLM Hash for the account you want to crack and wait 72hrs. You can get it mailed to you quicker but they charge for that!

    Alternatively you could use ERD commander as suggested above. This will reset the password. However if your using EFS you'll no longer be able to access your data.
     

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