Windows password reset via linux boot disk - current options for this?

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tankman1989

Gawd
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Aug 21, 2009
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It's been awhile since I've accessed a VM I had some stuff saved on it and the drive is encrypted so I need to reset the password. I've done this on physical machines with the NT password recovery CD (like 2-3mb ISO) that runs on Linux (live boot). I'm working with Win 7 here and am wondering if there is anything that has changed since the days of XP when doing this. I no longer have the NT disk (that I can find) and was wondering what is the best recovery CD to do this these days. Anyone have suggestions?
 
I've found a great tool for password recovery, it costs about $30.00 not including currency exchange rates, but it simply and easily creates its own boot media and works a treat on everything from XP to Windows 10. See here:

http://www.iseepassword.com/

You can download the trial to make sure it can see the account you want to unlock, but you will need to pay for the full version in order to remove the password.

However if the drive is encrypted you may be out of luck, the trial may be worth a try though?
 
lOphtcrack is still the recommended tool for versions of Windows prior to the release of Windows 10 but there's also the NT password one that's so common and on many boot discs (Hiren's - and before I get chastised for that there are versions of Hiren's which don't have any commercial software on them at all, actually - the Ultimate BootCD and several others). Since 10 they changed the way the passwords are stored so, there's a method that can be used with a Windows 10 boot disc (installer, recovery, doesn't matter which one) and I just had to use this several days ago and found it to be fairly quick and easy:

http://winaero.com/blog/reset-windows-10-password-without-using-third-party-tools/

Since you're using Windows 7 nothing has changed with respect to that, but if you end up having to muck with a Windows 10 machine for some reason, that method should do just fine, takes minimal effort, and doesn't require anything but a Windows 10 installation or recovery disc/USB stick/etc.
 
The biggest problem is secure boot. I don't know about anyone else but there's times there where is literally does my head in when trying to boot off recovery media, even when I fully disable it in UEFI it still seems to be working in many cases.
 
BulletDust said:
The biggest problem is secure boot. I don't know about anyone else but there's times there where is literally does my head in when trying to boot off recovery media, even when I fully disable it in UEFI it still seems to be working in many cases.
Click to expand...

You can try PCUnlocker Enterprise (not freeware), it worked with my surface pro tablet with UEFI secure boot.
 
Well I found a way around this issue by resetting the password on the system account on Win7. I ended up using the NTPasswd disk which is available as an ISO for CD or a USB booting. The filename what worked is "cd140201.iso" or "usb140201.zip" which has the files for the USB drive. It was very simple to reset the password and I noticed no corruption of files that some have claimed in the past in any of the accounts on the OS. It seems that the "oldie but goodies" are still relevent
 
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