Crack Windows XP or Vista Login Password [How To]
Freeware, Windows Vista Guides, Windows XP Guides Add comments
Have you ever forgotten your Windows password? Ever had a friend ask you if you know how to retrieve their password? Ever needed a password for other reasons? In this guide you’ll learn how to retrieve your Windows password.
Download ophcrack here
Introducing ophcrack
Ophcrack is a free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms.
I recommend you download the LiveCD and burn the ISO to a disc. Now boot your computer from the LiveCD and run ophcrack. I tried the Vista and XP version and my 8 character password (letters, numbers–mixed case) was cracked in fifteen seconds (yes 15.)
Burn these discs (one for XP and one for Vista), archive them, and save yourself from losing your data in the event of you losing your password.
Booting the LiveCD
Here are a few screenshots to point you in the right direction. Boot your PC and press F12 (or other key) to open the boot menu. Put the LiveCD into the drive and select boot from CD. You should see the following screens.
Booting from the LiveCD
Starting ophcrack
Beginning the Brute Force Attack
15 Seconds Later — Password Cracked
Download ophcrack here
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25 Responses to Crack Windows XP or Vista Login Password [How To]
Mayur
The best and simple way is to use PC Login Now
Anyway Thanks..
Jodith
I’ve used this. We had a therapist who forgot the log in to her laptop. Luckily it wasn’t a very strong password. I had it cracked in no time.
Shivaranjan
If the Windows partition is encrypted then this method won’t work. Large corporates are now slowly adopting this strategy.
Rich
Shivaranjan, do you know of any other way to get the password if the partition/drive is encrypted?
abhishek
encrypted partition would be a issue, but this method will atleast still work in 90percent cases like a charm
Will
No need to crack the PW, just reset it to blank (as in no pw at all)..
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/
Simple…
hubka.net
that pwd is so stupid when 15sec and crack it down
with pwd with 8 and more characters with non-aflanumeric character is this method bad …
and why that user cant logon how admin (hi has bladnk pwd) and then change pwd to your account
LoftyNed
Do not use this tool on any computer system which you do not own or have written permission from the owner!!! In the UK you can be prosecuted under the Computer Misuse Act and face jail and/or a large fine. The possession of password cracking software has been viewed as tantamount to terrorism in some states.
Rich
Thanks for the warning LoftyNed. Just like most things, it’s how we use them — so please use this software responsibly and for legitimate reasons.
rog
took over 3 mins to get mine, so mines obviously better than yours!
darkplayer
TO: Will, I’ve always used “NTPASSWD” in the past for XP. 3 days ago, someone was showing me a program that could reset Vista’s admin passwd called ERD commander. I told him that was impossible because it was setup only to work with XP +. When he ran the program via live cd, I told him that looked awfully similar to something I used way back when. After finding this site today, my memory served me right, it was…
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/
I would never have thought “NTpasswd” would have one for Vista. Now I can stop using “ERD” (takes about 5 min’s to boot) and go back to “NTpasswd” (less than a min to boot). Thanks Will for the link. Just made my task a whole lot simpler.
Franky
I try to reboot with the CD and he didn’t work. I press F12 and select Cd and I saw the name of the program. The CD ran for a few seconds and windows opened normaly and I saw the password page and not what you describe.
What is the problem?
Biggie
GREAT. This site ROCKS
harry dripps
can you retrieve pics off of another windows login id w/o logging into that persons id?
Rich
Yes. Go to C:\Users (Vista) or C:\Profiles (XP)
Select the username and then go to the Pictures folder.
If the account is password protected, you may have to type in the password.
Joel
I need help with this. ophcrack didn’t run automatically. I can get it to run by using the F12 to change the boot sequence. However when I run the program two partitions containing hashes appear:
0. /mnt/sda2/Windows/System32/config
1. /mnt/sda3/Windows/System32/config
The program asks me to select which one I would like to crack passwords from. There is no mouse icon that appears on the screen. The question I have is how do I select a partition? I assume that I select the partition by typing it in a pressing ENTER.
I’ve tried several things and end up nowhere. Can someone walk me through it VERY specifically from the “choose your partition” step?
Please email me if you can help(usrseattle@aol.com). Please reference Ophcrack in the subject line. My daughter would be very grateful to have access to her computer again, and I’d appreciate the help
administartor of xp/vista
You dont need a cd or program tp crack a password !! use the inbuilt administration account to reset your own password !
WIndows xp and vista have an inbuilt administrator account that is used as a back door to your system !
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/admins.htm
Remy
Does this show what you the password is, or just reset it to what you want it to be?
Rich
The program shows the password.
William
i have downloaded the live CD for vista and when i use it on the computer, I can’t change the hashes on it. it tells me to do a restart and it is not showing the vista table on it either. how can i burn the ISO to cd with everything I need already set up
ruben
man this thing kicked butt!! i brought a new computer off craigslist but being as dumb as i am i didnt ask the guy for the password…i though i was totaly “SCREWED”…But then i found you!!…YOU ROCK!!
hursty
just done a reboot with this cd ,but as stopped at the end of the file writing what could have gone wrong ?please help as this is driving me mad:(
Jo
when finish using liveCd sw, it stated NT pwd ‘NOT FOUND’. What is that mean? I also choose to run this Sw in text mode, at the end, it shows, NT password “…….” and stated that ‘the password have been save in/tmp/ophcrack.txt’. What da heck is that and how to get the pssword?
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