libertat per sempre ! • Proxy Glider: Reset Windows password with Linux

libertat per sempre ! • Proxy Glider: Reset Windows password with Linux

proxyglider:

Ever had that frustration of forgetting the password you need to log on to your Windows computer, or maybe you typed the password wrong when you were setting it up…
Either way, you need access to your computer!
Now, I’m not writing this to bash any operating system. The fact is, once you have...

Reset Windows password with Linux

Ever had that frustration of forgetting the password you need to log on to your Windows computer, or maybe you typed the password wrong when you were setting it up…

Either way, you need access to your computer!

Now, I’m not writing this to bash any operating system. The fact is, once you have physical access to a computer, hacking into a computer is trivial.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Linux ISO (I prefer Linux Mint, so I downloaded mine from linuxmint.com)
2. Unetbootin
3. A USB thumbdrive (2Gb or bigger)
4. The computer you need to change the password on…

The Initial Setup

Once you’ve completed this initial setup, you should be able to hack any computer and change the Windows password within 5 minutes. The initial downloads and prep work will probably only take you about 30-40 minutes.

First, download the ISO image of the Linux distro you are going to use.

Next, download and install UNetbootin. Open UNetbootin, and install the Linux ISO image to the USB thumbdrive.

Your prep work is now done… let’s change a password!

Password Changing on Windows

Insert the USB thumbdrive into the computer you are going to hack. Turn on the computer and access the BIOS boot menu so you can boot from the thumbdrive and preview the Linux distro.

Once you are in Preview mode, open the Terminal and type the following command:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install chntpw

Keep the Terminal open.

Mount the Windows hard drive. If it is unmounted, opening the hard drive in Nautilus or Konquerer should mount the drive.

Back at the Terminal, type:

cat /proc/mounts

What you’re looking for is the line that gives the mount point of the Windows hard drive. On my machine it looked like /dev/sda1 /media/CA801DD434EA1256

Specifically, we want that long serial number…

CA801DD434EA1256

Now cd into that drive:

cd /media/CA801DD434EA1256

Once you’ve done that cd into the System folder.

cd Windows/System32/config/

Now run chntpw

sudo chntpw SAM

It will bring up a menu with all the users enabled on the Windows system. Select the user account you want to edit.

You will get a large menu with several self-explanatory options to choose from.

From this menu you can:

1. Clear (blank) user password
2. Edit (set new) user password
3. Promote user (make user an administrator)
4. Unlock and enable user account

Just change the password, and then reboot the computer. When Windows pops open, select the user account you just edited and enter the password. Hacking into a locked computer couldn’t be simpler.