How to find out the password for Windows xp. How to reset the Administrator account password in Windows XP

If you have forgotten the password for an old computer running Windows XP, first of all, do not panic. You can find out the password for any account, and this is not difficult to do thanks to the presence of a variety of specialized utilities by booting from a removable drive. In general, this can be done in several ways:

• selection of a password by brute force method;
• password selection using dictionary substitution;
• soft reset or zeroing.

The first method requires considerable computer hardware and is not always effective, especially when using long and complex combinations of characters. The second one will require slightly less computing power, but will allow you to guess the password on a Windows computer only if it is simple and is in the dictionary for substitution. Used when you need to quickly access your computer. The last method is the most effective and simple, but you can only use it on your own computer, because in this way the password from your account will be deleted.

Password vault

Windows XP stores passwords for all accounts in a special multi-level encrypted SAM file located in the “system32\config” directory. You won’t be able to get them using the usual method, since only their hashes are stored in the document. Hash sums are not subject to reverse conversion, therefore, knowing them, you can calculate the password to which the hash belongs using simple algorithms brute force transformations. Even a low-power computer with Windows XP can select simple and short combinations of up to 6-8 in a few minutes, but complex and long combinations are extremely difficult to calculate using brute force.

The best programs that allow you to find out your account password are: Ophcrack, LCP and the like SAMInside.

Ophcrack

The utility will allow you not only to reset the password on Windows XP, but to guess it using one of two algorithms:

• calculation of LM hashes – used to determine passwords whose length does not exceed 15 characters;
• rainbow tables - used in the case of password encryption using complex mechanisms with respect to inverse transformation.

Download and install Ophcrack, making sure to check the “Download & install WinXP Tables” option.

During the installation process, the installer will download a rainbow table (it is recommended to select the standard one). Its volume is about 750 MB.

• We run the executable file and install the downloaded tables that allow us to find out the password.

This is done as follows: click on the “Tables” icon in the toolbar, then select the version of the downloaded file (for example, Windows XP special) and click on the “Install” button.

• After installing rainbow tables on your computer, click “Load”.
• Select “Load SAM with…samdump 2” to start exporting account information.
• Select the desired account and click “Crack”.

It takes no more than a few minutes to select a simple password.

LCP

A freely distributed program with Russian-language localization of the interface. Able to work with local and remote databases. You can find out the password in LCP using several methods:

• selection;
• attack using a dictionary, including a third-party one – calculates the hashes of each element from the dictionary and compares it with the extracted password hash;
• hybrid attack - calculating hashes of all words from the dictionary with the addition of other characters specified by the user).

To find out the password, launch the application and through the “Import” menu, call up the SAM file import item.

• Specify the path to the hash storage located in the “system32\config” directory and click “OK”.

• We set the selection parameters and start the process.
• After detecting the password, we stop the search procedure.

The SAMinside program, which predominates LCP in functionality, works in a similar way.

Without access to the computer from another account and the ability to create a bootable WinPE USB flash drive, in order to run one of the proposed utilities, use the recommendations given below.

Reset via command line

The functionality of a standard command interpreter launched before Windows boots will also allow you to reset your computer password. In this case it is necessary to have bootable media with portable Windows – WinPE or another operating system installed.

• We boot from a flash drive or another OS and launch the registry editor using the “regedit” command.
• Select the HKLM section and call the “Load Hive” command from the “File” menu.
• Specify the path to the system file located in the “system32\config” directory.

If your Windows XP system is configured to log in through the Welcome screen, there is a chance that you will be able to log in as a system administrator. Unfortunately, this also depends on not having an existing password in the administrator account.

When you boot your system, a welcome screen will appear. Double click Ctrl + Alt + Delete to load the user login panel.

Click OK to try to log in without a username or password. If that doesn't work, try typing Administrator in the field " Username" and click OK.

If you are logged in, go straight to Control Panel - User Account - Change Account. Then select the account for which you want to change the password and follow the onscreen instructions.

2. Reset using Safe Mode and/or Command Prompt

If your administrator account remains out of reach, you can try to reset it using Safe Mode and Command Prompt.

To enter Safe Mode, you need to restart your computer. Press F8 while PC boots. Select " Safe mode with command line".

Once you are in Safe Mode, go to Control Panel - User Account - Change Account. Then select the account for which you want to change the password and follow the onscreen instructions.

Command line

However, there are times when certain computer problems will prevent you from making changes - for example, a virus may prevent you from doing so. In such cases, you can use Command Prompt from Safe Mode.

Press the keys Windows + R to open the search window. Type cmd and press Enter. A command prompt will open. Now enter the following command:

net user [profile name] [new password]

It should look like this:

Advice: To clear the password, use the following command:

net user [profile name] ""

3. Reset using an alternate account (XP Professional only)

This fix only works if you are using Windows XP Professional and you can log in with an alternate account.

Start by right clicking on " My computer" and select " Control".

Then select Utilities - Local Users and Groups - Users. Find your account, right click and select " Set password".

Remote user management

If you cannot access computer management using your own account, you can use remote access. On another computer (it must not be running Windows XP) in the window " Computer management"right click" Computer Management (Local)". Select " Connect to another computer". Select another computer. Enter the IP address of the computer you want to connect to. If you are on the same network, this will have an internal LAN address such as 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x. Also, if you know the computer name , you can use it like \\Desktop.

If you are unsure and are connected to the same network, select " Review", then " Additionally". Finally, select " Find now" to scan local network for computers on your network.

After receiving remote access you can change the password by selecting System Tools - Local Users and Groups - Users. Then find your user account, right click and select " Set password".

4. Use LiveCD or USB

If you still can't log in, don't worry. There are two more fixes. The first is to use a bootable CD or bootable USB flash drive with Linux.

1. Create a bootable disk or flash drive with the Linux operating system.
2. Restart your Windows XP computer. Press F12, ESC or Delete to select the boot device. When prompted, select CD or USB drive.
3. Click CTRL+L to edit the path. Enter the command computer:/// to see all your drives. Select your Windows installation, right-click and select " Mount" (Mount).
4. Open a Linux terminal by clicking CTRL+ALT+T. Run the following command to install the password reset utility chntpw: sudo apt-get install chntpw.
5. Change working directory using following command cd /mnt/Windows/System32/config
6. Extract the list of Windows users using the following command sudo chntpw -1 SAM
7. Find your account username. Then use the following command to select the account: sudo chntpw -u “Username” SAM. Then enter 2 to enter edit mode.
8. Enter your new password, click Enter to send and y for confirmation.
9. Reboot into Windows and use the new password.

5. Full format and reinstallation

If all else fails, there is another option: burn it. Okay, just kidding, this time we'll do without fire. But you'll have to pull out hard drive from your PC, connect it to another computer to complete backup and then format the disk.

Once the formatting is complete, you can reinstall Windows XP and enter a new password. And try to remember it.

Problem forgotten passwords has existed since the times when people began to protect their information from prying eyes. Losing your Windows account password risks losing all the data you used. It may seem that nothing can be done, and valuable files are lost forever, but there is a method that is highly likely to help you log into the system.

Windows systems have a built-in Administrator account, using which you can perform any actions on the computer, since this user has unlimited rights. By logging into the system under this “account”, you can change the password for the user whose access has been lost.

A common problem is that often, for security reasons, during system installation we assign a password for the Administrator and successfully forget it. This leads to the fact that it is impossible to penetrate Windows. Next we'll talk about how to log into your secure Administrator account.

It is impossible to reset the Administrator password using standard Windows XP tools, so we will need a third-party program. The developer called it very simply: Offline NT Password & Registry Editor.

Preparing bootable media

1. There are two versions of the program on the official website - for burning to a CD and a flash drive.

   

   The CD version is a disk image in ISO format, which is simply burned to a disc.

   The archive with the flash drive version contains separate files that need to be copied to the media.

   

2. Next, you need to enable the bootloader on the flash drive. This is done via the command line. Calling up the menu "Start", open the list "All programs", then go to the folder "Standard" and find the point there "Command line". Click on it RMB and choose "Running as...".

   

   In the launch options window, switch to "The specified user account". The administrator will be registered by default. Click OK.

   

3. IN command line enter the following:

   g:\syslinux.exe -ma g:

   G– the drive letter assigned by the system to our flash drive. Your letter may be different. After entering, click ENTER and close "Command line".

   

4. We reboot the computer, set to boot from a flash drive or CD, depending on which version of the utility we used. We reboot again, after which the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor program will launch. The utility is console-based, that is, it does not have a graphical interface, so all commands will have to be entered manually.

   

Password reset

1. First of all, after launching the utility, click ENTER.
2. Next we see a list of partitions on hard drives that are at the moment connected to the system. Usually the program itself determines which partition needs to be opened, since it contains the boot sector. As you can see, it is located under the number 1. Enter the appropriate value and press again ENTER.

   

3. The utility will search for a folder with registry files on the system drive and ask for confirmation. The value is correct, press ENTER.

   

4. Then we look for the line with the value "Password reset" and see what number corresponds to it. As you can see, the program again made the choice for us. ENTER.

   

5. On the next screen we are offered several actions to choose from. We are interested "Edit user data and passwords", this is one again.

   

6. The following data may cause confusion, since we do not see “accounts” with the name “Administrator”. In fact, there is a problem with the encoding and the user we need is called "4@". We don’t enter anything here, just click ENTER.

   

7. Next, you can reset the password, that is, make it empty (1) or enter a new one (2).

   

8. Enter "1", click ENTER and we see that the password has been reset.

   

9. Then we write one by one: "!", "q", "n", "n". After each command, do not forget to press Enter.

   

10. We remove the flash drive and reboot the machine using the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ALT+DELETE. Then you need to set the boot from hard drive and you can log in under the Administrator account.

This utility does not always work correctly, but it is the only way to gain access to the computer if the Administrator’s “account” is lost.

When working with a computer, it is important to follow one rule: store passwords in a safe place other than the user folder on the hard drive. The same applies to those data, the loss of which can cost you dearly. To do this, you can use a flash drive, or better yet cloud storage, For example,

A standard situation is that the administrator has blocked many functions of the computer user. What to do, how to reset or find out the Windows administrator password? To reset or change the Windows administrator or user password, there are many options available, one of which is the ERD Commander program tools. However, your interference in the security of your computer will be revealed immediately the next time the system administrator visits your PC. Much more attractive is the option of revealing the administrator’s password, logging into Windows using its password, making the necessary changes or removing the necessary information accessible only to the computer administrator, and safely logging out of the system without traces of your visit. Elcomsoft System Recovery Professional does a great job with these and many other functions related to administrator and user accounts. Using it, you can find out the administrator password for Windows 7, XP, 2000, Server 2003 and 2008. The program is paid, but it is not difficult to find its “specific” version on the Internet. Let's take a step-by-step look at how you can find out the Windows password using it, as well as its other capabilities.

Removing Windows password - Elcomsoft System Recovery Professional

Removing the Windows password as follows. After spending some time searching for an image of the Elcomsoft System Recovery Professional program, we downloaded it and burned it to disk. Next, we configure the BIOS to boot from the drive and, after booting from the disk, we get the first window. Select the desired language, agree to the license terms and move forward "ok"

Here, most likely, in most cases there is no need to do anything and we continue to move “Next”.

Since our goal is to find out the Windows password, here we leave everything unchanged and move on to the next point.

At this stage we are asked to select the Windows directory of the system with which we are working. If there are several operating systems installed on the computer in different logical partitions or on one, then we need to know which one applies to our system (Windows, Windows 0, etc.). But in most cases, one operating system is installed, so there will be no choice. We leave the default settings and move on to the most interesting part.

After the program works for a short time to determine passwords, statuses and other attributes of accounts, the program will give us a window with the passwords of all users and the administrator being examined operating system Windows. Here we can rewrite all the passwords of interest and exit the program - “Close”. However, if we want to work with any account, we need to select it and click “Next”, moving to the next window for editing account parameters.

This window shows what actions we can take to change the parameters and password of the administrator (user) account: changing the password, raising the account privilege to admin status, unlocking accounts that have the “disabled” or “locked” status. The program supports any file systems and detects passwords written in all languages ​​localized in OS Windows. Using the program, you can find out the administrator password on Windows 7, NT 4.0, Windows Vista, 2003 Server, 2000, XP and Windows 2008 Server.

Agreeing with possible problems we get the last window before restarting the computer.

If, at the stage of viewing all passwords, you click “Close”, you will receive the following window. If we're talking about If you just want to find out the Windows password, it is advisable not to risk possible problems, but to calmly log in with the exposed administrator password and make all the necessary changes to the accounts from under the system. Well, if we are talking about unlocking an account or its password has expired, then nothing can be done about it.

Changing the password of any Windows user using ERD Commander

This video tutorial shows how to use the ERD Commander 2007 boot disk to change the password of any Windows user, including an administrator.

If you still fail to change the administrator password, you can always call a computer service technician to unlock your computer.

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IN everyday life There are often cases when you urgently need to use a device that has a key on it, but you don’t know it. Everyone knows that you can’t hack other people’s computers, but situations are also possible when you forgot the key to your own computer. Read where to safely store passwords. For example, if you do not use it long time. Don't be upset, because in most cases this problem can be dealt with. Moreover, you don’t have to be a professional in computer technology to do this.

First of all, you need to understand what a computer key is. Speaking in simple language, a password is a set of characters (letters, signs, numbers) needed to log into the system as a specific user. As a rule, the owner of the device comes up with it himself. But if the computer you are working on is a corporate one, then the administrator will most often give you the password.

Is it possible to reset a user's key?

This is only possible when you are in an administrator account and have not yet logged out of the system. Then you can simply change the key without knowing the old one. To do this, go to the “Settings” menu through the “Start” button, select “User Accounts”, then click “Reset Password”. Write a new one in the line that opens.

Where is the computer key kept?

The operating system registry acts as a repository for all device data. When you turn on the computer, it checks the characters entered and stored in the registry. If they do not match, you will be asked to enter them again.

How to remove user password?

If you are a regular user (not an administrator) and accidentally forgot the code. To do this, you just need to enter the software in safe mode by pressing the F8 key. How to enter safe mode in new Windows versions was written in this article. After that, log in as an Administrator by entering his name and password. Open, find “Accounts” through the “Control Panel”. Among the many, find the account you need and edit (via the “Withdraw” or “Delete password” items). This method will be relevant if you know the Administrator’s details; if you don’t have them, then read below.

How to hack windows 7 administrator password?

For Windows 7. When you turn on the computer, press F8 to open the following window:

Select with command line support.

After opening the command window, enter:

copy from:\windows\System32\sethc.exe from:\temp

Thus, we copy the sethc file, where the administrator password is stored, so as not to lose it, because it will be replaced.

Then we write:

copy c:\windows\System32\cmd.exe c:\windows\System32\sethc.exe

With this command we replaced the password file with the command line.

Exit cmd:

We boot the computer in normal mode.

After loading, press Shift 5 times. cmd will open. Enter:

We will see the name of the main admin. If the administrator account is disabled, you can enable it:

net user admin name /active:yes

If the name consists of two or more separate words, they must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Set a new key for the administrator:

net user admin username password

After this, restart the computer and enter the new key.

After a successful procedure, you need to return the sticky keys file to its place:

copy from:\temp\sethc.exe from:\windows\system32\sethc.exe

Resetting your password on Windows 8 and 10

After loading, select the keyboard layout and follow the path “Diagnostics” - “Advanced options” - “Command line”.

Then follow all the steps as in the case of Windows 7, which is described just above. The only difference is that instead of sethc you need to write utilman.

How else can you reset your password?

So, we can conclude that you can reset your password in various ways depending on the access you have to the device. If you are its Administrator, then this will be much easier to do than for an ordinary user.

Thus, it is almost impossible to obtain the key; you can only reset it and replace it with a new one. However, nowadays almost everything is available. There are special spy programs for this. But using them is risky, as they can harm your computer: destroy some files, introduce malicious spyware.

To avoid all of the above problems, it is enough to simply create complex and at the same time memorable passwords.