Windows Vista password problem

[pyte]

I happened to have lost my windows vista password and the account happens to be Administrative.
i have tried the famous linux way but it works not though i complete all stages as guided here
so far nothing changes and am left locked out.any solutions?
please dont mention downloading ophcrack or that sort ive done that n nothing works here.


thanx

[Zesh]

On login screen, hit Alt+Ctrl+Del twice that should bring up the administrator login window  thingy. Type in the default administrator username and password and you should be in.

Although I'm not sure if the above works on Vista. I do know it works on XP but it is worth the shot.

[pyte]

Ive just tried that ..one problem here, i press the ctrl + alt +del but nothing happens.
i guess its so screwed up.

[Snayler]

Have you tried booting into safe mode? I don't know if Vista has it, but with windows XP, you would be given access to the "Administrator" account. You can also try to reset the password by following this tut:
http://linuxpoison.blogspot.pt/2011/01/how-to-reset-windows-nt-2k-xp-vista.html

EDIT: Never mind, I see you already followed a similar one.

If you can find some other way of getting into the system (using another account), there is an app that can find and display in plain text the passwords of all users. Here's a link:
https://pentestlab.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/dumping-clear-text-credentials-with-mimikatz/

[karsa]

Try Kon Boot. If you don't want to pay, there's always that 'other' way. Iirc the free version supports only 32 bit versions.

[RedBullAddicted]

Hi pyte,

I have always used this tool: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ .Guess it is not much different from the way you already tried with your ubuntu cd. Tbh I never used it with Win Vista. With XP and 7 it works pretty good.

Cheers,
RBA

[Kulverstukas]

Boot up the Hiren's boot CD. I think it has password recovery tools in there. If not then you can grab SAM and I think, SYSTEM files, then use PasswordsPro I think, to crack the password in few seconds.

[Zesh]

Surely you can boot into safe mode and bypass the login window?

If you can't, boot into safe mode with command prompt that shouldn't ask you for a login. Then through command prompt change the password or create a new account to atleast get you into the system then you can go about retreiving your admin password.

[pyte]

Thanks pals , your ideas are worth.
i however found another way to do it ..



## Unlocking admin account on windows (*) with ubuntu 12.04
## proven to work. at least where i've used.


 Method 1:


1. Boot from ubuntu live cd
2. Mount the windows partition and access Folder Windows then System 32
3. Search for Utilman.exe and rename it to Utilman1.exe
3. Find also cmd.exe, copy and paste it in the same folder
4. Rename the copy to utilman.exe
5. Close the folder, remove the ubuntu live cd and reboot
6. On login screen appears a cmd with admin privileges
7. Create a new user and group him in the admin pool


   #this is done using the following commands:
   
  net user /add SOME_USER Some_password ------------------- create new user
   
   net localgroup administrators SOME_USER /add --------------------add him to Admin group
   
   net share SHARE_NAME=c:\ /grant:SOME_USER,full-------------------Here we grant him power above all
   
   The command above will grant user name SOME_USER will full grant, that’s mean SOME_USER can do everything on the system including see other users file .
   
8. Restart your system and login with the account you created and rush to the user profiles and change / clear the password from the account in discussion
9. Now you can login to the account with a blank or the password you set.
10.Access the system 32 and delete current utilma.exe and rename utilman1.exe to utilman.exe


Enjoy!
   
   
   Method 2:
 
1. Obtain and boot from a live ubuntu cd
2. Open the software center and on the top panel hit edit and scroll down to software sources
3. Under Ubuntu softwares mark everything except the source code option and choose the Universal server
4. Hit close to save the edit and close the software center
5. Launch a terminal (I assume you know how Ctrl + Alt +T
6. Type sudo -s  and hit Enter to gain root (makes everything easier for you)
7. Next run apt-get update to just have things in order then apt -get install chntpw (quit hacky a package)
8. Now to the real part. Simply open a folder and mount the windows partition (by simply clicking on it)
9. type cd/media/ here press Tab and select the Numbers you get there.. then /Windows/System32/config/ press Enter.
   ## you should have something like this (capital W/S depends on the os ie vista, xp etc)
   
   cd /media/4536729200192/Windows/System32/config
   
10. key in chntpw SAM and follow instructions to edit admin password.I RECOMMEND YOU USE OPTION 1 ONLY.
11. For a different user use; chntpw -u user_name SAM. if you aren't sure of the username chntpw -l SAM will show you a list.
12. type reboot when done and log into the edited accounts at your own liberty


ENJOY!