Changing Admin password

Heres the deal my girlfriend forgot the password to her computer here are the problems
- There is no guest login
- No way I can access the desktop
- She never made one of those password disks
- Its a Vista computer

I've tried a lot of solutions for the past 2 hours and can't figure out how to bypass this crap I remember it being very easy on an XP machine. If anyone who has experience with this that can help I would appreciate it.

I've used Ophcrack[=http//ophcrack.sourceforge.net]Ophcrack to recover lost Windows 2K/XP passwords. The latest version claims to support Vista, but it might be harder to do, since Vista's SAM is supposed to be a bit more secure. Just burn the Live CD and boot from it.

Note that Ophcrack uses a brute force technique and can thus typically crack simple alphanumeric passwords in minutes. Stronger passwords (longer, mixed case, symbols, etc.) will take a lot longer, and may not crack.

Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.[=http//lifehacker.com/software/password-recovery/screenshot-tour-how-to-crack-a-windows-password-with-ophcrack-live-cd-232963.php]Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.

[quote9f7f016aed="dmorris68"]I've used Ophcrack[=http//ophcrack.sourceforge.net]Ophcrack to recover lost Windows 2K/XP passwords. The latest version claims to support Vista, but it might be harder to do, since Vista's SAM is supposed to be a bit more secure. Just burn the Live CD and boot from it.

Note that Ophcrack uses a brute force technique and can thus typically crack simple alphanumeric passwords in minutes. Stronger passwords (longer, mixed case, symbols, etc.) will take a lot longer, and may not crack.

Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.[=http//lifehacker.com/software/password-recovery/screenshot-tour-how-to-crack-a-windows-password-with-ophcrack-live-cd-232963.php]Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.[/quote9f7f016aed]

Funny. My sister just had one of her roommates change the password on her lappy as a practical joke...and then forgot what they changed it to shock

I used the ophcrack live CD and it worked like a charm however with Vista you will have to choose NTHash in lieu of the lower LMHash settings (explanations can be found on the Ophcrack site.)

As an alternative, and only IF she remembers an old password, you can use your Vista disk to roll back to a previous date that had an old password.

Good luck.

[quote325ba289d3="dmorris68"]I've used Ophcrack[=http//ophcrack.sourceforge.net]Ophcrack to recover lost Windows 2K/XP passwords. The latest version claims to support Vista, but it might be harder to do, since Vista's SAM is supposed to be a bit more secure. Just burn the Live CD and boot from it.

Note that Ophcrack uses a brute force technique and can thus typically crack simple alphanumeric passwords in minutes. Stronger passwords (longer, mixed case, symbols, etc.) will take a lot longer, and may not crack.

Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.[=http//lifehacker.com/software/password-recovery/screenshot-tour-how-to-crack-a-windows-password-with-ophcrack-live-cd-232963.php]Here's a brief screenshot tutorial article on using Ophcrack.[/quote325ba289d3]

I tried using that but for some reason it doesnt boot like that it brings up something called Slax with a 4 leaf clover.

SLAX is the Linux distro they use for the LiveCD now. I think they changed distros, so the article might be old. Once booted, the same concepts should apply though -- did it not boot?

[quote08febe0f5e="dmorris68"]SLAX is the Linux distro they use for the LiveCD now. I think they changed distros, so the article might be old. Once booted, the same concepts should apply though -- did it not boot?[/quote08febe0f5e]

It booted fine except I just can't figure out what to do at a certain point and I get stuck.