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How to Reset Windows Password with Ubuntu for Free

September 3rd, 2012 by Admin

Windows has an in-built option to create password reset disk to log into system in case a user forgets the Windows account password. However, in a worst case scenario, where you don’t have a password reset disk nor have access to any administrator account, Ubuntu Live disk may help. In this article, we will guide you through step-by-step procedure of resetting Windows user account password.

While Ubuntu Live CD is widely used to troubleshoot PC problems, you can use it to reset Windows user account passwords as well. The process requires creating a Ubuntu Live CD or Live USB, and then booting it to gain full system access for resetting forgotten Windows password.

Note:  This method is free and easy for Linux users. For Windows users, we recommend you to try the Reset Windows Password bootable utility – Which is based on Windows PE and you can use it to easily reset forgotten Windows password on Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000.

Step 1: Create a Bootable Ubuntu Live USB

To get started, grab Universal USB Installer, and then download Ubuntu 10.10 (32-bit or 64-bit) from here.

Launch Universal USB Installer, select Ubuntu 10.10 from drop-down menu, and then click Browse to select the Ubuntu ISO file. Now, select the USB drive letter and set the persistent file size.

Once all settings are in place, click Create to begin creating a bootable Ubuntu Live USB.

Step 2: Boot from Ubuntu Live USB

After the Ubuntu Live USB is created, reboot your PC and access computer BIOS by pressing ESC, F2, F10, F9 or other system defined key. Head over to Boot menu and set USB/Removable Hard disk as first boot option. Once boot priority is changed, save the changes and reboot the system. From boot menu, choose Run Ubuntu from this USB option to load Ubuntu 10.10.

Step 3: Install Chntpw

Once your booted into Ubuntu, hit Ctrl + Alt + T to open a Terminal window. I know this may seem a little scary but it is actually quite easy. Once this window is open, simply type sudo apt-get install chntpw and hit Enter. It should download and install the program without needing further assistance. Once it’s finished and your back at the regular prompt, simply type exit and hit Enter. Now you should be back on the Desktop.

Step 4: Reset Windows Password

Now, you need to mount the hard disk partition where Windows is installed. You will be able to access all the removable drives and hard disk partitions from Places menu.

Open all partitions to find the drive with Windows folder. When you find it, make a note of the drive’s label that appears in the menu bar of the file browser.

Once the drive with Windows folder is mounted, open Applications menu from panel, and select Terminal from Accessories menu.

In Terminal window, enter cd /media command, and then list all mounted media drives with ls command.

Once listed, you have to navigate to drive that contains Windows folder. Enter the following command to do so.
cd <hard drive label>

Since we have to make changes to Security Accounts Manager (SAM), which is residing in Windows/System32/config folder. Enter:
cd Windows/System32/config

Once you’re in config folder, use chntpw tool to read Windows user account credentials and make changes to saved passwords. Enter following command to run chntpw tool.
sudo chntpw SAM

The chntpw shows all the configured Windows user accounts with their current status.

It presents 4 different Windows user account tweaking options at the bottom, including clear the admin account password, replace current password/edit password, promote standard user, and unlock locked user accounts. You can reset Windows admin user account password by pressing ‘1’ followed by ‘Y’,  However, to edit the admin password, press ‘2’, enter a new password, hit enter and then press Y to change the password.

The sudo chntpw SAM command can only make changes to Windows admin account password. If you want to change standard user’s password, use the switch –u followed by correct user account name.
sudo chntpw –u <user account name> SAM

Once you’ve changed the user account password, reboot your system, and plug out Ubuntu Live USB. If you’ve just reset the admin password, Windows will not prompt you to enter the password. However, if you changed the password, use the new password to log in to Windows.

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Posted in Free Software, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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Can’t Copy Text from a PDF File?

September 2nd, 2012 by Admin

I am using foxit PDF reader to view my text book. I would like to copy the text from the pdf file into a word document but it won’t let me. I can select the text fine but the option to copy text is not available. I can copy text from other documents but not some. Is there a way to get around this protection in Windows?

Can’t copy text from a PDF file? The reason why you can’t copy and paste is most likely due to the fact that the PDF file has had the copy and paste permission disabled by the creator. You can view the security settings by opening PDF file in Acrobat, click Document Property on File menu, then click Security tab. As you can seen in the screen below, you can protect PDF file from printing, copying or editing.

So how to remove PDF security settings? Without the permission password (also known as Owner Password) you are not allowed to modify, print, copy or extract text and graphics from the PDF file. If you have legal rights or are genuine owner to the PDF document, but forget the password, here is an easy way to help you remove PDF security settings without knowing the original password.

How to Remove PDF Security Settings?

  1. Download and install PDF Password Recovery software on your computer.
  2. Run PDF Password Recovery program, then click the … button to select your password-protected PDF document (*.pdf), then choose the Remove Owner Password option.

    PDF Password Recovery

  3. Click the Next button.
  4. Immediately the tool will decrypt the owner password and remove the security restrictions imposed on it, and a new non-protected copy will be created. You will then be allowed to print, copy, modify the decrypted PDF document without even knowing the password.Remove PDF Owner Password

Once you’ve removed the security settings, you are then allowed you copy text from the PDF file. Can’t copy text from a PDF file? PDF Password Recovery can do the job of removing PDF security restrictions efficiently. It saved you a lot of time though not having to manually type all that text. Hopefully, this will help you copy the text you need from a PDF document.

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2 Useful Options to Find Windows 7 Password

September 1st, 2012 by Admin

Oops! I forgot my Windows 7 password! Does this happen to you often? Then you might know how difficult it is to find Windows 7 password. There are almost no easy way to find Windows 7 password. In these case we usually left with one option – reinstalling Windows operating system. Reinstalling OS may solve the problem but you will lose all important data present in Windows drive. It will be great if we could easily find lost Windows password. Fortunately, there are some ways to find Windows 7 password using some password recovery software.

Option 1: Find Windows 7 Password While Logging In

If you can still log in to your computer with administrator account, you can try to use Ophcrack to find your Windows password. Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a GTK+ Graphical User Interface and runs on Windows, Mac OS X (Intel CPU) as well as on Linux.

Whether you need to find the lost password to a Windows account, you’re looking to ensure that your passwords are secure, Ophcrack is a pretty useful tool.

Option 2: Find Windows 7 Password without Logging In

Forgot Windows password and can’t log in to your user account? Don’t worry! There is an easy way to help you get out of this situation. Reset Windows Password utility is the only software you need. It comes as an ISO image file. Just burn the ISO image to a CD or USB stick, you can then use it to boot your locked computer,  it allows you to reset you forgotten Windows password instantly.

Reset Windows Password utility can be used to deal with all types of Windows password problems, such as forgot Windows password, Windows account is locked out or disabled, password is expired. The program is able to reset Windows admin/user passwords on Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2008, 2003, 2000, as well as resetting forgotten domain passwords on Windows Server 2008, 2003 and 2000.

Conclusion

Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. Option 1 is useful when you forgot Windows password but you can still log in, while Option 2 always works no matter you can log in or not. With these 2 useful options you can find Windows 7 password with ease.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7

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How to Reset Outlook Password

September 1st, 2012 by Admin

Did you forget Outlook password? How to reset Outlook password without knowing the original password? It is convenient that letting Outlook remember your email account password, so Outlook won’t ask you for the password every time you check mail. After a long time, the password are prone to slip out of your mind. How to reset Outlook password once it is lost or forgot?

Resetting Outlook password that you forgot is not so hard as you think. All you need is to get an Outlook password reset tool, which can help you out of the trouble immediately. In this article we’re going to show you how to reset Outlook password quickly and easily.

First of all, get Outlook password reset software here: Outlook Password Recovery. It can help you to reset your Outlook password in a few seconds without knowing your original password. The whole task takes you only 3 steps.

How to Reset Outlook Password?

  1. Install Outlook Password Recovery on your computer.
  2. Run the program and then click on Start Recovery button.

  3. The program will find out email account logins and passwords remembered by Outlook application.

Write the recovered passwords down and access your Outlook. You can reset your Outlook with a new password now. So if you ever lose the password of Outlook account, do not worry just opt for this method and reset your Outlook password quickly and easily.

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How to Lock Your Computer with Syskey

August 31st, 2012 by Admin

Windows user passwords can easily be compromised by any geek who has physical access to the PC. There are lot of tools to crack, reset, unlock windows accounts and password such as Ophcrack, Reset Windows Password and more. To enhance login security, Windows has a hidden security feature called syskey which gives us an extra layer of security to log in to the PC. This method of security is not easy to crack easily like user account. But there are something you need to consider before doing this.

  • If you forgot the password the only way to reset is formatting the Windows.
  • You need to enter the syskey before log into user accounts. If your PC is used by multiple users, everyone should know the password.

Syskey is also known as Startup Key. You can store the syskey in Windows locally or on a USB flash drive. If you set syskey to be stored locally, you will have to enter the syskey whenever you boot up the computer. This tutorial will show you how to lock your Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP computer with syskey.

How to Lock Your Computer with Syskey?

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box, type syskey and press Enter.
  2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Continue.

  3. Click on Update.

    sam-lock-tool

  4. Click on Password Startup, then enter your password for syskey.

    syskey-startup-password

  5. Click OK. Now it’s done.

  6. Next time, you would need to enter syskey to login to your computer.

    startup-password-prompt

Windows will now require you to enter syskey at startup when you boot your computer.  If your Windows account is password protected, then you are still required to enter your Windows account password in order to get into Windows.

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Forgot Administrator Password in Windows 7/Vista/XP

August 31st, 2012 by Admin

Forgot your Administrator password? Can’t remember the administrator password? How can you get out of this situation without formatting and re-installing the operating system? You’ve come to the right place! We have a tool for resetting forgotten administrator password in Windows 7/Vista/XP, it is called Reset Windows Password. This software comes with very simple and easy to use user interface. We can use it to reset forgotten administrator password of any Windows computer in just a few mouse clicks.

How to Reset Forgotten Administrator Password?

  1. Download the Reset Windows Password tool onto a computer you have access to. After download, extract the file, there is an ISO image: ResetWindowsPwd.iso. Burn this ISO image to a CD using ISO burning software such as BurnCDCC. The CD is needed for booting your computer with a forgotten administrator password.
  2. After the CD is ready, place it in the CD drive of your locked computer. Go into computer BIOS and set CD/DVD as the 1st boot device, your computer will boot from the CD you’ve created after restarting.
  3. Once the boot procedure is complete, it will launch the Reset Windows Password utility. Choose the administrator account and then click Reset Password button to remove your forgotten password.
  4. Eject the CD and restart the computer. You will find that it is not asking for password for the administrator account. That’s it, you are done.

Forgot Administrator Password in Windows 7/Vista/XP? With this method you can reset administrator password quickly and easily, no need to reinstall the whole operating system.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Retrieve Windows Password

August 30th, 2012 by Admin

Here is the situation. You just changed your Windows admin password. The next morning when you boot your PC, you can’t remember the password to login to your Windows. You got nervous and don’t know what to do. Every passwords you entered were wrong. But, be calm… Every problems have their solutions. Here are 2 solutions to help you reset / retrieve Windows password quickly and easily.

Solution 1: Retrieve Windows Password with Ophcrack

All you need is Ophcrack, a Windows password recovery tool. Borrow someone PC, download the tool and burn it in CD. Then boot your PC with the Live CD and Ophcrack will start do its work. But make sure to set your BIOS to 1st boot from CD or you will end up with boot in Windows. Launch the program and wait the password to be retrieved.

Ophcrack won’t work against strong passwords – particularly if you are trying to retrieve a Windows Vista/7 password. The cracking process can take some time, as well, depending on the password you are trying to crack. Simple passwords tend to be quick – complex passwords take more time. If you used a complex password on a Windows Vista/7 machine you may be out of luck.

Solution 2: Reset Windows Password Instantly

Retrieving Windows password is a time-consuming task, but you can reset forgotten Windows password quickly and easily. Reset Windows Password utility could be used to reset Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000 password in no time. Let’s see how it works:

  1. Download the self-extracting Zip file of Reset Windows Password package.
  2. Unzip the download file, there is an ISO image: ResetWindowsPwd.iso. Burn it onto a blank CD/DVD or USB flash drive using ISO2Disc or any CD/DVD burning software you like.
  3. Boot your locked computer from the Windows password reset disk.
  4. Wait until the boot process is complete. When a window pops up with all your Windows accounts, select an user account and then click the Reset Passwordbutton.Reset Windows Password
  5. It will reset Windows password immediately.

Now you can then log in to your account with a blank password and regain access to your computer immediately! No need to spend a long time to retrieve your forgotten Windows password.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Hack Windows 7 Password

August 29th, 2012 by Admin

Have you forgotten your Windows 7 password? This is the common problem which may arrive to every user at some point of time. So, formatting your PC is one solution to your problem. But it may let you loose some of your important data and overall its time consuming. I have a better solution than this.

Reset Windows Password is a powerful recovery software that can be used to hack Windows 7 password. It comes with a GUI interface which makes it more simple to use. Here I’m going to teach you how to hack Windows 7 password without knowing the original password.

How to hack Windows 7 password? The password hacking procedure can be divided into 3 steps.

Step 1: Create a Windows Password Hacking CD

  1. To prepare for the password-hacking procedure, you need another computer to connect to the Internet, download the Reset Windows Password utility.
  2. Unzip the download file which contains an ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso.
  3. Next, burn the ISO image to a CD/DVD with any CD burning software such as BurnCDCC. A Windows password hacking disk will be ready in one or two minutes.

Step 2: Boot Your Locked PC from the Password Hacking CD

  1. Now that you’ve prepared the Windows password hacking CD, go to the computer for which you have forgotten the password.
  2. Insert the Windows password hacking CD and turn on the computer.
  3. When it is powered on, check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
  4. Change its BIOS settings to make it try to boot from the CD first.

Step 3: Hack Windows 7 Password

  1. Once you have configured the BIOS correctly, your computer will boot from the Windows password hacking CD.
  2. After a while, the boot CD will launch the Reset Windows Password program.
  3. Choose the SAM registry hive from the list, the program will display a list of Windows user accounts on the computer.
  4. Select the user account whose password you forgot, then click Reset Password button.
  5. It will hack and reset your forgotten Windows 7 password in no time.

After hacking Windows 7 password, you can then log back into Windows 7 with a blank password. The password hacking method requires that you have physical access to your computer. It also works on Windows Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000.

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