Trying to help an acquaintance whose daughter forgot the password to her Windows Vista Business. My Google search found this: [ophcrack.sourceforge.net] The acquaintance thinks reinstalling the OS with the Recovery Disks (borrowing from someone else) would solve the problem. I thought those CDs/DVDs would only work with specific systems with which they came.
What are your opinions or experiences on this free software? Tia

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West San Gabriel Valley, California ... for the time being



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2012 08:43AM by kap.

Ophcrack should do the trick. Make sure that you download the correct version though. It is free and does nothing to the computer so no risk other than lost time. It is a Linux Live CD that runs the encrypted password through an algorithm to hack the admin password. I use it all the time at work. There is also another utility that will reset the password. I haven't tried that one yet, but I've been told that it works too.

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Nothing to see here, move along.

Just reading through the FAQ. Seems a bit complicated for a PC novice. What is an "easier" option?

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West San Gabriel Valley, California ... for the time being

Ophcrack will typically work, but depending on the length/complexity of the password, the free version might not work - then you'd need to spend hundreds for an advanced version.

Recovery disks from other machine will not work for recovering a password. All those are good for is for reinstalling the OS (and sometimes the pre-installed applications). The disks will work for that if they are from the same (or similar) model and/or from the same computer brand/vendor.

Try Ophcrack first - it really isn't that hard to use. If that doesn't work then go with: [pcsupport.about.com]

...and then the always reliable, fairly easy to use, and what most of these recovery tools are based on: [pogostick.net]

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That does it! Thanks!

K

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Quote
onthedownlow
Ophcrack will typically work, but depending on the length/complexity of the password, the free version might not work - then you'd need to spend hundreds for an advanced version.

Recovery disks from other machine will not work for recovering a password. All those are good for is for reinstalling the OS (and sometimes the pre-installed applications). The disks will work for that if they are from the same (or similar) model and/or from the same computer brand/vendor.

Try Ophcrack first - it really isn't that hard to use. If that doesn't work then go with: [pcsupport.about.com]

...and then the always reliable, fairly easy to use, and what most of these recovery tools are based on: [pogostick.net]

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West San Gabriel Valley, California ... for the time being

Ophcrack is a great free tool. Well, it didn't work for complicated long password recovery. so pro Windows Password Recovery Tool will be a good choice for us if we support for it!

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Windows Password Recovery Tool