HOW TO CRACK WINDOWS PASSWORD?

There are times when you can’t access your computer, maybe because you have lost your windows password or maybe due to the problematic new Windows update. It happens. In this article we present you a couple of way to either crack the Windows password or simply bypass it. Stay tuned!

1. TRY OPHCRACK

Ophcrack is a free tool that cracks Windows log-in passwords by using LM hashes through rainbow tables. It contains nice feature which allows it to import the hashes from a variety of formats, including dumping directly from the SAM files of Windows. By using rainbow tables the time required for cracking the Windows password is heavily reduced.

DOWNLOAD OPHRACK AND CREATE LIVE-CD / USB

In order to use OPHCRACK you need to download it first and burn it to CD or create a bootable USB drive. Depending on the rainbow tables you plan to use OPHCRACK image file can contain few gigabytes of data.

1. Go to https://ophcrack.sourceforge.io/download.php and download your version of choice. For newer systems it should be Vista/7 LiveCD
2. After downloading you can either burn the iso to blank CD media or use Rufus utility to create ophcrack USB.
3. In case of Rufus and USB media use the following settings:
4. After you have created the bootable USB, eject the it from the computer and then insert it to the locked computer.
5. If your BIOS was not configured to boot from USB goto to BIOS SETUP (press F2 during boot) and set the first BOOT option to USB.
6. Now boot your locked computer you should see the Ophcrack LiveCD boot menu on tyour screen with 4 available options, pick the default option – Ophcrack Graphic Mode-automatic

The Windows password cracking process

1. Now Ophcrack should start loading user account details and once this is finished it will get the list of user accounts and passwords
2. Each cracked password will be noted at the NT Pwd column. Make sure you note the password and the corresponding (associated) user.
3. Now when this is done, boot your computer with OPHCRACK and simply log in to the previous locked Windows user with the password noted in the previous step
4. Your job is done, your Windows password was cracked!

OPHCRACK DRAWBACKS / PROBLEMS

Main problem with OPHCRACK is that the successful cracking process depends on the complexity of the Windows password. The more complex is the Windows password the more probable is OPHCRACK will not be able to crack it or the cracking process will take years. Therefore making it completely impractical. Hopefully there are alternatives, see next step.

2. USE KON-BOOT TOOL

KON-BOOT works differently than OPHCRACK. Instead of cracking Windows password it simply bypasses it. Therefore, it doesn’t have to spend much time on the entire procedure. Secondly, it doesn’t not care about Windows password complexity, it can bypass even super complex passwords. Additionally KON-BOOT is super tiny, meaning you need to download only few megabytes instead of gigabytes.

Simply:

1. Download and install KON-BOOT to USB of choice
2. Boot your locked Windows machine with KON-BOOT usb
3. Wait for Windows to fully load
4. Pick the wanted account
5. Put any password and press ENTER
6. That’s it, you should be logged in now! Your Windows password was bypassed

Check the video below showing kon-boot dealing with Windows password:

That’s about it for today. Hopefully you have managed to crack your Windows password and now you can log in to your computer without problems. Cheers!