# HOWTO - Recover lost Windows 2000/XP/2003 Admin Passwords



## enoonmai (Feb 28, 2005)

So, you've hit your head upon the nearest table corner and are suffering from selective amnesia. Or you've been so paranoid and have changed your admin password more than you've changed your shirt. It was inevitable that you would forget the administrator password. Chances are that you haven't really helped yourself and created either a Password Hint, a Password Reset Disk or another Administrator-privileges enabled account.

Do not despair. All is not lost, and you may still be able to bring things back to normal without a reinstall. However, once you're done with this HOWTO, please create a password reset disk in Windows XP and store it in a safe place and save yourself a world of trouble.

*Tool #1: Offline NT Password and Registry Editor:*

Get it here:

Bootable floppy:
*home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bd041205.zip

Bootable CD:
*home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/cd041205.zip

and then boot the computer off it. It will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts but be warned, *that if you've encrypted user data, you may end up corrupting it if you've used EFS.*

*Tool #2: Austrumi*

Austrumi is a Linux bootable ISO image for recovering NT passwords and other cool tools and methods, sized for Business Card size CD media (50Mb). It allows you to change any password, including that of the Administrator, on a partition occupied by Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Simply boot the CD and when you get to the initial boot prompt, type:

_boot: nt_pass_

This will launch a console utility that will detect Windows partitions on the hard disk and provide you with a menu to modify any user or Administrator passwords on the Windows system. It will even give access to the Windows registry for recovery purposes. Quite a handy utility to keep in your wallet (AUSTRUMI is small enough to fit on a business card-size CD) if you are unfortunate enough to having to deal with Windows machines in your line of work.

Read more at *sourceforge.net/projects/austrumi

Download the files you need here:
*prdownloads.sourceforge.net/austrumi/austrumi-0.9.2.iso?download

*Tool #3: XP Password Recovery:*

This site provides a tool to recover lost Windows XP passwords. It works for administrator accounts, it doesn't change the password just tells you the old one. It works with encrypted files (EFS) and password hashes. It even works if no passwords at all are known for the machine (as long as you have another computer with internet access to view this website with). It does not work if the password has symbols or spaces in.

Author (Oliver Mattos) claims it also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn, but the BEST thing about it is the fact that it won't reset your passwords, but simply reveal them for you to remember and then use.

Give it a try. The author would like to receive feedbacks for debugging and troubleshooting purposes.

Note: You'll need a blank floppy to run the process, and it will take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours for the scan to complete.

Usage, instructions and additional information can be found at 

*xpcracker.mine.nu/xpcracker


Source


*NOTE:* I am not responsible if scriptkiddies and other crazed individuals go around using this for purposes of showing off and trying to be l33t. I am not responsible if you get fired because you didn't do your job as a sysadmin and you let someone lock you out of your own computer. In short, I'm not responsible for jack.


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## h4xbox (Mar 1, 2005)

Hey where did u get it from ?? 1337 scr!pT k!dd guy


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## enoonmai (Mar 1, 2005)

Read the end of the post for the source. And please, I'm no scriptkiddie. (and I pretty much consider that a derogatory term) I've been a part-time sysadmin and I know the problems that can arise when a certified genius manages to lose his Administrator password as well as forget his usual account login password. 

Like I said, its for legit users to save themselves a lot of time reinstalling and restoring the computer to its normal working status. And just for the record, *I DO NOT go around using these tools to reset every other admin password I see. I AM NOT A SCRIPTKIDDIE.*


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## icecoolz (Mar 1, 2005)

LOL...easy enoonmai. Kids with a few Hacker phrases think they can call others script kiddies. lol. Well let it be. I for one def think you know ur stuff.


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## suj_engico (Mar 6, 2005)

Hey dudes!!!!!!!!
Good u'll mentioned abt recovering lost adm. passwords.
I have lost one but that is for LINUX.
Can u help guys.
Pleeez!!!!!!


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## theraven (Mar 6, 2005)

abbey dun mind h4xb0x
he's that "h4ack3r" kid returning with a vengeance
the original script kiddie

anyways good job as usual man ..


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## xenkatesh (Mar 7, 2005)

enooo.... ur trick worked man thx a lot........


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## sesi5674u (Mar 31, 2005)

im working on ur trick.....i hope it really works


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## khin007 (Apr 4, 2005)

nice tutorial man ....


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## vmlinuz (Apr 8, 2005)

suj_engico said:
			
		

> Hey dudes!!!!!!!!
> Good u'll mentioned abt recovering lost adm. passwords.
> I have lost one but that is for LINUX.
> Can u help guys.
> Pleeez!!!!!!


You can not recover the password for root but you can change it.

1) Boot your system in single user mode.
2) When you get the prompt, type the command passwd.
3) It will ask for new password. Retype the password.
Now you can login as root with new password.


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## triangle (Dec 26, 2006)

Hello,

Another solution is to use Active@ Password Changer utility. It will be able to reset lost or forgotten pass
*www.password-changer.com/


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## rcmichelle (Aug 26, 2010)

you can try to google Password Genius


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## rcmichelle (Sep 7, 2010)

Last time I forgot my password and tried everything i could do but failed, until I found this great tool password recovery bundle. It works great, and you can google it.


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## jayantr7 (Sep 7, 2010)

Just a trick to get into an administrator account-->
  press [CTRL + ALT + DELETE] twice...i mean first press those ones sequentially like u open windows task manager and then again press those...a dialog box would appear asking for username and password.Just type Administrator in it and leave the password box blank.Press Ok and woo!!

You are now in the administrator acconut....It can be useful if you dont have the softwares with you......this trick will only work in xp..


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