Hackosis

Have you ever changed or forgotten your Windows password? Fear not because I have the solution for you - and its completely free.

The following method works on Windows XP and Vista.

All you need is a Linux live CD (that auto mounts Windows partitions - ex. Ubuntu, Backtrack, Fedora, openSUSE).

Save the .iso and burn it to a disc.

Boot from the CD and follow these simple instructions - these instructions are assuming your are using backtrack, but should be similar for other Linux distributions:

1. Open a Linux terminal and enter the following commands:
2. cd /mnt
3. ls (Take note of the folders listed here. You might need them in the next step.)
4. cd sda1/Windows/System32/ (If this didn’t work you might have the wrong hard drive, try replacing ’sda1′ with sda2, hda1, or hda2)
5. mv utilman.exe utilman.old && cp cmd.exe utilman.exe
6. reboot (and remove the CD)
7. Once rebooted, at Vista or XP log in screen, Press Windows key + U to run CMD with system privileges. Replace username below with the one of your choice - it must not already exist!
8. c:\>net user username mypassword /add
9. c:\>net localgroup administrators username /add
10. Log in with the new admin account!

After completing don’t forget to copy the utilman.old back to utilman.exe or you will leave your system vulnerable - this is very important!!

I hope this helped in regaining access into your XP or Vista PC and if you know of any other tips like this please let us know in the comments.

UPDATE: Here is a backtrack video tutorial that covers the instructions.