Recovering Passwords with Ophcrack

If you have ever forgotten your computer password, you should learn how to use ophcrack. This Linux based application can be used in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 to recover them. How to Use the App on a USB Step 1 Download the "tables_vista_free.zip", "Universal USB Installer" and "XP Live CD. Step 2 Put the thumb drive in one of the USB ports of your computer. Run the Universal USB Installer application. Go to the menu and click "Ophcrack XP." Step 3 After opening the drop down menu, go to your USB drive. Click Create. Click Done when the app is finished. Step 4 Go to the USB drive and open the "tables" folder. Make a folder called "vista_free." Extract the "tables_vista_free.zip" contents into the "vista_free" folder. Take the drive out. Step 5 Put a USB drive in the USB port of the computer with the forgotten password. Step 6 Turn on the computer and go to its BIOS settings. You can get there by pressing the Del key as the computer is booting up. Step 7 Once in the BIOS, go to the "Boot" tab using the arrow keys. Change the setting to "removable device" for the first boot device. Get out of the BIOS and save changes. Step 8 The USB drive will appear when the computer reboots. The application will initiate and get all the passwords. Hit the Esc key and then Y to exit the program. Step 9

Restart the computer and go back to the BIOS settings. Change the boot order to the default setup. Using Ophcrack in Manual Mode This option is used if for some reason the application does not start automatically. If the program starts, this will be unnecessary. Step 1 Put the Ophcrack LiveCD in the CD drive. Step 2 After opening the "Terminal" application, you will be taken to an MS-DOS prompt. Step 3 Type "/home/tux/launch.sh" and press Enter. The program will start. If you see the No partition containing hashes found message, type "fdisk - 1" at the DOS prompt. Note the name of the partition. Type su and type root if a password is asked. Next, type "mkdir /mnt/ntfs" and press Enter. Now type mount /dev/" along with the partition name. The name should be after "/. Restart Windows if the application doesnt load up. Open the Terminal program. Type "mount -o force -t ntfs-3g /dev/" and the partition name with Windows. The words "/mnt/ntfs" should follow it. The application will now start. References: http://www.howtouse.org/how-to-use-ophcrack.html http://www.mightyguide.net/how-to-use-ophcrack.html