Nordahl's Offline NT Password Editor, which can be downloaded here. If you are not familiar with this method, you can use P.

If you are comfortable using Linux, you can boot from a Linux live CD that can read NTFS drives, mount the Windows partition, and copy the SAM file to an external drive. If you have physical access, one of the most effective methods is to boot your computer with another operating system. There are a number of other options here depending on the level of access you have to the computer that is conducting the authentication. These values are also stored in the registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESAM, but this registry area is also not accessible when the operating system is launched. This SAM file is located on the system at C: WindowsSystem32config, but you cannot access it when the operating system is working. These hashes are stored in the SAM file of the Windows operating system. To crack the password you must obtain the hash stored inside the operating system. It should be noted that the techniques introduced here are purely for research purposes, not for systems where you do not have the right to authenticate.

In this second and final section, we will show you some ways to crack passwords using various free tools, thus providing some tips on how to prevent them. In that section, we also point out the weaknesses of each method and the avenues may be exploited by attackers to crack those passwords. In the first part of this series, we introduced you to password hashes as well as the mechanisms that Windows uses to create and save those values. How can Windows passwords be cracked - Part 1 In this article, I will show you some ways to crack passwords with different tools, then take measures to help you protect your passwords against such crack types.

Sam file location windows 7