How to reset forgotten windows password
Are you looking for a way to bypass or reset your forgotten Windows 10 password to get back access? You are at right place.
In this article, we will learn how we can bypass or reset Windows 10 operating system password using Kali Linux without any harm or problem.
All we need is a live Kali Linux medium (USB or CD), and a locked Windows 10 operating system and follow the steps given below.
Before we move on to the practical process, let us find out where and how the windows password is stored in Windows 10 OS.
Windows password is stored in SAM file which is present in windows/system32/config folder in the Windows OS. SAM stands for Security Account Manager in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 is a database file that stores a user's password. So we need to modify SAM file to bypass or reset user password of windows OS and for that we will use a tool chntpw, this tool is preinstalled in Kali Linux. You can also use other Linux distributions but you may need to manually install chntpw tool on that Linux distro.
Note: this article is just for educational purpose only.
Let's follow the steps -
step 1 - booting Kali Linux form live media
Create Kali Linux live bootable media (USB or CD) and boot your Windows 10 installed computer from this media. Once you have booted your live Kali Linux, open File Explorer in Linux and navigate to the C drive where Windows OS is installed.
step 2 - opening terminal in windows folder
In the C drive, we can find windows folder. we just need to right click on windows folder and click “Open Terminal Here”, it will open windows directory in terminal.
┌──(CyberBurner㉿kali)-[/media/cyberburner/C21AE3FA1AE3E97D/Windows]
└─$
step 3 - navigating config folder
We will navigate config folder because SAM file is present in this folder that we have to modify.
┌──(CyberBurner㉿kali)-[/media/cyberburner/C21AE3FA1AE3E97D/Windows]
└─$ cd System32/config
step 4 - modifying SAM file using chntpw
Now, will modify SAM file using chntpw tools, which is preinstalled in Kali Linux.
If you need help to use chtnpw you can use chntpw -h
listing all users in SAM file
use the following command to list all users in SAM file.
┌──(CyberBurner㉿kali)-[/media/…/C21AE3FA1AE3E97D/Windows/System32/config]
└─$ chntpw -l SAM
the above command will display user lists as follows -
RID - |----------Username-----------| Admin? |- Lock? --- |
01f4 | Administrator | ADMIN | dis/lock |
01f7 | DefaultAccount | | dis/lock |
01f5 | Guest | | dis/lock |
03f3 | CyberBurner | | |
01f8 | WDAGUtilityAccount | | dis/lcok |
choose the username (in my case CyberBurner) and type the following command.
┌──(CyberBurner㉿kali)-[/media/…/C21AE3FA1AE3E97D/Windows/System32/config]
└─$ chntpw -u CyberBurner SAM
the above command will show User Edit Menu for CyberBurner user as follows -
--------User Edit Menu:
1. - Clear {blank} user password
2. - Unlock and enable user account
3. - Promote user (make user an administrator)
4. - Add user to a group
5. - Remove user from group
q - Quit editing user, back to user select
We want to clear user password and log into the system without password. So, type 1 and press Enter, it will clear password for select username(in my case ‘CyberBurner’).
when we press 1, it will ask us to make changes in SAM file type y and press Enter. Then type q to exit User Edit Menu.
Congrats, the password for the selected username is removed. Now, reboot the system with Windows OS and we can access the Windows OS with username(in my case CyberBurner) without any password.