Support #935
Updated by Daniel Curtis about 6 years ago
This is a guide on resetting a forgotten Windows 7 password using an Arch Linux install media. h2. Prepare the Environment * Make sure the package repo databases are updated: <pre> pacman -Sy </pre> * Install chntpw: <pre> pacman -S chntpw </pre> h2. Reset Windows Password * Use fdisk to list out the drive partitions: <pre> fdisk -l </pre> #* _Example +Example output_ <pre> Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 /dev/sdb: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0xc05a68a1 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sda1 * 2048 488394751 488392704 232.9G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT </pre> * Mount the Windows partition: <pre> mount /dev/sda1 /mnt </pre> * Change into the Windows System32 directory: <pre> cd /mnt/Windows/System32/config/ </pre> * Get a list of users in the SAM: <pre> chntpw -l sam </pre> * Run chntpw for the Bob user: <pre> chntpw -u Bob sam </pre> * Enter *1* to clear Bobs password: <pre> 1 </pre> * Enter *2* to unlock Bobs account: <pre> 2 </pre> * Quit chntpw and write the hive file: <pre> q y </pre> * Unmount the Windows partition and reboot: <pre> umount /mnt reboot </pre> h2. Resources * https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-dojo/reset-windows-passwords-with-the-help-of-linux/