GNet Solutions » GNU/Linux Administration

This is a guide on resetting a forgotten Windows 7 password using an Arch Linux install media.

Prepare the Environment¶

• Make sure the package repo databases are updated:
  

  pacman -Sy
  

• Install chntpw:
  

  pacman -S chntpw
  

Reset Windows Password¶

• Use fdisk to list out the drive partitions:
  

  fdisk -l
  

  • Example output
    

    Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 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
    

• Mount the Windows partition:
  

  mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
  

• Change into the Windows System32 directory:
  

  cd /mnt/Windows/System32/config/
  

• Get a list of users in the SAM:
  

  chntpw -l sam
  

• Run chntpw for the Bob user:
  

  chntpw -u Bob sam
  

• Enter 1 to clear Bobs password:
  

  1
  

• Enter 2 to unlock Bobs account:
  

  2
  

• Quit chntpw and write the hive file:
  

  q
  y
  

• Unmount the Windows partition and reboot:
  

  umount /mnt
  reboot
  

Resources¶

• https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-dojo/reset-windows-passwords-with-the-help-of-linux/