Bypass Windows 10 Password

Through recovery or usb linux
System32 folder
Rename Utilman.exe to Utilman1 then cmd to Utilman
If Utilman not there
Rename Magnify to Magnify1 then cmd to Magnify
Reboot
net user
net user george * (if space use quotes)
When asked for password just press enter
Through recovery or usb Linux
Reverse renaming to original

If Microsoft account
Add Admin account
net user Newname /add
net localgroup Administrators Newname /add

https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

download this iso

cd140201.zip (~18MB) - Bootable CD image

press enter to boot to default settings

should see your windows

1 enter

1 enter

1 enter

You likely want to only clear pswd for user admin

You could unlock and enable built in admin

Clear password

q = quit editing user

be sure to write the file "y" before closing program

Full command prompt syntax - check drive letter

move X:\windows\system32\utilman.exe X:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak

copy X:\windows\system32\cmd.exe X:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

reboot (will reboot pc from command prompt)

Password Checker

You may wish to check your password against a database of previously exposed passwords.

https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords

Reset Windows 7 Password

Boot from Win7 install DVD
Choose repair > Then command prompt
(assuming "c" is the windows drive ...
copy c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe c:\
copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

Once the Windows 7 logon screen appears, locate the little icon on the bottom-left of the screen that looks like a pie with a square around it and then click it!

net user myusername mynewpassword

copy c:\utilman.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

(Actually you could use the syntax from the next example instead.)
This would be a way to do it ...

If you can not find an install DVD ...
Push the power button until Windows closes. Upon reboot you should be presented with this screen.

Choose repair but when presented with the next screen choose "cancel".

This next process will work for some time but you need to allow it to get to your goal.

When the above process completes, choose "view problem details".

When the "details" screen comes up, scroll down and choose the last option.

This brings up the "privacy statement" ... go for the "FILE > OPEN" option.

And Bob's your uncle, you have the explorer window.

Navigate to the Windows/system32 directory

Look for the "sethc" file and rename to "sethcold" for example

Now look for the cmd.exe file and copy/paste as "sethc" file. The sethc is a system file that, when the shift key is hit five times in succession, turns sticky keys on. You are changing it into accessing a command prompt which is a much more useful feature. I would not bother reverting after this process.

Reboot after copy/paste of cmd.exe. On the home screen hit shift five times.

This will bring up a command prompt. Type net user command.

The user accounts will be listed. Choose one you know is an admin account and type for example

net user home *. (I think there is a space between home and *) (or maybe the * is unnecessary)

Then type your new password twice.

You should now be able to use this password for that account.

I know this looks involved but by the time you download hacking software and have it not work, only to try another .... this is probably a time saver.

Hat Tip to this YouTube video for explaining this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0q3kUoM-jw

How Secure Is Your Password

How Secure Is My Password?
This is a normal password I use:

This is with eight letters only

It would take a desktop PC

About 13 minutes
to hack your password

Then I added a four number sequence

It would take a desktop PC

About 600 years
to hack your password

This is how results change by adding a single space between the letters and numbers

It would take a desktop PC

About 5 million years
to hack your password

Go to the above site and check out your favorite password.

Recover Browser Passwords

Another handy little program from Nirsoft.

WebBrowserPassView is a password recovery tool that reveals the passwords stored by the following Web browsers: Internet Explorer (Version 4.0 - 8.0), Mozilla Firefox (All Versions), Google Chrome, and Opera. This tool can be used to recover your lost/forgotten password of any Website, including popular Web sites, like Facebook, Yahoo, Google, and GMail, as long as the password is stored by your Web Browser.

I don't allow my Browsers to save passwords but occassionally one slips through. This find them for me so I can eliminate the records from my system. Occasionally a friend will ask for assistance in "speeding up" their system. We can preserve their passwords before cleaning with this program.