我最近通过使用几种不同的工具帮助客户恢复了他忘记的 Windows 密码。(recover his forgotten Windows password)我们最终能够将管理员密码(Administrator password)重置为空白密码，以便他可以登录Windows。这是一个相当漫长而复杂的过程，但它奏效了。不幸的是，没有“一种”方法可以重置Windows 密码(Windows password)，并且根据您运行的Windows版本，您可能需要尝试不同的方法。
最后，也不能真正保证您能够破解密码。已经有很多关于如何恢复或重置密码的文章，我不会重新发明轮子，而是会引导您找到我用来破解Windows 密码(Windows password)的最佳在线资源。
1. Ophcrack Live CD——我最喜欢的清除或破解Windows 密码(Windows password)的方法是使用Linux Live CD。这些是Linux的特殊发行版，可直接从 CD 运行（无需安装），专为破解Windows 密码(Windows password)而设计。您可以阅读文档以了解如何使用它。
只需(Simply)刻录ISO 并(ISO and boot)使用 CD 启动，程序即可正常运行。但是，它可能不适用于非常复杂的密码，因为它实际上试图确定密码而不是重置密码。我在How-To Geek 网站上的(How-To Geek site)好友有一个关于(My buddy)使用 Ophcrack(using Ophcrack)的精彩教程。
此外，Ophcrack使用密码表来暴力破解(force crack)用户密码。您可以下载他们的免费表格，但这不会破解长密码。对于这些情况，您可以购买更大的密码表，价格从 100 美元到 1000 美元不等。
2.离线 NT 密码和注册表编辑器(Offline NT Password and Registry Editor)(Offline NT Password and Registry Editor)- 这是一个非常小的程序，只有 3MB 大小，您可以刻录到CD 并启动(CD and boot)。它将自动检测Windows 安装(Windows installation)和帐户名称（即是否所有内容都安装在默认Windows目录中）。使用此程序，您可以重置或清除Windows 密码(Windows password)，这意味着密码的长度或复杂程度无关紧要。
该程序最近在四年后更新，现在支持破解密码一直到Windows 8。使用起来有点困难，但是About.com有一个很棒的屏幕截图指南(screenshot guide)，可以引导您完成整个过程，所以一定要检查一下。
3.登录恢复(Login Recovery)(Login Recovery)-登录恢复(Login Recovery)是一个网站，其中包含一个程序，您可以将其下载到软盘或光盘上，然后用于启动。如果 PC 连接到Internet，它会自动将加密数据上传到其服务器并开始尝试恢复密码的过程。如果您没有Internet 连接(Internet connection)，它将生成一个文件，然后您手动将其上传到他们的站点。
我试过这个网站，但它对我的密码不起作用，密码是 11 个字符，主要是符号、数字和字母。但是，如果密码 更简单(something simpler)，他们可能会破解它。
4. John The Ripper – 另一个适用于Windows、Linux 和 Mac的免费(Linux and Macs)密码破解(password cracker)程序，因此它对任何想要恢复密码的Mac 或 Linux 用户都很有用。(Mac or Linux user)非常(Pretty)易于使用并附带良好的说明，因此大多数人都可以遵循。如果您想了解使用John the Ripper的分(Ripper)步指南(step guide)，请查看来自101Hacker.com的这篇文章。
5. Knoppix STD – G4TV有一篇关于另一个Linux 发行版(Linux distro)的好文章，您可以下载并使用它来破解您的Windows 密码(Windows password)。按照他给出的详细说明，如果密码不是太长或太难，应该可以破解它！
如您所知，破解Windows 密码(Windows password)的最佳方法是使用Linux！对于某些人来说，这可能有点过于技术化，但如果您想避免重新安装Windows并丢失所有数据，这绝对是值得的！有任何问题，发表评论！
5 Ways to Crack or Reset a Forgotten Windows Password
I recently helped a client recover his forgotten Windows password by using a couple of different tools. We eventually were able to reset the Administrator password to a blank password so that he could log into Windows. It was a fairly long and complicated process, but it worked. Unfortunately, there is no “one” way to reset a Windows password and depending on what version of Windows you are running, you might have to try different methods.
In the end, there is also no real guarantee that you’ll be able to crack the password. There are already so many articles written on how to recover or reset a password that I’m not going to reinvent the wheel, but instead will guide you to the best online resources that I have used to crack my Windows password.
1. Ophcrack Live CD – My favorite ways to blank out or crack a Windows password is to use a Linux Live CD. These are special distributions of Linux that run directly from the CD (no installation required) and are specially designed for cracking Windows passwords. You can read the documentation to learn how to use it.
Simply burn the ISO and boot using the CD and the program will get right to work. It may not work, however, on very complicated passwords because it actually tries to determine the password rather than reset it. My buddy over at the How-To Geek site has a great tutorial on using Ophcrack.
Also, Ophcrack uses password tables to brute force crack the user passwords. You can download their free tables, but that won’t crack long passwords. For those cases, you can purchase larger password tables that range from $100 to $1000.
2. Offline NT Password and Registry Editor – This is a very small program, only 3MB in size that you can burn to a CD and boot to. It’ll auto-detect the Windows installation and the account names (that is if everything was installed in the default Windows directories). Using this program you can reset or blank out a Windows password, which means it doesn’t matter how long or complicated it is.
The program was recently updated after four years and now supports cracking passwords all the way up to Windows 8. It’s a bit hard to use, but About.com has a great screenshot guide that walks you through the entire process, so be sure to check that out.
3. Login Recovery – Login Recovery is a web site that has a program that you can either download onto a floppy disk or a cd that you than use to boot up with. If the PC is connected to the Internet, it will automatically upload the encrypted data to their servers and begin the process of trying to recover the passwords. If you don’t have an Internet connection, it will generate a file, which you then manually upload to their site.
I have tried this site and it did not work for my password, which was 11 characters and mostly symbols, numbers, and letters. However, if the password is something simpler, they will probably be able to crack it.
4. John The Ripper – Another free password cracker that works on Windows, Linux and Macs, so it’s useful for any Mac or Linux user who wants to recovery a password. Pretty easy to use and comes with good instructions, so most people can follow along. If you want a step by step guide on using John the Ripper, check out this article from 101Hacker.com.
5. Knoppix STD – G4TV has a good article on another Linux distro you can download and use to crack your Windows password. Follow the detailed instructions he gives and if the password is not too long or difficult, it should be able to crack it!
As you can tell, the best ways to crack a Windows password is using Linux! It might be a little too techie for some people, but it’s definitely worth it if you want to avoid having to re-install Windows and lose all of your data! Any questions, post a comment!
