WARNING: This is for educational & troubleshooting purposes only. None of this method below (directly or indirectly) is to guide in any means for abuse or illegal activity.
- Insert Backtrack 4 DVD into Optical Drive. You can find about this useful Penetration tools via this LINK. Latest Backtrack version called KALI Linux.
- Press F2 to enter the Dell BIOS setup.
- Change BIOS setting from UEFI to LEGACY. Change the boot priority to CD 1st. Save & restart the computer.
The computer will boot-up from Backtrack CD. Then follow these steps
- Choose LIVE CD for BACKTRACK.
- Type startX & press ENTER.
- After log-in to Backtrack, Open Terminal. In terminal, type these command step-by-step:-
- sudo parted -l
- mount /dev/sdaX/ /mnt/
- cd /mnt
- ls
- cd Windows
- cd System32
- find cmd.exe
- find osk.exe
- cp cmd.exe osk.exe
4. Reboot your computer & eject your Backtrack CD.
5. Open On-Screen Keyboard at Windows login startup.
6. Command Prompt automatically should be open. Then, type these:-
- net user
- net user AdminAcc ------> AdminAcc is local administrator account's name.
7. Now, Windows passwords should be clear.
8. Try to login.
NOTE: This method use for computer that wasn't connected or joined the domain yet. If the computer already joined the Domain, you should be able to log-in to Domain Administrator & can reset the local administrator's password as well.
NOTE: For Windows 7 & below, you can try to use this useful diagnostic Tool called Hiren Boot CD 10.5. Use "Active Password Changer" to reset the Windows password.