Ophcrack LiveCD 3.4.0 is a completely self contained, bootable version of Ophcrack 3.4.0 - the easiest and most effective tool that I've ever found to "crack" your forgotten Windows password.
For a quick overview of Ophcrack, see my complete review of Ophcrack 3.4.0.
Ophcrack is a free software program that recovers passwords so the first step you'll need to take is to visit Ophcrack's website. When the Ophcrack website loads as shown above, click the Download ophcrack LiveCD button.
Note: Since you obviously can't get into your computer right now because you don't know the password, these first four steps will need to be completed on another computer that you have access to. This other computer will need to have access to the Internet and the capability to burn a disc (like a CD, DVD, etc.).
Another Note: The instructions I've put together here walk you through the entire process of using Ophcrack LiveCD to recover your password. If you're a little nervous, it might help to take a look at this entire step-by-step guide before you actually get started.
On the next webpage (not shown), Ophcrack LiveCD should begin downloading automatically. The download is in the form of a single ISO file.
If prompted, choose to Download File or Save to Disk - however your browser phrases it. Save the file to your Desktop or another location that's easy to locate. Do not choose to Open the File.
The size of the Ophcrack LiveCD software you're downloading is fairly large. The Windows 7 / Windows Vista version is 506 MB and the Windows XP version is 425 MB.
Depending on your current Internet bandwidth, the Ophcrack LiveCD download could take as little as several minutes or as long as several hours to download.
Note: The screenshot above shows the download process for the Windows 7/Vista version of Ophcrack LiveCD when downloading using the Internet Explorer browser in Windows 7. If you're downloading another LiveCD version, like the one for Windows XP, or using another browser, like Firefox or Chrome, your download progress indicator will probably look different
For a quick overview of Ophcrack, see my complete review of Ophcrack 3.4.0.
Ophcrack is a free software program that recovers passwords so the first step you'll need to take is to visit Ophcrack's website. When the Ophcrack website loads as shown above, click the Download ophcrack LiveCD button.
Note: Since you obviously can't get into your computer right now because you don't know the password, these first four steps will need to be completed on another computer that you have access to. This other computer will need to have access to the Internet and the capability to burn a disc (like a CD, DVD, etc.).
Another Note: The instructions I've put together here walk you through the entire process of using Ophcrack LiveCD to recover your password. If you're a little nervous, it might help to take a look at this entire step-by-step guide before you actually get started.
After clicking the Download ophcrack LiveCD button in the previous step, the webpage above should display.
Click the button corresponding to the version of Windows on the computer you'll be recovering the password on.
In other words, if you've forgotten the password on:
Note: Don't worry about the ophcrack LiveCD (without tables) option.
Click the button corresponding to the version of Windows on the computer you'll be recovering the password on.
In other words, if you've forgotten the password on:
- Windows 7: Click on ophcrack Vista/7 LiveCD.
- Windows Vista: Click on ophcrack Vista/7 LiveCD.
- Windows XP: Click on ophcrack XP LiveCD.
Note: Don't worry about the ophcrack LiveCD (without tables) option.
Download the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO File
On the next webpage (not shown), Ophcrack LiveCD should begin downloading automatically. The download is in the form of a single ISO file.
If prompted, choose to Download File or Save to Disk - however your browser phrases it. Save the file to your Desktop or another location that's easy to locate. Do not choose to Open the File.
The size of the Ophcrack LiveCD software you're downloading is fairly large. The Windows 7 / Windows Vista version is 506 MB and the Windows XP version is 425 MB.
Depending on your current Internet bandwidth, the Ophcrack LiveCD download could take as little as several minutes or as long as several hours to download.
Note: The screenshot above shows the download process for the Windows 7/Vista version of Ophcrack LiveCD when downloading using the Internet Explorer browser in Windows 7. If you're downloading another LiveCD version, like the one for Windows XP, or using another browser, like Firefox or Chrome, your download progress indicator will probably look different
Burn the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO File to a Disc
After downloading the Ophcrack LiveCD software, you'll need to burn the ISO file to a disc. The software is small enough for a CD but a DVD or BD is fine if that's all you have.
Burning an ISO file to a disc is a little different than burning music or other kinds of files. If you've never burned an ISO file to a disc before, I recommend following the instructions I linked to in the last sentence. It's not a difficult process, but there are very important differences that you need to be aware of.
Important: If the ISO file is not burned correctly, Ophcrack LiveCD will not work at all.
After burning the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO file to a disc, go to the computer that you can't get in to and continue with the next step.
Burning an ISO file to a disc is a little different than burning music or other kinds of files. If you've never burned an ISO file to a disc before, I recommend following the instructions I linked to in the last sentence. It's not a difficult process, but there are very important differences that you need to be aware of.
Important: If the ISO file is not burned correctly, Ophcrack LiveCD will not work at all.
After burning the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO file to a disc, go to the computer that you can't get in to and continue with the next step.
Restart With the Ophcrack LiveCD Disc In Your Optical Drive
The Ophcrack LiveCD disc you just burned is a "bootable" disc, meaning it contains a small operating system and software and can be ran independent of the operating system on your hard drive. This is exactly what we need in this situation because you can't access the operating system on your hard drive right now (Windows 7, Vista, or XP) due to not knowing the password.
Insert the Ophcrack LiveCD disc into your CD/DVD/BD drive and restart your computer.
The initial screen you see after restarting should be the same one you always see immediately after starting your computer. There may be computer information like in this screenshot or there may be a computer manufacturer logo.
Ophcrack LiveCD begins immediately after this point in the boot process, as shown in the next step.
Insert the Ophcrack LiveCD disc into your CD/DVD/BD drive and restart your computer.
The initial screen you see after restarting should be the same one you always see immediately after starting your computer. There may be computer information like in this screenshot or there may be a computer manufacturer logo.
Ophcrack LiveCD begins immediately after this point in the boot process, as shown in the next step.
Boot To the Ophcrack LiveCD Disc
After the initial startup of your computer is complete, as shown in the previous step, the Ophcrack LiveCD menu should display.
You don't need to do anything here. Ophcrack LiveCD will continue automatically after the Automatic boot in x seconds... timer at the bottom of the screen expires. If you'd like to advance the process a little faster, feel free to hit Enter while Ophcrack Graphic mode - automatic is highlighted.
Don't See This Screen? If Windows started, you see an error message, or you see a blank screen, then something went wrong. If you see anything other than the menu screen shown above then Ophcrack LiveCD did not start correctly and will not recover your password.
Are You Booting to the Disc Correctly?: The most likely reason that Ophcrack LiveCD might not be working properly is because your computer is not configured to boot from the disc you burned. Don't worry, it's an easy fix.
Check out my How To Boot From a Bootable CD/DVD/BD guide. You'll probably need to make changes to your boot order - it's all explained in the tutorial. After that, go back to the previous step and try booting to the Ophcrack LiveCD disc again. You can continue to follow this tutorial from there.
Did You Burn the ISO File Correctly?: The second most likely reason that the Ophcrack LiveCD isn't working is because the ISO file was not burned properly. ISO files are special kinds of files and have to burned differently than you may have burned music or other files. Go back to Step 4 and try burning the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO file again.
You don't need to do anything here. Ophcrack LiveCD will continue automatically after the Automatic boot in x seconds... timer at the bottom of the screen expires. If you'd like to advance the process a little faster, feel free to hit Enter while Ophcrack Graphic mode - automatic is highlighted.
Don't See This Screen? If Windows started, you see an error message, or you see a blank screen, then something went wrong. If you see anything other than the menu screen shown above then Ophcrack LiveCD did not start correctly and will not recover your password.
Are You Booting to the Disc Correctly?: The most likely reason that Ophcrack LiveCD might not be working properly is because your computer is not configured to boot from the disc you burned. Don't worry, it's an easy fix.
Check out my How To Boot From a Bootable CD/DVD/BD guide. You'll probably need to make changes to your boot order - it's all explained in the tutorial. After that, go back to the previous step and try booting to the Ophcrack LiveCD disc again. You can continue to follow this tutorial from there.
Did You Burn the ISO File Correctly?: The second most likely reason that the Ophcrack LiveCD isn't working is because the ISO file was not burned properly. ISO files are special kinds of files and have to burned differently than you may have burned music or other files. Go back to Step 4 and try burning the Ophcrack LiveCD ISO file again.
Wait for Ophcrack LiveCD to Load
The next screen consists of several lines of text that quickly run down the screen. You don't need to do anything here.
These lines of text are detailing the many individual tasks that SliTaz (a Linux operating system) is taking in preparation for loading the Ophcrack LiveCD software program which will recover the Windows passwords encrypted on your hard drive.
These lines of text are detailing the many individual tasks that SliTaz (a Linux operating system) is taking in preparation for loading the Ophcrack LiveCD software program which will recover the Windows passwords encrypted on your hard drive.
Watch for Hard Drive Partition Information to Display
The next step in the Ophcrack LiveCD boot process is this little window that appears on screen. It may appear and disappear very quickly so you could miss it, but I wanted to point it out because it will be a window that runs in the background that you may see.
This message is simply confirming that a partition with encrypted password information on it has been found on your hard drive. This is good news!
This message is simply confirming that a partition with encrypted password information on it has been found on your hard drive. This is good news!
Wait for Ophcrack LiveCD to Recover Your Password
The next screen is the Ophcrack LiveCD software itself. Ophcrack will attempt to recover the passwords for all of the Windows user accounts that it can find on your computer. This password cracking process is completely automated.
The important things to look for here are the accounts listed in the User column and the passwords listed in the NT Pwd column. If the user account you're looking for isn't listed, Ophcrack didn't find that user on your computer. If the NT Pwd field is blank for a particular user, the password has not been recovered yet.
As you can see in the example above, the passwords for the Administrator and Guest accounts are listed as empty. If you were cracking a password for a user that Ophcrack shows as empty, you now know that you can log on to the account without a password at all, assuming that the user account is enabled.
Look toward the bottom of the user list - see the Tim user account? In under one minute, Ophcrack recovered the password to this account - applesauce. You can ignore any other accounts you're not interested in recovering the passwords for.
After Ophcrack recovers your password, write it down, remove the Ophcrack LiveCD disc from your optical drive and restart your computer. You don't need to exit the Ophcrack software - it won't harm your computer to power it off or restart it while it's running.
In the next step, you'll finally get to log on to Windows with your discovered password!
Note: If you do not remove the Ophcrack LiveCD disc before you restart, your computer will likely boot from the Ophcrack disc again instead of your hard drive. If that happens, just take the disc out and restart again.
You might also want to check out my Windows Password Recovery Programs FAQ page if you need some help.
The important things to look for here are the accounts listed in the User column and the passwords listed in the NT Pwd column. If the user account you're looking for isn't listed, Ophcrack didn't find that user on your computer. If the NT Pwd field is blank for a particular user, the password has not been recovered yet.
As you can see in the example above, the passwords for the Administrator and Guest accounts are listed as empty. If you were cracking a password for a user that Ophcrack shows as empty, you now know that you can log on to the account without a password at all, assuming that the user account is enabled.
Look toward the bottom of the user list - see the Tim user account? In under one minute, Ophcrack recovered the password to this account - applesauce. You can ignore any other accounts you're not interested in recovering the passwords for.
After Ophcrack recovers your password, write it down, remove the Ophcrack LiveCD disc from your optical drive and restart your computer. You don't need to exit the Ophcrack software - it won't harm your computer to power it off or restart it while it's running.
In the next step, you'll finally get to log on to Windows with your discovered password!
Note: If you do not remove the Ophcrack LiveCD disc before you restart, your computer will likely boot from the Ophcrack disc again instead of your hard drive. If that happens, just take the disc out and restart again.
Did Ophcrack Not Find Your Password?
Ophcrack won't find every password - some are too long and some are far too complicated. If Ophcrack didn't do the trick just try another free Windows password recovery tool. Each of these tools work a bit differently so another program might have no problem at all recovering or resetting your Windows password.You might also want to check out my Windows Password Recovery Programs FAQ page if you need some help.
Logon To Windows With the Ophcrack LiveCD Recovered Password
Windows 7 Logon Screen
Now that your password has been recovered using Ophcrack LiveCD, simply enter your password when prompted after booting your computer normally.
You're Not Done Yet!
Assuming Ophcrack was successful in cracking your Windows password, I'm sure you're jumping up and down with joy and ready to get back to whatever you were doing but now is the time to be proactive so you never have to use this program again:- Create a password reset disk. A password reset disk is special floppy disk or flash drive that you create in Windows that can be used to gain access to your account if you ever forget your password in the future.
As long as you can keep this disk or drive in a safe place, you'll never have to worry about forgetting your password, or using Ophcrack, again.
- Change your Windows password. I suppose this step is optional but I'm guessing that your password was too difficult to remember and that's why you used Ophcrack in the first place.
Change your password to something that you'll remember this time but keep it hard to guess as well. Of course if you followed Step 1 above and now have a password reset disk, you don't have much to worry about anymore.
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