Removing Windows Password with chntpw

Introduction

Sometimes it happen that you forget the Windows logging password. There are many tools out there to the remove the password or shall I say overwrite one. Here will be using a Linux live disk/usb like Ubuntu for example. The steps should be similar with other Linux distros as well. If you able to access your Linux installation then there is no need for additional live disk/usb, provided the Windows partition reside in the same computer.

Using chntpw

Will be installing and making use of the chntpw program for our mission. Following these simple steps will work on Windows XP/NT/2000 and even Windows 7.
Steps to follow once logged in.

1. sudo su
2. fdisk -l
//To look for the Windows Partition
3. mkdir /media/Win
4. mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/Win
//The partition number might be different.
5. cd /media/Win/Windows/System32/config
6. apt-get install chntpw
7. chntpw -l SAM
//This will give you list of users and type of account.
8. chntpw -u SAM
//Finally change the password for the specific user.

Important information, in case of the encrypted files you will still need the old password. Without the old password you will not be able to access your files.

Additional Resources

Off course one can do more with chntpw. So it will be a good idea to check the manual page chntpw(8). Another application worth the look is ntpasswd

Grub Re-Installation

In a nutshell Grub2

You will notice the power of a bootloader when you have at least two Operating Systems (OS). Basically the application grub2 assist you and your machine with this process. Grub2 works like a director in y junction road. At times when your director is gone or damaged you must have emergency numbers to call him/her. In this short tutorial will deal with such a remote situation. Let me not repeat what has already been said by Ubuntu Community

Scenario

Will make use of a scenario to follow this tutorial, it will not be formal or general but I have a feeling that it will give one some basic clue or direction. Just in case you find bugs or wrongful information please do give feedback because I am still learning myself.

You have installed Windows XP and Ubuntu Oneiric things are working fine. Suddenly you have installed Windows 7 which took over your Boot Loader. So now you must bring back the grub menu. Here I assume that while you were installing Windows 7 you had a free partition or hard drive. If you have formated the partition having your Ubuntu installation then you will have to skip this tutorial and reinstall your Ubuntu distro.

Solve the problem

Here are the basic tools/stuff that will need to finish this tutorial.

1. Ubuntu Live Disk/USB
2. Pen and Paper

Boot your Live Disk and then select test Ubuntu, then after press "Ctr + F2" on your keyboard. It can be a different story if you are using alternative disk instead of live disk, for example you will select "Rescue Mode". We will be working in console mode to cover both methods.

While in console type the following :

1. sudo su
2. fdisk -l
//To show the partitions on you computer

//You might have got different results choose the line with "*". It might be /dev/sdb2 in your case or something else.
3. mkdir /media/tempDisk
4. mount /dev/sda1 /media/tempDisk
//Notice that in your case it might be /dev/sdb1 so just adjust accordingly.
5. grub-setup --directory=/media/tempDisk/boot/grub/ /dev/sda
//For example if your partition is /dev/sdc1 then you will type /dev/sdc
6. shutdown -r now
//That will restart your computer.

Update the grup menu

If all went well you should be logged in your Ubuntu system. The last thing to do is to update the grup menu, since you have added the third OS.

sudo update-grub

Feedback

I hope this tutorial was helpful. Please feel free to give feedback it can be bug fix, suggestion and even critics are more than welcome. Enjoy you Ubuntu Desktop.

What is Ubuntu

Introduction to Ubuntu

I get asked the question what the hell is Ubuntu or Linux in general. Basically Ubuntu is a one of the leading Linux Distros.

Advantages

There comes added advantages of using Ubuntu as your primary operating system. As with other Linux flavor you eliminate the need of license fees as those associated with proprietary Operating Systems (OS).

You can still use paid 3rd party softwares within your Ubuntu environment. So you are not caged when it comes to software/applications. When it comes to support there is plenty of it under Ubuntu community for example you can find #ubuntu under Freenode

Get Ubuntu

Perhaps you asking yourself where to get this distro. There are many mirrors over the net offering Ubuntu iso for different desktop environment for example
Ubuntu , Lubuntu and there are more.

Conclusion

I hope you got some basic idea what Ubuntu is all about. Please search the web for more information.