Ophcrack Live CD - Windows Recovery Disk

Recently, I had to restore a corrupted Windows XP machine.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten the administrator password.
(Actually, I wasn't the one set up the machine, so I never actually had the password.)

I had heard great things about the open-source project, Ophcrack, and this was my chance to try it out.
I downloaded the ISO for the Live CD and burned a CD using my Mac.
Popped it in the PC's drive, booted it up and let it run the the automated tests.
When I got back from lunch, I had working passwords for all the accounts.
In addition to the password tools, you get a pretty complete shell with many useful utilities.

The Ophcrack Live CD now has a permanent spot in my utility bag.


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