How to Hack a Password Protected Computer Account

Press 'ENTER' once uploading has completed. Depending on what kind of PC you have and what version of Windows you are using, wait times will vary.
Press the 'F8' key to accept the Windows license agreement.
Highlight which hard drive partition you want to re-image by using the up and down arrows on your keyboard and press the 'ENTER' key to select the highlighted partition. In many cases, this partition is commonly known as the 'C' Drive
Set up the accounts and preferences for your system following the directions on the
Open the User Accounts tool. This can be found in the Control Panel. You can access the Control Panel from the Start menu. If you are using Windows 8, press⊞ Win+X and select it from the menu.

• If you are using a Mac, click the Apple menu, select System Preferences, and then click Users & Groups.

Select the account you want to change. In the Users window, you will see a list of all the accounts on the computer. Select the account you want to access.

Click "Change password". In Windows, this will be a link in the User's options. On a Mac, this will be a button in the Users & Groups window. Enter in the new password, or leave it blank if you want to remove the password completely

Log in to the account. Once you have changed or deleted the password, you can log in to the account like you would your own. Be aware that this method will make it obvious that you were looking at the account, as the old password won't work anymore.

Download OPHCrack. This is an open-source, free utility that can crack Windows passwords using some advanced algorithms. The program has been made available for free by the developers and all of the code is public and peer-reviewed. OPHCrack comes in ISO format, which means it will need to be burned to a CD/DVD in order to work.

• Only download OPHCrack from its official SourceForge page. This is the version directly from the developers. Do not download any version of OPHCrack that comes in EXE format. Make sure to download the correct version for the version of Windows you are trying to gain access to.
• Some antivirus programs will flag OPHCrack as a virus. This is because the tool is expressly designed for hacking. Using OPHCrack from the SourceForge page will not result in any viruses.
• If you can't access your computer because you are locked out, you will need to do this on another computer.

Burn the OPHCrack ISO file. Burn the ISO file to a blank DVD. This will allow you to boot from the DVD and load the OPHCrack software before Windows is loaded. This guide has detailed instructions for burning ISO files to DVD.

Boot your computer from your burned DVD. Insert the disc into the computer that you need to crack and set the computer to boot from the disc drive. This guide will show you how to configure your computer to boot from a disc. When configured correctly, OPHCrack will start automatically when your computer starts up.

Load the Graphic Mode. In the initial menu, select "Ophcrack Graphic mode - automatic" and press Enter. After loading files, OPHCrack will load into the main menu. This will let you easily navigate the menus without having to decipher the old text menus.

Wait for the passwords to be retrieved. Once OPHCrack starts, it will automatically begin attempting to retrieve all of the passwords for the accounts on the computer. This could take some time, especially if the passwords are complex.

• In the User column, you will see all of the active Windows User accounts.

Recovered passwords will be displayed in the "NT Pwd" field. If the field displays "empty", then that user does not have a password associated with the account.

Write down the passwords and reboot the computer. Once OPHCrack has retrieved the passwords you need, write it down, remove the disc, and reboot the computer. You can now log into Windows using the account you want and the recovered password.^[1]