A friend has sadly passed away, just dropped dead. I need to crack the password to get to her address book and logins. I have done this before, but it was a while ago, any recommendations?
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Been a long time since i did it and it was pre win 10 but there is a way to edit with CMD and then trick it into thinking it is launching OSK (on screen keyboard) to launch a terminal instead.
i’m sorry for you, and i really feel with you 
There are several methods to achieve what you want. Here is the “swapping utilman.exe” one - no additional software required:
still works with Win10 as far as i know. You can do the renaming from any live system (live usb with EnOS for example).
Edit: only works if its not encrypted (-> Bitlocker for example)
You can do it from a Kali live boot as well. Though I can’t speak to if MS has somehow patched this ability since this article was posted.
https://www.aurodigo.com/2019/05/how-to-remove-windows-10-login-password-using-kali-linux.html
Thanks everyone, will read through, haven’t got the computer yet, my partner has gone to collect, so I will probably have a go on Saturday, I need to get some DVDs to burn and some spare USB drives.
My friend didn’t suffer, it was ischaemic heart failure, she just dropped dead. We have rehomed her cats and my partner is in contact with the Coroner’s office.
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You can get some of her files from booting up a live disk if you want. If that is were maybe she stored her files? Like @jiibus said
Yea, very dependent on if BitLocker was enabled. I can’t remember if it’s turned on by default with Win10 Pro. I know home doesn’t have the capability at all.
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Shit…I’m so sorry mate 
Unless it is encrypted(which is fairly rare on Windows), you can just pull the drive and attach it to another computer.
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Yeh, it is her log-ins we need, she had lots of on-line friends we need to contact, she spent a lot of time on line, loads of friends in the US.
The last time I had to do this was for the same reason, my best mate dropped dead, early 40s 3 kids… So 15 years ago.
Does Ophcrack work? On W10?
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You don’t need to crack it. Just boot off something else and change it.
Without encryption, a password is basically useless if you have physical access.
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I set the computer up, so Bitlocker no, wish I could remember the password!!! I was her tech support, but she used to get me stoned 
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My condolences, I’m hoping you’re able to get what you need.
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That’s horrible, sorry for your loss
yeah, one solution is to replace one of the accessibility files with cmd.exe , like others have mentioned.
but if you just need the data on there, you can boot from a live usb from an os that supports reading ntfs (for example, EnOS) and copy it from there, alternatively you can get an adapter if windows is on an internal drive, and plug it into another pc.
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Sorry to hear about your friend @xircon .
Here is another solution you might want to look at:
https://www.supergrubdisk.org/howto-clear-windows-password-with-rescatux/
You can use something like Hirens boot cd, which has the tools you need to set a Windows user password.
The new version is here.
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/
The older version is here.
https://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
All you need is a Windows install disk/USB which you can make from windows help page. I’m at the park but I can definitely give you a hand at least getting onto the computer if these don’t work. I’ll message you in a bit.
You should be able to crack the pw with any Linux distro. I’ve done it b4 when I forgot my own windows pw.
xircon,
As vanmat has mentioned, Hiren’s Boot CD is one of several ways to deal with this problem.
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