How to Crack a Windows 7 Login Password in 2021
Windows 7 was once the most popular desktop operating system on earth. However, the release of Windows 10 put an end to its glory days. However, there are still a lot of people out , who stick to Windows 7 and use it as their primary OS.
Like any Windows version, Windows 7 lets you set up a login password for user account, thus making sure your personal data won’t fall into wrong hands. However, this could be a nightmare if you forgot Windows 7 password. No worries, there are many great software that help you crack Windows 7 password.
Before we get started, note that the guide only crack of Windows 7 local account.
#1 Crack Windows 7 Password Using Ophcrack
When it comes to Windows password cracking, Ophcrack is always our first choice as it is designed to do this. Ophcrack is one of the most popular Windows password cracking tool on the market. It’s fast, reliable and completely free. There is also a Live CD version that’s designed to break Windows login and admin password when you are unable to get into the computer.
However, it has its own downsides. You have to burn ophcrack ISO file to a USB drive or a CD/DVD, which could be a little bit annoying for some users.
Step 1: Download Ophcrack ISO file onto a machine. After that, burn the file to a CD/DVD or a USB drive (preferred).
Step 2: Now, plug your USB drive or DVD into Windows 7 computer and then boot your device from it. You can change the boot order so that your computer boots from external drive, instead of its internal hard drive.
Step 3: From Ophcrack main user interface, select “Ophcrack Graphic Mode-Automatic” and then, hit “Enter”.
Step 4: The tool will start executing the command and initiate the password cracking process. Once is done, the password should show up on the screen (NT PWD column).
Step 5: Reboot Windows 7 computer and log into it using recently recovered password.
All of these are done automatically. In fact, Ophcrack is a great free tool for cracking Windows 7 password thanks to its intuitive, easy-to-use interface. However, the process might be a little bit confusing to beginners. Also, a wrong turn might cause an irreversible damage to your computer, so make sure you know what you are doing.
Note: You have to wait more time if the password was strong enough.
#2 Crack Windows 7 Password with PassMoz LabWin
Ophcrack could be a great help if the login password was simple enough. However, you may wait hours or days to find a complex password by using Ophcrack. If you were hurry to unlock the device, then PassMoz LabWin is your best choice because it can crack the password instantly.
For short introduction, PassMoz LabWin is an ultimate tool for Windows password recovery. It supports all Windows versions and receives new updates on a monthly basis to fix bugs and improve the overall performance. You can download the free trial and enjoy its premium features before deciding to pay for it.
Step 1: Downloaded PassMoz LabWin setup file, install it on your computer as you usually do, and plug a USB drive into your secondary machine (in case you are locked out of your computer).
Step 2: From here, select either Create Password Reset CD/DVD or Create Password Reset USB Flash Drive and hit the Next button to proceed. You will be prompted to buy the full version if you go for the free trial. You can skip this step if you are now on a free trial.
Step 3: PassMoz LabWin automatically detects your USB drive. From here, hit the Burn button and you should get a window saying “Burning Successfully”.
Step 4: Insert the USB into your locked computer and boot locked Windows 7 computer from it temporarily from Boot Menu. You need to press special key such as Enter, ESC to open Boot Menu at startup.
Step 5: Your computer should reboot. When you see PassMoz LabWin window, you should see a list of all login accounts that are linked to that computer.
Step 6: Select the user account you wish to reset the password for and then hit Reset Password. Once it is done, reboot Windows 7 machine and you can now get into the computer without password, which was set to blank by LabWin.
From my personal testing, it takes approximately five minutes to fully unlock a Windows 7 computer, which is bleeding fast!
Warning: For the following two tools, you have to extract password hash from Windows 7 computer first. Then crack the hash with suggested password cracking software.
#3 How to Crack Windows 7 Admin Password with Hash Suite
Hash Suite is another great option when it comes to cracking Windows 7 admin password. What sets it apart from the two method listed above is that it generates multiple hashes to store your passwords and then compare the computed hashes with the stored hashes.
To create those hashes, the tool uses a number of different ways, including Charset, Wordlist, Keyboard, Phrases, DB Info, LM2NT. All of them behave the same as the attack modes do. The tool supports all Windows versions, but we are going to stick to Windows 7 in this guide.
Hash Suit now offers both free and paid versions. The Standard Suite costs $39 for a lifetime license that unlocks many of its premium features. The free version includes the ability to crack Windows 7 password (short password only). If you want to crack a long, complex password, then we recommend you go for the Standard version.
Step 1: First off, you need to obtain hashes. To do this, you can use hashes from the public demo (available at here). This list includes all publicly available hashes of common passwords.
Step 2: Open the Hash Suite on your computer and import the list.
Step 3: Now crack your password using word lists. To do this, we are going to use word lists with the file named Wikipedia-wordlist-sraveau-20090325.txt.bz2.
In this case, we’ll use the Charset key-provider with default options, which are: password length from 0 to 6 with all printable characters. (image below)
#4 Crack Windows 7 Password via L0phtcrack
L0phtCrack made its debut back in 1997, allowing users to crack an eight-character Windows password within 24 hours. Using L0phtCrack does not require any technical knowledge, but there are many who encounter problems with this password cracking tool. If you are a newcomer, then make sure you follow our guide.
L0phtCrack 7 is now available for all users. It offers a 15-day free trial, but you need to pay some cash to access all of its premium features. Here are the steps:
If you are running the software for the first time, you are going through an initial setup. From the first menu, hit the Next button and check the box next to the Don’t show me this wizard on start up option.
Next up, if you want to retrieve your lost password from a local admin account, simply select the “Retrieve from the local machine” option and then click the Next button. On the next window, select your auditing method you prefer.
Once you are done, pick your reporting style. We recommend you tick all the options and then you will be presented with a list of all user accounts that are linked to your Windows. Select the one you wish to reset the password for and the cracking password process should begin.
My Takeaway
The security feature of Windows 7 is not as strong as Windows 10. This makes cracking Windows 7 password much easier and a lot of free and paid tools can help you achieve the goal. If you forgot Windows 7 password and want to crack it by yourself, please try Ophcrack first, which is free and powerful enough for weak password.
However, if the password could not be cracked by Ophcrack, then switch to PassMoz LabWin, which will get your computer unlocked in minutes no longer how strong the password is!
