Using chntpw is pretty straightforward, especially if you use interactive mode.

First, boot the

SystemRescue CD, or other Linux Live CD.

Click on any of the images in this chntpw guide to see them full size.

1. Mount the windows partition. If you don’t know what device it is on, you can use the cfdisk
command and it will tell you the device. The device should look something like “/dev/sda1.”
Mount the partition using the mount command
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows

2. Now, to make it a little easier, go ahead and switch to the location of the Windows Sam file and
other hive files.
Cd /mnt/WINDOWS/system32/config
3. Type chntpw -h to familiarize yourself with the different options and usage of chntpw. If you like,
you can actually use chntpw by giving it the appropriate option, but I like to use interactive mode,
which makes it a little easier.
In addition to any options, you also have to give chntpw the location of the windows sam file,
which stores the passwords, or the registry hives that you want to edit, which should all be in the
config folder(Instead of WINDOWS, NT uses WINNT.)

To blank out or change the Windows password:

4. Use the -i option to start chntpw in interactive mode and make sure to specify the name of the
Windows sam file, as well as any other registry hive files you want to edit.
chntpw -i sam
Press “1″ to edit the user password and then type the name of the user that you wish to edit and
press enter.
You will now be given the option to blank out the password by pressing “1″, as well as several
other ways to change the user, such as upgrading their account to an administrator.
Press “!” to exit the Edit User Screen and then press “q” to exit chntpw and you will be prompted
to save any changes.
In interactive mode, you can also edit the registry by loading the correct hive files. Press “9″ to edit
the registry and then you can use commands like “cd” and “ls” to navigate the registry. For more
options, press “?.”
5. Once you are done making changes, you need to exit from the main chntpw menu and press
“Y” to write the changes or “N” to ignore the changes.