chntpw
| Developer(s) | Petter Nordahl-Hagen (Formerly Petter Nordahl) |
|---|---|
| Initial release | May 28, 1997 |
| Stable release | 1.00 / February 1, 2014 |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Data recovery |
| License | GPLv2 |
| Website |
pogostick |
chntpw is a software utility for resetting or blanking local passwords used by Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. It does this by editing the SAM database where Windows stores password hashes.
Where is used
The chntpw utility is included in many various Linux distribution, including security focused ones:
- BackTrack – security focused Linux distribution
- SystemRescueCD – recovery focused Linux distribution
- Fedora – general distribution
- BootMed – Windows recovery focused Linux distribution
- and many others...
Licence change
For the software's 10th anniversary, the author changed the license from a non-commercial one to the GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2.[1]