Forrest logo
back to the chntpw tool

chntpw:tldr:e5acd

chntpw: Edit [u]ser interactively.
$ chntpw -u ${username} ${path-to-sam_file}
try on your machine

The command "chntpw -u ${username} ${path-to-sam_file}" is used to reset or remove the password of a user account stored in the SAM (Security Account Manager) file on a Windows system.

Here's a breakdown of the command's elements:

  • "chntpw" is the command-line utility that comes with the chntpw software, which is a tool for resetting passwords on Windows systems.
  • "-u" is an option that specifies the username of the account for which you want to reset the password.
  • "${username}" is a placeholder that needs to be replaced with the actual username of the account you wish to modify.
  • "${path-to-sam_file}" is a placeholder that needs to be replaced with the file path to the SAM file on the Windows system. The SAM file is a registry file that contains user account information including password hashes.

So, when you run this command with the appropriate values, it will locate the specified SAM file and allow you to modify the password associated with the provided username.

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.
back to the chntpw tool