It seems that every free Windows password recovery programs has a reason it's perfect for one person and the worst choice for another.
So by popular demand, below is a comparison between the best free password recovery/reset programs (usually called "password cracker" tools) available for Windows passwords:
Comparison of Free Windows Password Recovery and Reset Software
| OS Support | Ophcrack | ONTP&RE | PCLN | Kon-Boot | C&A | LCP |
| Windows 7 [32-bit] | • | • | • | •1 | ||
| Windows 7 [64-bit] | • | |||||
| Windows Vista [32-bit] | • | • | • | • | ||
| Windows Vista [64-bit] | • | |||||
| Windows XP | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Feature | Ophcrack | ONTP&RE | PCLN | Kon-Boot | C&A | LCP |
| Recovers Actual Password | • | • | • | |||
| Resets/Clears/Deletes Password | • | • | • | |||
| Causes Encrypted File Loss2 | • | • | • | |||
| Relatively Fast Process | • | • | • | |||
| Open Source | • | • | ||||
| Bootable (No Installation) | • | • | • | • | ||
| Installs as Windows App | • | • | ||||
| Needs Access to Another Account | • | • | ||||
| Graphical Interface | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Command-Line Interface | • | • | ||||
| Cracks Any Password | • | • | • | |||
| Cracks Small & Simple Passwords | • | • | • | |||
| Mostly Automated Process | • | • | • | |||
| Cracks Passwords Remotely | ||||||
[1] Kon-Boot is reported to work with Windows 7 but I was personaly not able to confirm this. On my Windows 7 test PC, Kon-Boot caused a temporary BSOD.
[2] All password "reset" programs will prevent future access to EFS encrypted files. The only way around this is to use a program that actually recovers the password.
