There are several ways to obtain password hashes, depending on their location and existing access. Password hashes can be obtained from SAM file or its backup, directly from local or remote computer registry, from registry or Active Directory on local or remote computer by means of DLL injection, from a network sniffer. The SAM file located in the %SystemRoot%\system32\config directory or %SystemRoot%\repair directory. It is also possible to recover the password itself from memory.

Here’s a few free tools to help you recover lost/unknown Windows passwords, most come with the source code included. (more…)