How-To Geek

In How-To-Geek article, Change Your Forgotten Windows Password with the Linux System Rescue CD, there's a Note that says : «that if you are using standard Windows encryption for your files, resetting the password will permanently disable access to those files. In that case you should crack the password, which is something we’ll cover in an upcoming article. »

My question: are they referring to personal files that I've encrypted myself, or the system files in general or both ? By the way, I did try Ophcrack live cd but it would'nt boot up...maybe because my O/S has crashed , but is still accessible with the Linux cd above and my bootable recovery console cd...which refuses me access because of the password issue.

Thanks for your rapid response. As a follow-up concerning the Linux rescue cd: I'm unable to get to the «SAM policy limits», where I can actually change my password as shown on the How-To-Geek example. I'm only getting the option of Registry editor or quit, where I'm asked to provide values for certain keys & subkeys. I'm assuming if they're asking me that, it's because the file is possibly corrupted; the file size is in the Gbs & contains 1200 pages compared to 5 pages for the example on your site. But you may be able to help on a short cut: what's the equivalent command for chkdsk /r on the Linux rescue cd ? Failing that, I'd appreciate knowing what values I could enter in the registry editor to change or blank my password.