Without Administrative Privileges

Step 1: Advance Startup

We need to use advance startup to modify system configuration. To open advance startup without Log in, either you can use the installation media or just Force shutdown the computer using power key. Repeat the force shutdown for 3-4 times or until the advance startup menu appears similar to the following,

Step 2: Open CMD

Now to open Command Prompt here, click on Troubleshoot to open the Advance Options.

In Advance Option menu select Command Prompt.

Step 3: Configure Directory

To make any changes first of all you need to be in the system32 directory of windows system. To do so, run the following command in CMD.

cd / 

cd Windows/System32

Output:

Step 4: Rename Windows Ease of Access

Now using CMD we will rename the Ease of Access application which is available on Lock screen. We will change CMD‘s name to get access to Command Prompt on the Lock screen.

• First rename the application utiman.exe to any other name.
• Then, change cmd.exe to utilman.exe

ren utilman.exe utilman1.exe
ren cmd.exe utilman.exe

Output:

Now Type exit to get back to the Advance Options menu and click on Continue to restart the computer.

Step 5: Use CMD in Lock screen

Once the Computer restart, stay on the Log in screen and click on Ease of Access button on the lock screen as shown in the picture below.

As we have renamed the executable files, this will open CMD instead. For some reasons if you can’t see CMD even after pressing this button, Click ALT + TAB and CMD will appear if it is behind the lock screen.

Step 6: Change Password

Now on Command Prompt, run the following command to to check users available on the Computer

net users

Output:

Now execute the following Command to change password for the user. Enter the new password and re enter to confirm when asked.

net user [username] *

Output:

Now restart the computer and Log in with the new password and you will get access to the Computer. Thus, you have successfully hacked into a password protected computer using cmd.

Step 7: Again Re-name the programs

Now once you have access to the computer, it’s time to change the program names to it’s original names. Use the steps given in previous section to open CMD in Advance startup. Then change the directory to System32 as done earlier. Run the following command to restore the original names.

ren utilman.exe cmd.exe
ren utilman1.exe utilman.exe

Output:

The term hacking is usually used for finding security faults in a System or network. To hack something also means getting unauthorized access to data in a system. To hack password protected computer using Windows Command Prompt is not a feasible technique. However, In this article, we will see how we can use CMD and get into a password protected Computer.