Ophcrack
While its a free program and you do get some free rainbow tables, these tables are for the simplest passwords. It uses the SAM database in the Windows system32 folder to get the hashes created for storing user passwords. It then basically runs through every hash contained in its rainbow tables and looks for a match. A matched hash equals a cracked password.
For the more complex passwords, you'll need to get the larger tables. These range in size from 8 GB all the up to around 160 GB. The prices also go through the roof, $1,000 for the entire bundle.
Active Password Changer still accesses the SAM database on a Windows machine. But instead of crack the password, it allows you to reset the password. This program has a free trial download which can be burned to a CD or made into a bootable USB. For the beefier version which includes a Windows Preinstallation Environment, expect to pay around $50 bucks. The one big draw back about resetting passwords is that you can potentially lose access to data. To be specific, if you used Windows to encrypt files or folders, you will lose the key to decrypt them.
Windows Password Reset
ITS THE SAME THING AS ACTIVE PASSWORD CHANGER! Same type of application style I mean. Gives you a bootable CD and a GUI to reset user passwords.
My recommendation.......NONE. Use the "Make a password reset disc" option already included with Windows. No money lost, no data lost. Simple.
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