The SAM file in Windows contains the usernames and hashed passwords. It’s located in the
Windows\system32\config
directory. The file is locked when the operating system is running
so a Ha****cker can’t attempt to copy the file while the machine is booted to Windows.
One option for copying the SAM file is to boot to an alternate operating system such as
DOS or Linux with a boot CD. Alternately, the file can be copied from the
repair
directory.
If a systems administrator uses the RDISK feature of Windows to back up the system, then a
compressed copy of the SAM file called
SAM._
is created in
C:\windows\repair
. To expand
this file, use the following command at the command prompt:
C:\>expand sam._ sam
After the file is uncompressed, a dictionary, hybrid, or brute-force attack can be run against
the SAM file using a tool like L0phtCrack.