rectory that contains SAM - Security Account Manager data. This data is susceptible to LM hash weakness, and the tool attempts at altering the registry responsible for managing user authentication.

Doing something that's not standard has its pitfalls nevertheless. The developers warn that at times, there might be some errors like in case when the system was not shutdown properly. In this case, user must re-boot the system and let the disk-check activity complete its work before attempting password re-set.

Secondly, the methodology of updating the registry may not work if user has provided a custom password because its exact jumbled-up form has to be put in exact place, that's why it is recommended to set the new password as blank password instead of re-setting it to a new one.

Another thing to keep in mind is the availability of encrypted files and folders - these won't be retrieved after applying this fix. This happens because in an encrypted file system, the actual password is used as part of encryption algorithm and that is now not accessible to the OS. The utility can be used for standalone PCs only, not for Active Directory passwords, and all the laptops are not supported either.

Countering this mechanism

If for some reason, you believe this mechanism can be a security threat, simply remove the CD/USB from the list of bootable devices and password-protect the BIOS.