Setting Up Your Hidden Operating System

In order to actually activate the hidden operating system features, you'll need to make sure that your hard drive is partitioned in a very particular way: You'll need two partitions on your drive, and the first partition has to have your Windows install on it. The second partition needs to be bigger than the first, and if you're using NTFS as your file system, it will need to be at least 2.1 times as big as the first partition. You can re-partition your current drive, but your best bet will be a clean installation. (As with skinning a cat, there are many ways to partition a hard drive. Windows 7 and Vista have built in partitioning tools [open Computer Management, then go to Storage -> Disk Management in the sidebar], or you could check out our guide to dual booting windows 7 as a solid resource to get started with a partitioned system.)

Whether you've forgotten your password or you have a more malicious intent, it's actually extremely easy to break into a Windows computer without knowing the password. Here's how to do it, and how to prevent others from doing the same to you.
There are a few methods to breaking into a computer, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We'll go through three of the best and most common methods, and nail down their shortcomings so you know which one to use—and how to exploit their weaknesses to keep your own computer secure.

 

The Lazy Method: Use a Linux Live CD to Get at the Files

If you don't need access to the OS itself, just a few files, you don't need to go through much trouble at all. You can grab any Linux live CD and just drag-and drop files onto a USB hard drive, as you would in any other OS.


Just download the live .iso file for any Linux distribution (like the Ubuntu) and burn it to CD. Stick it in the computer you want to access and boot up from that CD. Pick "Try Ubuntu" when it comes up with the first menu, and it should take you right into a desktop environment. From here, you can access most of the hard drive just by going to the Places menu in the menu bar and choosing the Windows drive. It should see any NTFS drives just fine.
Note that depending on the permissions of some files, you might need root access. If you're having trouble viewing or copying some files, open up a terminal window (by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and type in gksudo nautilus, leaving the password blank when prompted. You should now have access to everything.

How to Beat It

This method can give you access to the file system, but its main weakness is that the malicious user still can't access any encrypted files, even when using gksudo. So, if the owner of the computer (or you) has encrypted their files, you won't get very far.

 

Sneaky Command-Line Fu: Reset the Password with the System Rescue CD

If you need access to the operating system itself, the Linux-based System Rescue CD is a good option for breaking in. You'll need to do a bit of command line work, but as long as you follow the instructions closely you should be fine.