*Do not remove the stick from your computer while the program is running.

General Questions:

What does Windows Breaker do?
Windows Breaker will allow a user to bypass the authentication process on Windows based systems. The password is not overwritten or modified, it is bypassed.

How does Windows Breaker work?
Windows Breaker accesses the BIOS during startup. Once Windows Breaker has loaded itself into memory, it modifes the Windows OS kernel so that login authentication is not required.

Are there any permanent changes to my computer when I use Windows Breaker?
All changes made to the operating system are temporary and will be restored when the computer is rebooted. No permanent changes are made.

My antivirus detects Windows Breaker as a virus, does Windows Breaker contain malicious code?
No. Due to the behavior of Windows Breaker with the computers BIOS, Windows Breaker may be incorrectly flagged as a boot virus. However, Windows Breaker does not contain any malicious code or virus replication features, nor does it collect any information. The sole instruction of Windows Breaker is to modify the Windows kernel so that it may bypass login authentication for the purpose of disaster recovery, auditing, forgotton passwords, or penetration testing. We do suggest disabling your antivirus when using Windows Breaker.

Does Windows Breaker work on domain controllers?
Windows Breaker will not bypass authentication of domain controllers. There are instances where a client computer will locally cache a domain login and Windows Breaker may work.

Can Windows Breaker bypass hard drive encryption?
No. Windows Breaker will only bypass authentication of Windows based local passwords.

Can I read Windows EFS encrypted folders using Windows Breaker?
Windows Breaker will not allow encrypted folder access. In no case should you reset or change your password with a Windows EFS based login using Windows Breaker (or any other tool). The password and the encryption key are bound and changing the password of a Windows EFS login will require the original password to be reset before EFS folders can be accessed again via login.

Windows Breaker gives an error related to BIOS. What is wrong?
It is likely that the BIOS memory is too small for Windows Breaker to run and therefore Windows Breaker is not compatible with this particular computer.

Windows Breaker USB does not work for me. What's wrong?
Various BIOS and computer configurations may be incompatible with the Windows Breaker USB flash drive. Additionally, certain BIOS configurations and Windows Breaker are incompatible. If you have an instance which Windows Breaker will not run, please submit the BIOS version and computer model to us at http://support.paraben.com. We will try to fix it for our next release!

Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7