This works great on Linux based systems. But on something running Linux you will need to hash the registry and reset the password. There is a tool to do this if there are any local users present. (does not work on active directory accounts).
I got a friend upon whose computer (old XP) I installed Linux. She called me last night because she forgot the password. Well, I asked the Florida user group about what to do and this is what they had to say:
Just use GRUB to boot into single user mode / recovery mode.
Append init=/bin/sh to the kernel command line, then mount the root filesystem (if it isn't already done for you) and run passwd to reset the root password or password user to reset user's password.
I'd bring a CD containing System Rescue CD just in case.
http://www.sysresccd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage
By the way, you can bust back into borked VMs with System Rescue CD ISO
files, too.
By the way, if you use System Rescue CD, do something like this,
assuming her / is the mountpoint for /dev/sda1:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
chroot /mnt/ bash
cd /etc
vi passwd
Now delete the x between the first and second colons, for both user
root and her ordinary username, then quit vi
exit
umount /mnt
reboot
Now, when asked for her password, leave it blank and she'll get in.
Then she can change her password as desired. Same thing's true the
first time she logs in as root.
If she's not trustworthy enough to leave with blank passwords, you
could probably use the passwd program after the chroot to change the
passwords.:-)~MIKE~(-:
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