How does Windows managestore user names and passwords How do

How does Windows manage/store user names and passwords? How does it differ from Unix? What privileges does the \"root\" UID have in Linux?

Solution

1) the usernames and passwords in windows are hashed using \"NTLMv2\"algorithm which is a part of the suite of windows security protocols and finally encrypted credentials are stored in SAM (security account manager) present in the following directory

C:\\windows\\system32\\config\\SAM

2) the user credential storage of windows differs from unix as said below :

In old unix variants ,passwords are stored in etc/passwd in encrypted form.

But in newer versions ,storage is etc/shadow which ensures no one can access the passwords except the root.

3)privileges of root in linux :

- ability to modify OS

- grant and revoke permissions

- can access passwords file

- read and modify configuration files