Based on the Windows Preinstallation Environment, DaRT (Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset) is an official Microsoft utility suite that includes a registry editor, file explorer, crash analyzer as well as tools to restore files, repair disks, scan for viruses and more. Among them is a straightforward utility that should have a new password applied to your Windows account after a few clicks and may be less spooky than software such as Ophcrack.

Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) lets you diagnose and repair a computer that cannot be started or that has problems starting as expected. By using DaRT, you can recover end-user computers that have become unusable, diagnose probable causes of issues, and quickly repair unbootable or locked-out computers. When it is necessary, you can also quickly restore important lost files and detect and remove malware, even when the computer is not online.

DaRT lets you create a DaRT recovery image in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Windows Imaging (WIM) file formats and burn the image to a CD, DVD, or USB. You can then use the recovery image files and deploy them locally or to a remote partition or a recovery partition.

DaRT is an important part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), a dynamic solution available to Software Assurance customers that helps reduce software installation costs, enables delivery of applications as services, and helps manage and control enterprise desktop environments.