What is SYSKEY in a Windows Computer and what is it used for?

Well, it is a very nice topic to discuss with. SYSKEY stands for system key, and it is an executable file generally used to secure the SAM (security account manager) database. The syskey can also be used to secure your windows by configuring the start-up password that should be entered to decrypt the system.

Syskey was first launched in Windows NT 4.0 SP3, syskey was launched to protect against offline password cracking attacks by preventing the processor of an unauthorized copy of the SAM file. 

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But bad news for Windows 10 user:      

The syskey.exe utility is no longer added in windows 10. Windows will never prompt for a syskey password during startup. So, if you want to use boot-time OS security in Windows 10 you can use BitLocker instead of syskey.exe utility. Don't worry windows 10 users because BitLocker is also good to improve your security. So, if you are using a version of windows before windows 10 you can take advantage from syskey.exe utility.  

Below in this article you will learn how to use syskey.exe utility in windows computer but before you use syskey.exe utility you should know that if you forget the syskey password it is very hard to recover that password so make sure you write it down somewhere in case if you forget it, you can use that password from there.  

How to configure windows syskey protection 

1. Press the windows + R button from your computer's keyboard to open the Run Box

2. Type SYSKEY and press enter

3. Securing the windows account database dialog box then appear on screen, note that the Encryption Enabled option is selected there and this is the only option you can work with

4. Now click Update 

5. Click Password Startup 

6. Carefully enter your desired password and confirm it , click ok when done

7. You can also select System Generated Password if you do not want to require a startup password.

select any of these two options. 

• Store Startup Key on Floppy Disk
• Store Startup Key Locally 

Click ok to complete! 

Here is a short video tutorial for you: 

Thank You for reading this article!