Where are Windows 7 Passwords Stored?

Where are Microsoft Windows 7 passwords and credentials stored on disk?

I would like to physically verify that the Users group does not have access to files containing system passwords.

Solution 1:

Windows account details are stored in the SAM registry hive. It stores passwords using a one-way-hash (either LM Hash, which is old and weak, or NTLM hash which is newer and stronger.)

The SAM hive file is located at %WinDir%\system32\config\sam. This directory, and it parents, are by default inaccessible to non-administrative users. However it is vulnerable to offline attacks (e.g. booting a LiveCD and manually modifying the binary data. For example with the ONTPRE tool.)

Solution 2:

They are stored per user in C:\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\credentials and also in C:\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Vault . Since this is in a user directory it's safe to say only the user and computer/domain admins have access to it. Not to mention it is also encrypted.