Windows stores user passwords in the Security Accounts Manager (SAM), or in the Active Directory database in domains. Passwords are never stored in plain text but as one-way hashes like the NTLM…

Windows stores user passwords in the Security Accounts Manager (SAM), or in the Active Directory database in domains. Passwords are never stored in plain text but as one-way hashes like the NTLM hash and LM hash. NTLM and LM authentication protocols are used to securely store a user's password in the SAM database using different hashing methods. The SAM file in Windows Server 2008 is located in which of the following locations?