NTLM hash, how practical is it?

[mastercracker]

When I run -m 1000 the mask is set to ?1?2?2?2?2?2?2?3 and my 8-char test-pwd isn't caught. How can I make sure that ?a?a?a?a?a?a?a?a is tested? (I know, but I expect the pwd to be 8-12 chars, effectively randomized...)

Either you did not hash your test password properly or your mask is not matching your password. It's always a good idea to include an hash with a known value to make sure that everything is set properly. Post your command line so that we can understand what is going on.

[ToJ]

It is actually as posted above, but with -m 1000 instead. So what I am looking at is:

oclhashcat64.exe -m 1000 ha.hash -a 3

Atm I am trying to figure out how to change the mask...

[epixoip]

just add "?a?a?a?a?a?a?a?a" to the end of that command.