Dotfiles matter! Please stop dumping files in users’ $HOME directories.
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https://dotfiles-matter.click/
Unless you disk was encrypted, you could have booted up a live distro and back up the files you needed (or even overwrite the shadow file to get a new password)
I really did try so many forensic and recovery tools after remembering my password but with no luck 😂
In the late 90s I taught an intro course for folks who wanted to run *nix boxen (Solaris, IIRC). On the afternoon of the last day I had them swap places after lunch and gain root access to each others' machines. It was partly for root passwd recovery and other maintenance tasks, but also to demonstrate that physical access to the box was a serious issue.