Windows: Resetting a Forgotten Password

Contributor Icon Contributed by Troy Newton  
Tag Icon Tagged: Windows  

This tech-recipe will show you how to gain access to a computer for which you have forgotten the administrator account password.

 

NOTES
 
- The built-in Administrator account is found on the Welcome screen only if there are no other accounts available, other than Guest, or when the computer is booted into Safe Mode.
- To get Admin account on the “Welcome Screen” make sure that there are no accounts logged in.
- The built-in Administrator account can create and change passwords for all users, but cannot restore a forgotten one.
- When a password is changed, that account will lose all encrypted files, personal certificates and stored Internet Explorer passwords or network resources.
- Press “CTRL-ALT-DEL” twice to get the classic Windows logon box. Type: Administrator. If this account has a password, enter it. Otherwise, leave the it blank.
- Recovering a password is much more difficult. Using a cracking program can take weeks!
 RESET A PASSWORD USING THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT

1. Boot into Safe Mode.
2. Log on using the built-in Administrator account.
3. Open: Control Panel -> User Accounts.
4. On the Users tab, select a user name, the password to change and click Reset Password.
 RESET A PASSWORD AT THE LOGON SCREEN WITH THE COMMAND PROMPT
 
At the logon screen, press Shift+F10 to open a Command Prompt with adminisrative priviledges and type:

net user {username} {password}

{username}  =  The Account’s User Name
{password}  =  This will be the new password

 RESET A PASSWORD USING MICROSOFT’S ERD COMMANDER
 
1. Download a 30 day trial from here:

Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset 5.0 
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5D600369-0554-4595-8AB4-C34B2860E087&displaylang=en

2. Install it, run it and burn the image to a CD.
3. Boot the CD and run the Locksmith Wizard, found under Start -> System Tools.
4. The Locksmith Wizard is very easy to use, just select an account and input a new password. Too easy!
 RESET A PASSWORD USING OFFLINE NT PASSWORD & REGISTRY EDITOR

Bootable CD (Freeware):
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

- This disc can set, reset or unlock the password of any user account.
- You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
- Works with Windows NT/2k/XP/Vista.

 RESET A PASSWORD USING NT PASSWORD HACK

This will blank the Administrator password (Freeware):
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/tools/ntpassword/ntpasswordhack.zip
 RECOVER A PASSWORD USING THE LOGIN RECOVERY WEB SERVICE
 
Login Recovery is a service to recover passwords for Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista:
http://www.loginrecovery.com/index.php
LINKS

How to reset the Administrator’s password:
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

EFS, Credentials, and Private Keys from Certificates Are Unavailable After a Password Is Reset:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290260/en-us

Administrator and User Passwords in Windows XP:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

 

8 Comments -


  1. Kelly Willliams said on November 15, 2008

    I used Orhcrack to find my lost password….

  2. windows said on June 1, 2009

    There are a lot of Windows password revealers and crackers available, but I’ve found that Windows Password Recovery Tool is the most effective.:
    it not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password

    You can use the ISO to burn a boot CD. Follow these instructions:

    1. Download ISO file from http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com Windows Password Recovery Tool
    2. Burn to a CD using a CD burning tool such as Nero or Roxio or MagicISO
    3. Insert CD into drive and reboot.
    4. You may have to select an option in the BIOS to get the computer to boot from the CD.

    Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm.

  3. stephan johnson said on June 23, 2009

    how to get a password

  4. Anonymous said on October 12, 2009

    here is the methods I know.

    The first thing which you check if you forget login password. When we install Windows, it automatically creates an account “Administrator” and sets its password to blank. So if you have forget Your user account password then try this:
    Start system and when you See Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press ctrl+alt+del keys Twice and it’ll show Classic Login box. Now type “Administrator” (without quotes) in Username and leave Password field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.
    Now you can reset your account password from “Control Panel -> User Accounts”.
    Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.

    Windows XP and further versions also provide another method to recover forgotten Password by using “Reset Disk”. If you created a Password Reset Disk in Past, you can use that disk to reset the password. To know more about It, please visit http://www.resetwindowspassword.com/

  5. Anonymous said on December 24, 2009

    Hey, I also got locked out of my computer several days ago. I tried several free software. It took me two days and got quite messy. Unfortunately none of them work for me. Finally I made it work with Password Genius. The good news is that it works. The bad news is it is not free.
    Check this out: http://www.passowrd-genius.com

  6. Anonymous said on January 12, 2010

    Reset /crack/hack/recovery windows password/admin password/ vista
    password with advanced windows password recovery 3.0
    1. Log onto a computer that can link to the Internet. Download
    advanced windows password recovery 3.0 from
    http://www.recoverwindowspassword.com and
    decompress it on that PC. Note that: there is a .ISO file. Burn the
    .ISO file to a CD.
    2.Get out the newly created CD and insert it to the locked computer.
    3.Re-boot the locked computer and then follow the process of
    instructions. Just after a few steps, the old password will be removed.

  7. Anonymous said on January 18, 2010

    I ever used a windows password recovery software to reset windows password to blank,it need not to reinstall or reformat the windows os, with no data lose,the tool is “Any Windows Password Recovery 3.0 “,its easier,you could have a try.
    The link to the soft: http://www.anypasswordrecovery.com/

  8. windows XP recovery virus said on May 13, 2011

    I need to resetting the forgotten password of my computer. 

 

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