How To: Recover Your Lost Windows User Account Password
How To: Recover Your Lost Windows User Account Password
Posted 02/18/2009 at 1:00pm
| by Josh Kampschmidt
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More likely than not, you’ve been asked in the past to help fix one of your friend’s or relative’s computers. Most of the time, the problems you’ve been brought in to remedy are basic malware or virus infections that you can address by grabbing the appropriate diagnostic and software removal tools stored in your trusty USB toolkit. But once in a while, you’ll be faced with a novice struck with the most basic and frustrating of problems: forgetting their Windows administrator login password. With no way to get into the system, you can’t even perform basic maintenance, let alone a thorough tune-up. Formatting is always an option, but we consider that a last resort. (Plus, guess who’s going to have to help reinstall all the programs lost after a wipe?) But all hope is not lost. There are a few ways to actually retrieve a lost Windows account password. Read on, and we’ll show you the light.
This guide is split into two sections. If you want to get rid of the old user account password, use Offline NT Password and Registry Editor. If you want to find out what the password is without changing it, then you need to use Ophcrack. There are a lot of Windows password revealers and crackers available, but we’ve found that these two programs are the most effective.
Time = 1 hour, 15 minutes
What You Need:
- Offline NT Password and Registry Editor
Free, http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/ - Ophcrack
Free, http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/ - A ISO burning utility, IsoBurn
Free, http://isoburn.sourceforge.net/
Use Offline NT Password and Registry Editor
Offline NT Password and Registry Editor is one of the easiest password recovery tools to use. It allows you to reset a user account password, including the Administrator password. It is also a relatively small download.
To download Offline NT Password and Registry Editor, click here. Save the zip archive to your Desktop.
Extract the archive and you will get an ISO file. Burn the ISO to a CD using any CD Burning software, such as, CDBurnerXP or ISOBurn.
After you get the ISO successfully mounted, put the disk in the drive and restart your computer. Make sure you set your BIOS to boot from the CD drive. You can change your boot order by accessing the boot menu with F10 before the OS loads.
The program will begin loading off the disk. You will get a line that states “boot:” press Enter and the process will continue
When the loading process stops again, press the “1” key. This will allow the program to search for all probable NTFS partitions.
When the program asks what the registry directory pathway is, press Enter. This will keep the default \Windows\System32\config directory.
You will now see a list of registry entries. For our purpose, you do not need to worry about anything, just press Enter. This tells the program we want to reset the password and loads the appropriate registry hive.
Now that the hive is loaded, press Enter on your keyboard to edit user data and passwords.
You will now see a list of all the user accounts present on the system. Find the user account you want to change and type the appropriate name. Make sure you enter the username EXACTLY as it appears and hit Enter.
Be careful when the program asks you what task you want to perform. You do not want to set a new password right now. This could cause serious problems when trying to boot a Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system. Instead, press “1” to clear the password.
The program will give you a Password cleared message, indicating that the password removal was successful.
Now type an exclamation mark to return to the main menu. Press “q” to quit the program. On Step 4, make sure you save the changes; otherwise, the password will be left unchanged. To save the changes, type “y”.
When the program asks if you want to do a new run, press “n” since the password is already removed at this point.
To close the program and return to Windows, press Ctrl-Alt-Del. The computer will restart and the password should have been removed from the account.
More like this
banglesmith
January 16, 2012 at 9:30pm
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January 15, 2012 at 1:48am
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bolod
December 27, 2011 at 2:36am
Well, I am so excited that I have found this in your post because I have been searching for some information about it almost three hours.
bolod
December 26, 2011 at 5:00am
Nice information, many thanks to the author. It is incomprehensible to me now, but in general, the usefulness and significance is overwhelming.
musafir
December 23, 2011 at 7:12am
I love to surf and my initial source for information is the blogs which have always helped me in my education. This blog is one of them.
davidlogin
October 11, 2011 at 1:20am
If you forgot windows password, try to use Anmosoft Windows password reset tool Only two simple step to reset your username and password quickly and safely!Before you get Windows password Reset, you should have to prepare one CD/DVD or USB flash drive in advance. And then you can take use of Windows Password Reset Professional to reset password with USB drive or CD/DVD.
step1:Download and install the sofeware in any available computer.
step2:Run the program, insert a blank CD/DVD you've prepared into an accessible computer.When you finish two step, you can login your windows quickly without any password.
Reset Windows password could be done quickly and efficiently without any data losing or file damaging with Windows password reset tools while forgot Windows admin password.
Rylai
September 16, 2011 at 12:14am
Though Ophcrack is free, it can not figure out your password with 100% rate, and you need to wait a long time for the process.
And i recommend you another efficient password reset tool - Windows Password Unlocker, instead of recovering the password, it is to reset your password within minutes. You can have a try.
EmilyChang
September 16, 2011 at 12:13am
Use Windows Password Unlocker to create a Windows password reset disk with CD/DVD or USB flash drive.
Step 1: Download Windows Password Unlocker Professional from http://www.passwordunlocker.com/windows-password-recovery.html
Step 2: Create a password reset disk with the program in any accessible PC
Step3: Insert the reset disk in your locked computer
Step 4: Remove the forgotten password with the created password reset disk
Jacy757
September 14, 2011 at 9:24pm
Nice post. Windows 7 and vista provide oppurtunity to create password reset disk before hand but most of us don't know how to create? or sometimes forget to create password reset disk. At that time only windows password recovery software can solve the problem.
rankexpert
September 06, 2011 at 7:37pm
I was searching for this a week ago. I really need to recover my windows user acc. Thanks! building backlinks
Anddy_2011
August 25, 2011 at 1:04am
I've been using a software which called Windows Password Seeker.It is a very quick and useful utility for recovering passwords. Just an easy to use bootable CD/DVD . It can also be used on a USB Flash Drive. http://www.passwordseeker.com
Anddy_2011
August 25, 2011 at 1:03am
I've been using a software which called Windows Password Seeker.It is a very quick and useful utility for recovering passwords. Just an easy to use bootable CD/DVD . It can also be used on a USB Flash Drive. http://www.passwordseeker.com
Okinow250
April 13, 2011 at 4:55am
A few days ago, I had met the headache things that I had forgotten Windows login password. The login screen rejected my passwords. I was frustrated because there was very important data on my disk and I couldn’t reinstall the OS. …………. However, I fortunately got to know the Windows Password Recover Kit 1.7, which is a professional windows password recovery tool for us to reset windows 7 password instantly yet no data loss. http://www.recoverwindowspassword.net
zitaati
March 29, 2011 at 6:08pm
You can create a Windows password reset disk to reset your password.
Follow this 5 easy steps:
1. Enter a computer that can link to Internet. Download Windows Password Reset Tool and install the software on that computer.
2. Run the software and create windows password reset disk by follow the instructions.
3. Eject the created CD/DVD and insert it into the locked computer.
4. Reboot the locked computer (it's necessary for you to change your locked computer's BIOS setting to make it boot from CD drive) and then follow the instructions to reset Account password.
5. Now login Windows and set a new password.
mavis988
March 10, 2011 at 6:22pm
A few days ago, I had met the headache things that I had forgotten Windows login password. The login screen rejected my passwords. I was frustrated because there was very important data on my disk and I couldn’t reinstall the OS. ………….
However, I fortunately got to know the AD Password Reset 1.7, which is a professional windows password recovery tool for us to reset windows 7 password instantly yet no data loss.
http://www.resetadpassword.com
Mogref
October 10, 2010 at 1:14pm
Good article with clear directions. Program straightforward and easy to use(at least for clearing passwords which was my need). Thanks a lot. The URL of the website that hosts the image has changed though. I was redirected.
Thanks again.
amyhellen
October 08, 2010 at 7:07pm
my suggestion is get a <a href="http://lost-password.net/products/windowspasswordrecoery.html">windows password recovery</a> tool,which can easily bypass windows password if you just forgot windows password. the most popular one is windows password recovery utility,one of whose functions is to remove local administrator and user passwords on any Windows system,This password recovery tool is based on friendly GUI, even a computer novice can control the whole process freely. Besides, It helps to create a windows password reset CD, with which, you can remove the admin password even you have logged out the computer, yet no reinstalling, no data loss!
Source(s):
http://lost-password.net/products/windowspasswordrecoery.html
Ekroth2010
August 28, 2010 at 3:31pm
Offline NT Password and Registry Editor is not easy to use for PC beginners. There are lots of easy Windows password recovery tools available for free download, such as Windows Key Finder, Reset Windows Password, Recover My Windows Password, etc.
Maggiechen
June 21, 2010 at 2:05am
you know?if we lost our windows user account password? we can go into safe mode (F8 when booting up) to reset windows xp password ,but if you forgot administrator password,there is no way to change administrator password when you forgot it,the only way is to reset administrator password with a password recovery tool.my favorite is windows password Recovery 6.0i recommend you have a try!
Source(s):
http://www.recoverlostpassword.com/products/windowspasswordrecoery.html
zhuismile
June 12, 2010 at 7:50pm
It's a sickening,powerless feeling to be locked out of your own computer if you have lost windows password .Howerer there are many ways to reset windows password .As a system administrator,I've tried a couple of these utilities through the years and my favorite is the windows password key 8.0 which can be download from http://www.lostwindowspassword.com This utility is used to reset password of any windows versions.
goodway123
June 03, 2010 at 10:23pm
You can use free software or paid software to reset an Administrator password. Paid one will be more safe and stable. My favorite is Windows Key Finder - http://www.windows-key-finder.com, hope it works some of you. Good luck!
lanaya
February 07, 2010 at 11:46pm
I ever used a windows password recovery tool to bypass my windows administrator password,its easily and safely to use ,not need to reinstall windows OS
and with no data losing.you can have a try.The reference link to windows password recovery software: http://www.anypasswordrecovery.com
coco
January 10, 2010 at 9:35pm
lost windows password? I met it before. and i used Advanced Windows Password Recovery 3.0 to solve it. It is a professional utility to recover windows password. With no data loss and no reinstall.
coco
January 05, 2010 at 8:04pm
I lost PC password and feel frustrated. Last, I found a good tool
Advanced Windows Password Recovery 3.0.
Share it. download site: http://www.recoverwindowspassword.com
ych
December 28, 2009 at 1:28am
my favorite is also using software to reset windows password ,i found windows password unlocker in internet a couple days ago,it is very convenient for windows password recovery.
http://www.passwordunlocker.com/products/wpu.html
ych
December 24, 2009 at 4:32am
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coco
December 23, 2009 at 12:26am
A hot software for cracking password is windows password reset 7.0. It
supports to Windows 7 password reset, Windows Vista, XP, 2008, 2003
and 2000, etc. The size is very small, only 1.76M. And it works very
fast. One second is done.http://www.resetwindowspassword.com/
Hannah23
December 17, 2009 at 9:59pm
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bombermanneo
December 03, 2009 at 10:59pm
I find many free methods to bypass windows password in this site .
...
....
....
......
I believe that these articles will be of great help to them
linky1124
December 01, 2009 at 1:31am
free windows password recovery methods.
Those all are free and very helpful!
happykaka
October 09, 2009 at 1:37am
If you are not a computer technician, or not familiar with computer system operations, you may feel the above methods are scary and still can’t figure out what I am saying. Then you may try to use the software programs which may suit you. The existing software that used to recover passwords are many.Windows password unlocker 4.0 (http://www.passwordunlocker.com/products/wpu.html )is mostly used by people. It’s easy-to-use little tools that people like. The program do not require professional knowledge. You just follow the instructions to click mouse or press keys will be OK. Plus, It also works with other versions of Windows, like Windows Vista/2000/NT workstations (including Windows XP Tablet PC Edition).
Welcome to my blog http://pdf-to-wrod.blogspot.com , I am interested in password recovery. Besides, http://wiki.e107.org/?title=Bypass_Windows_XP_Password there is an article about how to reset windows password. It must b
wskaihd
September 26, 2009 at 4:41am
I would like to introduce Windows Password Recovery Tool 2.0 . 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. I Wrote it to an old 128mb USB flash drive do this. Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm. You can download it from http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com
wskaihd
September 26, 2009 at 4:37am
As far as I know, Windows Password Recovery Tool 2.0 is safe and easy to use. An .ISO file included in windows passwords Recovery. So, you just need to free download windows passwords Recovery, which is available at many download sites like
http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com
wskaihd
September 26, 2009 at 4:37am
As far as I know, Windows Password Recovery Tool 2.0 is safe and easy to use. An .ISO file included in windows passwords Recovery. So, you just need to free download windows passwords Recovery, which is available at many download sites like
http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com
PhoneyVirus
September 04, 2009 at 8:17pm
Every Powerusers should have a copy of this no matter what nice work thanks.
linky1124
July 22, 2009 at 6:28pm
here is a article might help you
http://www.ehow.com/how_5197631_reset-windows-xp-password-forgot.html
forgot your windows password?
use windows password reset.
http://www.resetwindowspassword.com/
1fastbullet
July 16, 2009 at 5:46am
So far I've had to use the Offline NT Password and Registry Editor on three occasions and it's worked perfectly every time. I'm downloading the others as I write this.
A situation I have now is a Linux Ubuntu machine with no password. I believe I remember it's possible to use a Live Disc to reset ths password, by I may be mistaken.
Recently, I had an old Dell D-8200 that, while I was able to use the offline editor to clear the user admin password, I also found that the BIOS had been password protected. I never did get into it.
In retrospect, had I used a Revealer, instead of a clearing tool, for the admin password, I may have also learned it was the same as for the BIOS.
Any suggestions for clearing/revealing a BIOS password?
alexisxy
June 17, 2009 at 11:37pm
There is a way to reset windows password without erasing anything.
Follow the instructions:
1.Free download the iso file :http://www.resetwindowspassword.com
2.Burn it to a disk to create the boot disk, that simple.
3.Configure your pc or laptop to boot in the cd drive,
4.Insert the CD, reboot from CD drive, and then just follow the process of instruction. A few steps later, admin password would be cleared
Took about 5 minutes for the whole process.
windows2
May 19, 2009 at 1:30am
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 passwordYou 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.
Olmec
March 18, 2009 at 6:51am
You saved my life!!, I changed the password on three machines, forgot the new one in a single machine, and you guys came to the rescue...again.
Keep this really god work!
from the Land of the Olmec
Big Olmec Head
Thanks
KLund1
February 19, 2009 at 1:54am
This is all well and good. But there are many machines out ther with no cd/dvd drives; ie netbooks??? (the fasterest growing area in cumputer sales, currently)
What do you do then...... wipe out your portable cd/dvd drive, ya right! When was the last time you saw one of those?
Bootable thumb drives? This artical did not montion that. Trying to make one of those bootable with thier computer is most likely problematic, at best.
Ever wonder why writers do not do enough complete research first, before publishing a technical how to artical? I lost count back in 2003 at 574. It happens even here at one of the best PC mags around!
hackman2007
February 19, 2009 at 6:55am
That is beyond the scope of this article.As a writer, you can't possibly predict the different combinations of computer components people have or what type of computers. Many of these netbooks also run a modified version of Linux. Some run Windows, but there are some that run Linux.Almost every computer has an optical drive. Some don't, but then again they probably have a USB optical drive. I picked one up at Wal-Mart last year for about $30. You can always use an IDE/Sata to USB adapter to do it too.
rlynker
February 18, 2009 at 9:03pm
I have used the XP version of Ophcrack on Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server and XP. It is fast and will scare you how well it works.
FrancesTheMute
February 18, 2009 at 2:07pm
this seems pretty cool. Just downloaded it and popped the disk into a machine I'm building for one of our users. I'm wondering if in a domain environment if it doesn't work as well, since while it did find the local admin account password, it did not find either of the 2 user accounts that have been added to the machine.
Works pretty quick, too. It took 6m 2s to complete.
Hg Dragon
February 18, 2009 at 7:06pm
Well, in a domain environment, it's easier for a Domain Admin to reset a user's password than it is to go through the process of cracking it. In Active Directory, it's as simple a right-click. I've used the Offline utility sucessfully several times, including on a machine that was so infested with crap that it would deny any password then lock out the account and on a Server 2003 box.
rcmz
August 17, 2010 at 4:57pm
An excellent utility that finds lost windows and office product keys is at :
<ul>http://password-genius.com/</ul>
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