Here is my "Resetting a Forgotten Password" tutorial:
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 $65 64 MB
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...69-0554-4595-8AB4-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 (Fast = $30, 3-day wait = Free):
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
ju.c
mcp6453 said:
There are two accounts on this computer: The administrator account
with a blank password and a user account with a password. Both
accounts have administrative privileges. When I booted with an XP CD
to get to the Recovery Console, after it asked me which installation
I wanted to repair (1. Windows XP), it asked me for an administrator
password. Blank does not work, and the password assigned to the user
account does not work. I must be missing something here. How can I
reset this password?
ju.c wrote:
The "Administrator" password that the Recovery Console asks
for is not the default "Administrator" password, but any user
with administrator privileges. So just enter your user account
password.
ju.c
This worked, but I would love to know how to fix the problem, if
possible.
Thanks!
ju.c wrote:
If there is no password then the password is just the enter key.
Create then merge this registry file to disable the
Recovery Console's password check.
1. Copy below and paste into Notepad.
----------copy inside only----------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole]
"SetCommand"=dword:00000001
"SecurityLevel"=dword:00000001
----------copy inside only----------
2. Save-as RC_Security.reg (or any name + .reg)
3. Double-click or right-click and merge into the registry.
Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset 5.0
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Diagnostics-and-Recovery-Toolset.shtml
ju.c
XP SP3. There is no problem logging into this computer using the
Administrator account, which has no password. However, when I try
to start the Recovery Console from an XP CD, I cannot get past
the administrator password prompt. There are plenty of utilities
on the Internet for resetting administrator passwords, but before
I do that, I want to understand the difference. Are the Windows
XP Administrator and operating system administrator passwords
(Recovery Console) the same? If so, why am I able to log into XP
but not able to start the Recovery Console? If not, is there a
way to reset the OS admin password from within XP?
SysInternals ERD is highly recommended as a tool for resetting
the OS admin password, but I cannot find it to download it.
(Isn't it free since Microsoft bought SysInternals?) Is it part
of BartPE?
Ultimately I need to boot into the Recovery Console. How can I
reset the OS admin password? (The crazy part is that I have done
this before. The computer is a Dell Optiplex, which are known to
have this problem because of Dell's use of sysprep.)
