XP account password lost

[Gerald Bramwell]

Hi my wife has managed to forget her password on her PC, she uses a
password to keep the kids out but has now managed to keep her self out.
Is there a way she can get the password back or override it and make a
new one?

Gerald

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Hi my wife has managed to forget her password on her PC, she uses a
password to keep the kids out but has now managed to keep her self out. Is
there a way she can get the password back or override it and make a new
one?

Gerald

Google is your friend. Try typing these words into a Google search box:

Windows password lost

You'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

[JS]

Hi my wife has managed to forget her password on her PC, she uses a
password to keep the kids out but has now managed to keep her self out. Is
there a way she can get the password back or override it and make a new
one?

Gerald

Note: There is a hidden 'Administrator' account (the account name is:
Administrator) in Windows.
The default password for this hidden account is normally blank (none).

For XP Home users:
Boot the computer into Safe Mode
Do this by pressing the F8 key (several times) after the Power On Self Test
is finished, until the Start menu appears.
This will get you to the correct menu window.
Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account
and any other accounts.
(Note: Accounts are displayed alphabetically).
Use the mouse or Up/down arrow keys to highlight the 'Administrator'
account;
Remember as mentioned above: The default password is a blank (no password
required).

Also See: Forgotten your Windows XP Home password
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894902/en-us
and: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894901/
Note: The above articles refer to a "Password Reset Disk"

For XP Pro users:
You do not need to go into Safe Mode.
At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to display the
Windows logon box.
Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and 'if' you assigned a
password when you set up Windows, then enter it.
(Note: by default the password is blank, no password need be entered)

Once your in, then:
Click Start/Run/and type in: Control Userpasswords2 and then press OK
Next click the 'Users' tab (if it's not already selected).
Now click on the user's account name.that you want to change/reset the
password for, and
Click the 'Reset Password' button located at the bottom right.
Enter the new password into the 'New password' box,
Enter the same password again in the 'Confirm new password' box.
Next click the 'OK' button and once again click 'OK'.
Finally restart your PC, and logon using the account name and password you
entered.


Also see: How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or if your
password expires
(This Microsoft article applies to both XP Home and Pro)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305/en-us

 

[Anna]

Hi my wife has managed to forget her password on her PC, she uses a
password to keep the kids out but has now managed to keep her self out. Is
there a way she can get the password back or override it and make a new
one?

Gerald

Gerald:
In case the suggestions offered by "JS" don't resolve the problem try
this...

There is a freely-available program that many users employ to get over this
hurdle by resetting the administrator's password to a blank. You may want to
give it a try in case you've found no other way to resolve this password
problem.

Obviously you have available another PC connected to the net so that you can
download the necessary program.

Download the file to reset your password from...
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
1. On the top of the webpage click on the "Bootdisk" button.
2. In the "Download" section toward the bottom of the page click on the
cd080802.zip file and download it to your Desktop. Note it's a ZIP file so
the contents of that file will have to be extracted.
3. I assume you know how to do this by merely right-clicking on the ZIP
file, click on Extract All, Next, Next, Finish.
4. A folder will be created on your Desktop titled "cd080802".
5. Inside that folder will be the cd080802.iso file. It's this .iso file
that allows you to create a bootable CD from that .iso image.
6. Hopefully, you have a CD-burning program, e.g., Nero, Roxio, etc., that
allows you to merely double-click on the .iso file and the program will open
and create a bootable CD from that .iso image. If you don't have such a
program perhaps you have a friend or acquaintance who does and he or she can
help you with creating the bootable CD. There are other programs available
on the net that allow you to do this as well - one popular program is the
freely-available ISO Recorder program -
see...http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

Now that you've created the bootable CD that's designed to reset your
password, insert the CD in your optical drive and boot to it.

The following are step-by-step instructions for using the program. The
example involved is a single-partitioned HDD, but the basic steps are the
same for any size HDD, except where the drive is multi-partitioned. If the
latter is the case the steps will be slightly different but they will not be
unduly complicated or substantially different under those circumstances.

As you progress through the screens the information provided and steps
involved may appear more complicated than they really are. In virtually
every step during the process the user will simply be pressing the Enter key
or some other simple keystroke. So don't be intimidated by what appears to
be a lengthy & complicated process. It really isn't.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Case is important when responding to the prompts so ensure
you enter the correct lower or upper case.

1. Hopefully your PC is set up so that it will boot to a bootable CD. If
it's not, change the motherboard's BIOS boot priority setting so that the
CD-ROM (optical drive) is first in boot priority.

2. Boot to the password reset CD. At the first screen you will see the
"boot:" prompt. Press Enter.

3. "Step ONE" is to select the drive on which the Windows OS is installed.
If the drive has been multi-partitioned all the partitions will be listed.
The prompt ("Step ONE") will be "Select: [1]".
Press Enter assuming [1] is the boot partition. Otherwise enter the correct
number of the partition containing boot system.

4. The next prompt ("Step TWO") will be "What is the path to the registry
directory? (relative to windows disk) [WINDOWS/system32/config]:". Once
again, press Enter.

5. The next prompt will list a number of options of which [1] is "Password
reset...". Press Enter.

6. The next prompt at "Step THREE: Password or registry edit" will list
three options. The default prompt "[1]" will reflect the first option, "Edit
user data and passwords". Again, press Enter.

The next prompt will ask for the username listing the default
[Administrator]. Enter your wife's username (ensuring that you enter the
proper case, e.g., MARY), and press Enter.

The "User Edit Menu" will display listing various options. The first option
is to "Clear (blank) user password" so enter "1" at the prompt.The
confirmation "Password cleared!" message should appear.

7. At the next prompt enter "!" (exclamation mark) to quit the "User Edit
Menu". Press Enter.

8. At the next prompt enter "q" to quit the process.

9. At "Step FOUR" enter "y" to write changes. Press Enter.

10. At the "EDIT COMPLETE" message, press Enter to confirm ending the
process.

11. The "#" prompt will appear indicating termination of the process. Remove
the CD and reboot.

Hopefully your Administrator's password has now been reset to a blank
password and you should gain access to the system.
Anna