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3 Ways to Reset Forgotten Windows Administrator Password

by T.J. Mininday on Dec. 17th, 2008

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Passwords, passwords, passwords….something we

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are going to have deal with as one of our common
annoyances for some time to come. Their BitTorrent
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necessary evil provides another layer of protection THE EASY GUIDE

for your bank, your online shopping, your tax

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software and of course the entire operating UNOFFICIAL MANUAL

system. We have so many passwords these days,

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that we have websites and password managers like THE BIG BOOK

LockCrypt and Clipperz, dedicated solely at helping

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you manage your passwords.
GETTING STARTED

Even with the ability to store and retrieve your security, it does no good if the operating system is How-To Tips Mac
BEGINNER'S GUIDE
inaccessible. Ignoring your PC for a few years, removing a computer from a domain, or simply needing
administrative rights on a PC are just a few reasons that the admin password may need to be reset. Movies
Windows
With Microsoft’s improved security over the last few years, it became more difficult to resent Windows FOR MOVIE ADDICTS

administrator password. However, there are still several ways to get around it and I am bringing you
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three of the easiest ways to reset forgotten windows password for XP, Vista and Server 2003. THE IDIOT'S GUIDE

Linux Productivity
1. Reset Windows Admin Password with Ubuntu PRODUCTIVITY GUIDE

Ubuntu has become, far and away, the most popular distribution of Linux in the world. Its ease of Gaming Photoshop
THE IDIOT'S GUIDE
installation and use makes it the ‘go to’ operating system for an open source alternative. In this case
you don’t even have to install the OS. You simply use the Live CD that is included with the burned Twitter
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ISO of Ubuntu. BEST TIPS & TRICKS

Here are the instructions for resetting the Windows administrator password using Ubuntu Linux.
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1. Go to Ubuntu and download the latest ISO of the operating system.

2. Use one of the free ISO burning applications to create a bootable Ubuntu CD. Of course you’ll need
another PC in order to do this.

3. Use the Live Ubuntu CD to boot into the live version of the OS.
4. Go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager.

5. Then Settings>Repositories

6. Once the ‘Software Sources’ window appears, make sure you select ‘Software restricted by
copyright or legal issues’, then click close.

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7. Click reload on synaptic package manager.

8. Click Search, and type in ‘chntpw’.

9. Once the ‘chntpw’ app is found, right-click on it and ‘mark for installation’.
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10. Click “Apply on Summary Window” and also to confirm changes. Saikat Basu ( THE THINGS I DO )

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**Remember an internet connection is required for the above steps. If there is no availability for a
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connection, a USB flash drive will be required.**
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12. Next, we must mount the Windows drive. In Ubuntu, go to Places> Select the appropriate drive. Bakari Chavanu ( MAC PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS )

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13. The final step of the process is actually resetting the password via the Linux terminal.

14. In Ubuntu go to Applications>Accessories>Terminal.

15. Type ‘cd /media/disk/WINDOWS/system32/config/’ in the terminal window.

16. Type ‘sudo chntpw SAM’

17. This by default will change the Administrator password. If you would prefer to change a particular
user. Type ‘sudo chntpw -u username SAM’.

18. Afterwards, you’ll see a long display of information, most of which can be ignored.

19. The next step is to actually reset the windows password. It is recommended to make the
password blank with an asterisk * .

20. You’ll then have to confirm the change with a Y, and reboot.

2. With Barts PreInstalled Environment

Bart’s PreInstalled Environment has been a popular method on offline troubleshooting for Windows
System Administrators for some time now whether it be for disk recovery, malware removal or in this
instance, password removal. It’s a bootable operating system, just like the Ubuntu Live CD, but with
more of a Windows-like feel.

Below are the instructions for using a small EXE file called Password Renew within the PE
environment.

(XP CD Required – If your Windows drive is SATA, you may need to follow additional
instructions on the PEBuilder site)

1. Go Bart’s website and download the ISO for the PreInstalled Environment.

2. Download Password Renew.

3. Open PEBuilder and for the Windows directory, select the location of the i386 directory on your XP
disk. Under the custom directory, select the directory that holds the PasswordRenew.exe file. Select a
title for your CD and finally create a name for your ISO file. I’d recommend creating an ISO over
burning directly to the CD, because of problems that may arise.

4. Browse to the A43 File Management Utility.

5. Once there, you should browse your CD drive and find your custom directory created in step three.

6. Open Password Renew.

7. This program is very straight forward. Simply press ‘Select Target’ and browse to your Windows
directory.

8. Once there, you can will see options to reset a password, create a new administrator or convert a
current user to an administrator.

9. You will then have the option to install there after.

10. Reboot, and changes will be applied.

3. With Offline NT Password Disk (Google Cache)

Offline NT Password Disk is a very simple and very fast command line Linux tool to reset your
forgotten Windows administrator password. At the time of this writing the site was down, hence the
Google Cache link.

1. Download the bootable CD image.

2. Burn the ISO to a CD with one of the ISO burning applications, as we stated before.

3. Boot up your PC with the bootable CD.

4. Drivers for both SATA and IDE drivers typically load automatically.

5. Select the location of your Windows Operating System.

6. Select windows/system32/config as your directory.

7. Select “Password Reset” as your option.

8. I would recommend to reset as a ‘blank password’. This works best.

9. Once blanked, press ‘q’ to quit and write the values to the registry.

As you can see, the dread of forgetting your Windows administrator password can typically be put
behind you. These are just a few of the options to reset that hard to remember nemesis, but they are
a few of the simplest.

Give us some of your best options for resetting your Windows passwords.

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Scott 1 year ago

Why reset when you can determine the password. Use Ophcrack to determine the windows
passwords. Just boot using the live CD. It will determine all windows users passwords.
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.ne.../

Like

T.J. Mininday 1 year ago in reply to Scott

How long does that typically take to run?

Like

Scott 1 year ago in reply to T.J. Mininday

Depends on the length and the number of passwords. I remember getting 2 passwords
within a half hour.

Like
 saimohan 1 year ago in reply to Scott

hello Scott
dont wast for getting 2 passwords within a half hour.
download eyiptian hack windows service pack 3 cd it takes 5 min to crack the password

Like

dmadam 1 year ago

i agree with scott....ophcrack is awesome and very easy to use...

Like

Eric 1 year ago

Scott does have it correct to a point. To prevent passwords from being cracked with the basic
Ophcrack you simply need to include some sort of symbol (!@#$%) in the password. In order to crack
passwords that include symbols you need to purchase the additional rainbow tables. And those tables
will only crack passwords up to nine characters in length if memory serves.

Like

Rarst 1 year ago in reply to Eric

From my experience users that require restoring passwords are not those who use special
symbols and disable LM hash. :) And Ophcrack recovers up to 14 character length from LM
hashes (less is for NTLM).

Like

venkat 1 year ago

PCloginnow offers ISO image download with which we can burn cd and easily reset administrator
password.
http://www.pcloginnow.com/

Like

T.J. Mininday 1 year ago in reply to venkat

This actually looks like an amazing free product. This would have definitely been on the list, if I'd
known about it. Have you used it before?

Like

Jane 1 year ago

Comment removed.

T.J. Mininday 1 year ago in reply to Jane

Thanks for the recommendations. We tend to keep all applications on MakeUseOf to free or
nearly free.

1 person liked this. Like

Lisa Marie 1 year ago

Open PEBuilder and for the Windows directory, select the location of the i386 directory on your XP
disk. Under the custom directory, select the directory that holds the PasswordRenew.exe file. Select a
title for your CD and finally create a name for your ISO file. I’d recommend creating an ISO over
burning directly to the CD, because of problems that may arise.

Like

windows 1 year ago

Forgot Your Windows Password?

A lot of people think that after having lost their Windows admin password, they absolutely have to
reinstall their OS. Let me tell you something: They are wrong! Here I'm posting a few methods /
utilities which can be used to recover Windows password:
 1st Method:

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 ++<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.

2th Method:

There are many 3rd party utilities which claim to recover forgotten Windows password:

Windows Password Recovery Tool Service: windowspasswordsrecovery.com

WWindows Password Recovery Tool is a program that works instantly to remove any lost or forgotten
password. Simply boot your PC from the supplied Boot CD, and get access to forgotten Windows and
administrator passwords in just seconds. Their method is so much faster/easier, and works great!

http://windowspasswordsrecover...</del>

cindypcdoctor and 1 more liked this Like

happykaka 1 year ago

http://wiki.e107.org/?title=By... there is an article about how to reset windows password. It must be

helpful for those who have been locked out of computer

Like

Jack Cola 1 year ago

I can't believe that you missed the very easiest step of all.
Have a read of http://www.techmanhelp.com/blo.... The step requires a key combination at the
welcome screen (the first image).

Like

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