Reset Administrator Password in Windows 7, XP, Vista
Have you ever lost your administrator password? Bugger! Here’s how to reset your administrator password in Windows 7. And yes, this does actually work!
Download Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
What can it do for me? Basically, it allows you to reset the admin password or set a completely new password. You either burn a boot disk or put everything on a USB stick and make it bootable.
1. Head over to http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/ and download the Offline NT Password and Registry editor.
I used the http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/usb110511.zip USB version because Im too lazy to burn a DVD.
2. Put all files on your USB device (does not have to be empty)
3. Open the Windows Explorer (Windows key + E) and check what drive the USB device uses
4. Open a command prompt and enter X:syslinux.exe -ma X: – where X is the letter of your USB drive (see step 3)
5. Done!
6. Are you using a ASUS EZ motherboard? Great, hit F8 on boot up and boot from that USB device. Else, go into your BIOS (see motherboard manual) and change the boot order (click on link if you dont know how)
To reset the admin password follow the instructions below. This will work on Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows NT/2000.
Reset Administrator Password in Windows 7
This is where the fun begins! Well, at least if you’re a little adventurous and like to explore new tools.
You might want to watch this video to get an idea of what you can expect, then read my instructions. It’s actually very simple, because you get all information you need to enter on the screen.
Ok, I did not take any screenshots of the procedure, but I can help you with some regular instructions:
1. Boot: — wait a few seconds or hit enter
2. Select partition – Enter 1 or the number of your main partition
3. Enter Windows/System32/config
4. Enter 1 – This will not reset your password right now
5. Enter 1 – Edit user data and password
6. Enter Administrator
7. Enter 2 – Use 2 to enter a new password.
Warning: If you say “1″ (step 7) your admin password will be blank and you will have to restart in order to set a new password via the Offline Password Recovery tool.
It did not work for me immediately, but I gave it another try and then the program was able to successfully reset the Windows 7 administrator password for me.
Please let us know if you were able to successfully reset the administrator password and let us know your operating system.
Doesn’t Work? Try This Cracking Tool To Reset Admin Password
This information is obviously only for educational purposes and when you really lost your admin password, not to break into unauthorized computers.
A very well-known tool for cracking administrator passwords in Windows 7,Xp,Vista is the ophcrack Live CD
Download ophcrack Live CD
On a sidenote, I want to mention that the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor can also give admin privileges to regular accounts, so you might want to try that before you burn the ophcrack Live CD and let it do its job.
There are various other tools that allow you to reset the administrator password, but the tools mentioned above work great for me, so give them a try. If you run into any problems, post a comment below.
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Written by oliversk Monday, June 27th, 2011
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