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How to Reset Forgotten Safe Mode Password in Windows

April 11th, 2013 by Admin

Stuck in Safe Mode and can’t login? Forgot Safe Mode password on your computer? Many times in order to remove a piece of spyware or for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes, you’ll have to start Windows in Safe Mode. After booting into Safe Mode you’ll be prompted for a password to get past the logon screen. What to do if the Safe Mode won’t accept your password?

safe mode password

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to reset Safe Mode password using a password removal bootdisk (CD, DVD or USB flash drive). To get into Safe Mode, we need to log on with the built-in administrator account or other local account that has administrator permissions. Follow these instructions to see how can you reset forgotten Safe Mode administrator password easily! This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server operating systems.

How to Reset Safe Mode Administrator Password in Windows?

  1. Download the Reset Windows Password utility on an alternate PC with internet access. Once the download completes Right-click the .zip file and Select “Extract All”. This will decompress the contents, which there should just be a single .iso file inside.
  2. Next you need to burn this iso image file to a blank CD or USB flash drive using the freeware ISO2Disc. Here I’ll make a password removal Live CD. After starting ISO2Disc program, click on the “Browse” button to locate the iso file you’ve downloaded, then choose the “Burn to CD/DVD” option, click on “Start Burn” button and the password removal Live CD will be prepared in minutes.

  3. Put the Live CD into the CD/DVD drive of the computer that needs a Safe Mode password removal. Restart the computer and hold down F2 or whatever the setup key is shown as during the initial boot screen. This should bring up the BIOS. After getting into BIOS, look for a option similar to Boot order or Boot Device Priority. Set your CD drive as the first boot device. Once you’ve got it, save changes and reboot.
  4. If you set up the BIOS correctly the computer should automatically boot from the Live CD. When it loads to the screen shown below, click on “Reset Local Admin/User Password” option. It will display a list of Windows local user accounts existing in your system.

  5. Choose the built-in administrator account and then click on “Reset Password” button. The program will reset/blank your Safe Mode administrator password immediately! Now you’re almost done. Remove the Live CD and restart your computer. Now you should be able to log into Safe Mode without typing a password!

Can’t Log into Safe Mode Using the Password Which Works in Normal Mode?

Only thing that comes to mind is that you are joined to a domain. To log into domain user account in Safe Mode, you need to choose the “Safe Mode with Networking” option from the Advanced Boot Options, which allows your computer to connect to the domain controller to validate your password. If you choose the “Safe Mode” option, you would have to log into the PC with a local account instead of a domain account.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Unlock Your Netbook After Forgetting Windows Password

April 10th, 2013 by Admin

Forgot Windows password on your netbook? Get locked out of your netbook and can’t remember the login password? There are plenty of ways to reset forgotten Windows password with a CD/DVD. But this doesn’t work because most the netbooks don’t have the CD/DVD drive. So here I will show you how to use a USB flash drive to unlock any netbook when you lost or forgot your password.

How to Unlock Your Netbook After Forgetting Windows Password?

After forgetting netbook password, you’ll be locked out of your Windows account and unable to get past the Windows login screen. In such a situation, we have to make a bootable password cracking USB drive on another computer which we can access. Boot your netbook off the USB drive and it enables you remove/reset your forgotten Windows password easily! Let’s proceed.

  1. Download the Reset Windows Password utility on an alternate PC with internet access. Once the download completes Right-click the .zip file and Select “Extract All”. This will decompress the contents, which there should just be a single .iso file inside.
  2. Next you need to install this iso image file to your USB flash drive. The freeware ISO2Disc allows you to make a bootable USB flash drive easily. After starting ISO2Disc program, click on the “Browse” button to locate the iso file you’ve downloaded, then choose the USB drive you’ve plugged in, click on “Start Burn” button and the bootable USB drive will be prepared in minutes.

  3. Plug in your USB drive to the netbook that you need to unlock. Restart the computer and hold down F2 or whatever the setup key is shown as during the initial boot screen. This should bring up the BIOS. After getting into BIOS, look for a option similar to Boot order or Boot Device Priority. Set your USB flash drive as the first boot device. Once you’ve got it, save changes and reboot.
  4. If you set up the BIOS correctly your netbook should automatically boot from the USB flash drive. When it loads to the screen shown below, click on “Reset Local Admin/User Password” option. It will display a list of Windows local user accounts existing in your netbook.

  5. Choose the user account that you need to reset password for, then click on “Reset Password” button. The program will reset/blank your netbook login password immediately! Now you’re almost done. Unplug the USB flash drive and restart your netbook. Now you should be able to log into your netbook without typing a password!

By follow this step-by-step tutorial you can reset netbook password quickly and easily, no matter what version of Windows operating system are running on your netbook, including Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Fix a Lost Administrator Password Using Windows 7 or Vista System Restore

April 8th, 2013 by Admin

Lost or Forgot the administrator password on your Windows PC? There are tons of password cracking tips and tricks available on the internet which can help you recover or reset a lost admin password, but most of them involve in many complex steps and often it’s hard to get them to work if the security holes in your system are already blocked.

Thankfully, you can easily fix a lost administrator password using Windows 7 or Vista system restore. Just restore Windows to a point that includes an old password you can remember. This will definitely save you a lot of trouble and may also save your data and user settings. For this to work, you only need a System Repair Disc or the original Windows installation DVD. If you don’t have a System Repair Disc, you can create one easily by following this guide: Create a Windows System Repair Disc for Emergency Use.

How to Fix a Lost Administrator Password Using Windows 7 or Vista System Restore?

Insert your Windows Installation DVD or System Repair Disc into your drive, turn on the computer, and wait until you see the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD”. Press any key to continue. (Note: If you don’t see this message, you probably have to change the boot order in the BIOS and/or disable Secure Boot.)

When the system boots from the DVD, follow along with the prompts as you normally would. When you get to the Install Windows screen, click the Repair Your Computer link.

After searching the Windows installations on your hard drive, you’ll then be prompted to select the operating system to repair. Just select your desired operating system and click Next.

The System Recovery Options dialog box will open up and offer different recovery options to help you troubleshoot computer problems. Here we need to click System Restore to load the System Restore wizard.

When you see the first window of the System Restore wizard, click Next.

At this screen you’ll be prompted to select the restore point that you want to use. Click Next.

Finally, you’ll be prompted to confirm your restore point and if everything looks right, click Finish.

Click Yes to the warning message that comes up making sure you want to restore the computer to the selected restore point. The restore process will begin. It may take a while to complete, so sit back and be patient.

Once the restore operation is complete, you’ll be prompted to restart your system.

Remove the DVD and restart the computer. You can then log in to your machine with an old password which you used before. Done!

Conclusion

Windows 7 or Vista system restore will make sure that you don’t lose any documents or files. However, any programs or updates that have been installed since the corresponding restore point have to be installed again. This approach works perfectly with Windows 8, 7 and Vista. But it doesn’t work with Windows XP.

If you can’t even do a system restore or can’t afford to lose any software recently installed on your computer, I would highly recommend you using some commercial software to unlock your forgotten password, such as Reset Windows Password utility.

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How to Get Past Windows Password at Startup

April 7th, 2013 by Admin

I have a compaq nc 6200 notebook that has been packed away for a while. When I turn it on it asks for the administrator password at startup. I couldn’t remember the password any more. Is there a way to bypass or reset it?

Have forgotten the administrator password of your Windows 7 installation and locked out? How can you remove the login password on Windows startup? This tutorial will explain the process involved for you to easily get past Windows password at startup. Works with Windows 8/7/Vista/XP and Windows 2012/2008/2003/2000 Server.

How to Get Past Windows Password at Startup?

After forgetting the administrator password, you’ll be stuck at the password login screen and can’t install any software on the computer. To get past your forgotten password, you need to use some password cracking programs which can run from a bootable CD or USB drive. Reset Windows Password utility is such a program that enables you to get past Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password easily in just a few steps.

Step 1: Make a Password Cracking Boot CD/USB Drive

Download the bootable CD image of Reset Windows Password utility, which is zipped. After the download is complete, extract the ISO file from the Zip archive using WinZip, 7zip or WinRAR. Burn the ResetWindowsPwd.iso file to a blank CD using BurnCDCC, CDBurnerXP or other burning program you prefer. If you don’t have a blank CD lying around, you can choose to use a USB flash drive instead and burn the disk image to your USB drive using ISO2Disc utility.

Step 2: Using the Boot CD/USB Drive to Get Past Windows Password

Simply insert the boot CD into the computer that you can’t get in to and restart it. You may have to bring up the boot menu by pressing F12 or something, but it may automatically boot from the CD drive you inserted. Next, the Windows PE operating system inside the CD will boot up. After one or two minutes, it will open up the Reset Windows Password program.

By default, the program automatically finds your Windows installations and displays a list of local user accounts existing in your machine. Simply select a user account and click on the “Reset Password” button, it will remove/blank your forgotten Windows startup password in seconds.

Now remove the boot CD and restart your machine. When you reach the password login screen, just left the password as blank and you can log in to your system quickly. Now you’ve successfully got past Windows password at startup.

Conclusion

It’s also a good idea to make a password cracking boot CD/USB drive beforehand, so you can get past Windows password easily and avoid becoming severely anxious or upset in the event that you lost or forgotten your administrator password. Reset Windows Password utility also enables you to get past Windows domain admin/user password, not just Windows local user account password.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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The Simple Way to Crack Windows Server 2003 Password

April 6th, 2013 by Admin

Have you forgot your Windows server 2003 password and ended up locking yourself out of your PC? Or perhaps the previous system admin has left without leaving the server password? Well, then this article is for you! In this article you’ll find detailed instructions for you to crack Windows server 2003 password quickly and easily!

How to Crack Windows Server 2003 Password?

All you need to do is to create a Live CD which contains password cracking utility on another computer you can login, then bring the Live CD to boot up your server that you need to crack a password on.  It allows you to crack both local administrator password and domain administrator password on your Windows Server 2003. These instructions are written assuming a bootable CD is being used, but are essentially the same for a bootable USB flash drive.

  1. Download the bootable disk’s image of Reset Windows Password utility, it comes in a .ZIP file. Unzip the download file and you’ll get the ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso.
  2. Burn the ISO image on a new CD use your favorite burning software (If you don’t have one, I recommend you use ISO2Disc.) Once the CD is burned successfully, unplug the Live CD from the computer.
  3. Insert the Live CD into your locked computer with a forgotten Windows Server 2003 password. Set the computer BIOS to boot with CD drive as first boot device. After booting from the CD, the computer will load the Windows PE operating system inside the CD drive and open up the Reset Windows Password utility.
  4. Select your Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list. The program will perform a complete analysis of the SAM file and display a list of Windows local user accounts inside it. If you’re going to crack the domain admin/user password, click on the “Reset Active Directory Password” option, the program will show you all domain user accounts on your server.
  5. Choose the user account whose password needs to be cracked, and click on “Reset Password” button. It will crack/remove your lost or forgotten password instantly.
  6. Remove the CD and re-boot the system and you should now be able to log on Windows Server 2003 immediately.

The Live CD could also be used to crack lost or forgotten admin/user password on Windows Server 2012/2008/2000. This is probably the most effective, simple piece of software that you have seen around.

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How to Remove Windows Startup Password After Forgotten

April 2nd, 2013 by Admin

Forgot your Windows startup password? How to reset or remove it after forgotten? There are several types of startup passwords which could be used to protect a Windows computer: BIOS password, Syskey, Windows user account password. After setting up one of these startup passwords, the computer will prompt you to enter your password each time you start up.

Tired of entering the startup password every time you boot your PC? Or simple forgot your startup password? This article will introduce you to all common options of removing startup password in Windows.

BIOS Password

BIOS is the first program that runs when your computer starts. You can tell the BIOS to ask for a password when it starts, thus restricting access to your computer. BIOS passwords can be added extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers, and are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password.

Forgetting your BIOS password can lock up the hardware and make the computer completely unusable. Fortunately there are a few known backdoors and software that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password on most systems. The BIOS password on desktop computer can be reset by removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes. However, laptop BIOS passwords are stored in a special chip on the motherboard and the only way to recover this password is to using BIOS password cracking utility. Have a look at this article:Recover BIOS/CMOS Password Using Free CMOSPwd Utility.

Syskey Password

As we all know, the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database has been used by Windows to store password hashes for local user accounts. To make the hashes harder to decrypt, Microsoft introduced SysKey password, an additional layer of obfuscation SysKey which can be enabled in Windows using the SysKey utility. To learn how to enable Syskey, please refer to this article: How to Lock Your Computer with Syskey.

Syskey password can be helpful to prevent hackers from cracking Windows user password. There are no reliable tools that will help brute forcing Syskey password. The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor claims that it can help you disable Syskey startup password but I’ve tried it with no luck. After forgetting your Syskey password, the only feasible option is to do a system restore using a restore point dated before SysKey password was set, or reinstall the operating system.

Windows User Password

Have you ever been locked out of your computer by a forgotten Windows user password? There’s no need to get frustrated. It is relatively easy to bypass this safeguard. Reset Windows Password utility is the well-known software which enables you to remove Windows admin/user password easily by creating a password removal Live CD/USB. It works with almost all versions of Windows, including the latest Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

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Reset Lost Admin Password of A Windows Virtual Machine in VMware Fusion

March 31st, 2013 by Admin

I have a Windows 7 virtual machine running under VMware Fusion, but I lost the admin password. Is it possible somehow to reset the password?

Forgot the administrator password of a Windows VMware Fusion image? The best way to avoid this problem is to make a password reset disc ahead of time so that if you forget your password in the future, you can reset your forgotten password easily. But most people, including myself, never make such disk. Here I’ll show you another method which can help you reset lost admin password of any Windows virtual machine running in VMware Fusion.

How to Reset Lost Admin Password of A Windows Virtual Machine in VMware Fusion?

This method of resetting a forgotten Windows password is the most effective that I know of and works in almost any situation. To get started, you will need a tool called Reset Windows Password. The program comes as a bootable ISO image which could be used to boot your locked virtual machine and reset lost admin password easily!

Part 1: Set Your Locked Virtual Machine to Boot from an ISO Image

  1. Download the Reset Windows Password package on your host computer. The download file is in .zip format. Double-click the .zip file to unzip and you’ll get the bootable ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso.
  2. If your locked virtual machine is turned on, turn it off. From the Settings menu in VWMare Fusion, select “CDs & DVDs”.

    Next click “Use disc image” and select the bootable ISO image you’ve downloaded.

  3. Now we need to set the BIOS of the virtual machine to boot with CD drive as first boot device. As it’s known that the VMWare Fusion BIOS goes by way too fast to give you a chance to access it. To work around this problem, use a text editor to add the following lines to the configuration (.vmx) file of the virtual machine:
    bios.forceSetupOnce = "TRUE"
    bios.bootOrder = "CDROM"
    The next time you boot up the virtual machine, it will automatically boot from the bootable ISO image.

Part 2: Reset Lost Admin Password of Your Windows Virtual Machine

  1. After booting from the ISO image, the virtual machine will load the Windows PE operating system inside the CD image and open up the Reset Windows Password utility.
  2. Select your Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list. The program will perform a complete analysis of the SAM file and display a list of Windows local user accounts inside it.

  3. Choose the administrator account and then click on “Reset Password” button. It will reset your VM admin password instantly.
  4. Revert the changes you’ve made in the configuration (.vmx) file of the virtual machine. Turn on the virtual machine and you should now be able to log in to the administrator account with no password.

The steps of resetting Windows password on VMware Fusion’s virtual machine are nearly the same for a physical machine. The only difference is that you need to burn the bootable ISO image to a physical CD or USB drive in order to reset lost admin password on a physical machine.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How Do I Delete Windows Password If I’ve Forgotten It

March 29th, 2013 by Admin

Forgetting Windows password can be a big nag especially if there’s some important data held up in the system which can prevent you from re-installing Windows. In this article, I’ll be providing an easy option that you can try in order to delete your Windows password if you’ve forgotten it.

To get this job done, you will need a tool called Reset Windows Password. Basically, you boot from a CD or USB drive with this tool and delete Windows Password without ever loading your locked-out Windows operating system.

How to Delete Windows Password If I’ve Forgotten It?

These instructions are written assuming a bootable CD is being used, but are essentially the same for a bootable USB flash drive.

  1. Download the bootable disk’s image of Reset Windows Password utility, it comes in a .ZIP file. Unzip the download file and you’ll get the ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso.
  2. Burn the ISO image on a new CD use your favorite burning software (If you don’t have one, I recommend you use ISO2Disc.) and set the computer BIOS to boot with CD drive as first boot device.
  3. After booting from the CD, the computer will load the Windows PE operating system inside the CD drive and open up the Reset Windows Password utility.
  4. Select your Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list. The program will perform a complete analysis of the SAM file and display a list of Windows local user accounts inside it.
  5. Choose the user account whose password needs to be deleted, and click on Reset Password button. It will delete/unlock your lost or forgotten password instantly.
  6. Remove the CD and re-boot the system and you should now be able to logon with no password for that user account.

Conclusion

This method of deleting a forgotten Windows password is the most effective that I know of and works in almost any situation. It works with Windows 8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003/2000. A word of caution however, if you are running EFS (Encrypted File System), you will need to remember the original administrator password to access any files that were encrypted under that password.

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Forgot Windows XP Administrator Password

March 28th, 2013 by Admin

If you ever find yourself in a situation that your Windows XP computer is locked out because you’ve forgotten the administrator password, and you’ve already tried the Safe Mode and it doesn’t work, what else can you do?

Luckily there is a solution that can actually take you away from your frustrations with a password cracking application called Reset Windows Password. This is a great software that allows you to reset Windows XP administrator password even if you’re completely locked out of Windows. Follow this tutorial you can regain access to your computer in minutes.

How to Unlock Your Computer When Forgot Windows XP Administrator Password?

Before you begin the process of password resetting, you’ll first need a different computer with internet access to start your work. You also need a USB stick or a blank CD to make a password reset Live disc that would be used on your locked Windows XP computer.

Step 1: Make a Password Reset Live Disc

Download the self-extracting archive of Reset Windows Password utility on to your alternate computer. Once downloaded, extract the ISO file (ResetWindowsPwd.iso) from the ZIP file. Feel free to do this using the integrated tool in Windows or a dedicated program like WinZip.

Now you need to burn the ISO image file (ResetWindowsPwd.iso) to a CD or USB stick. There are many free burning programs which can do it easily, such as BurnCDCC, ImgBurn, ISO2Dic, etc.

Step 2: Boot Windows XP Computer from the Live Disc

Insert the password reset Live disc into the Windows XP computer that you’re trying to gain access to. Restart the computer and press the appropriate key (also called “BIOS Key”) at the start of the boot-up process – often when the manufacturer’s logo appears on screen – and you’ll be taken to the BIOS Setup screen. Change the boot order in BIOS to set the USB or CD as your first option for boot device and boot the computer from it.

Step 3: Reset Windows XP Administrator Password

Once the locked computer boots from the Live disc, it will load the Windows PE operating system inside the Live disc and open up the Reset Windows Password program. The program automatically finds the Windows XP installations on your hard drive, and analyzes the SAM (Security Accounts Manager) database and displays all Windows user accounts existing in your system.

Just choose the administrator account which you want to do a password reset, and click on “Reset Password” button. It will reset your forgotten Windows XP administrator password immediately!

Conclusion

Forgot Windows XP administrator password? Once you have done everything correct and now restart your computer, you will find that you can easily log into your system and an admin account is listed on the login screen. Select the administrator account and it will lead you to the desktop screen. You can now change your other user account’s passwords as well.

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