Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ category

Recover Lost Administrator Password with Windows Password Recovery Freeware

May 2nd, 2013 by Admin

Lost administrator password and now you cannot log into Windows? It can happen to anyone especially those who constantly change passwords or haven’t used their computer for a long time. There is a useful password removal software called Reset Windows Password, which can help you instantly remove lost Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password. However, if you insist on recovering the original password, there is another easy method to crack your password by using the most popular Windows password recovery freeware: Ophcrack Live CD.

Ophcrack is a Linux Live CD using which you can boot your computer and it will automatically crack Windows login passwords for all your user accounts. Here is how you can recover Windows administrator password you have forgotten using the Ophcrack live CD.

How to Recover Lost Administrator Password with Windows Password Recovery Freeware?

Step #1: First of all you’ll have to download Ophcrack. Once the Live CD ISO is downloaded, you’ll need to burn it on a blank CD using a software like ISO2Disc or ImgBurn.

Step #2: Now when ever you forget or lose your Administrator Password. On system restart, insert the burned disc into your CD/DVD-ROM. Make sure you have set the boot sequence to CD-ROM first. If not go to BIOS and set the boot sequence accordingly.If every thing works, you should see a loading screen immediately.

Step #3: Once the Live CD loads it will automatically start working on the passwords, using rainbow tables and some pre-calculated data stored in memory, it will crack the password depending upon the length and complexity. For average passwords of length 6-10 letters it can take up to 3-7 minutes. In case you have more than one account, you will have to choose from a list of accounts.

Step #4: Note down the cracked password once its displayed. After recovering your lost administrator password, you can take the Ophcrack CD out from the CD/DVD drive and start booting into Windows. Type in the recovered password at the Windows logon screen, you can then successfully logged back into Windows.

Ophcrack Live CD can really help those who forgot Windows administrator password on regular basis. However, it does not crack strong passwords. If your password uses only numbers and letters (both lowercase and uppercase letters), then you have a better chance of the password recovery.

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

Tags: free windows password recovery lost windows administrator password ophcrack ophcrack live cd recover administrator password recover lost administrator password recover windows administrator password recover windows password windows password recovery windows password recovery freeware

How to Recover Lost Windows Password

May 1st, 2013 by Admin

I get many questions from our customers about how to recover a lost Windows password. Sometimes busy day makes you forget a few things such as your windows password. What to do if you forget your password? And the password hint is not helping your brain to remember the password. You have to recover Windows password in order to log back on your computer.

There are several ways to recover a lost windows password. Hidden administrator account method and third party software are some of the methods you can try.

Hidden Administrator Account Method

In Windows 8/7/Vista/XP, there is a built-in administrator account that is hidden from the Windows logon screen. By default, this user account is not password protected. If you haven’t created a password for the hidden administrator account, you can use it to log on your computer and then reset any user account password easily!

There are two options to access the hidden administrator account: one is to start up the machine in the Windows welcome screen and pull up the classic login dialog. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del twice in order to do this. The classic log on dialog will display an editable user name and password field. In the User name field, type in Administrator, leave the Password field empty, and log into Windows. The second option is to boot the machine into safe mode by tapping the F8 key as the computer first started, then logged in as Administrator with a blank/empty password.

Recover Lost Windows Password with Password Recovery Bundle

Recovering lost Windows password is not as difficult as imagined. All you really need is just a bootable password recovery CD/USB drive. Password Recovery Bundle allows you to create a Windows password recovery CD or USB flash drive which could be used to boot your locked computer and recover the lost password easily. Follow these steps:

Step 1:
First, download Password Recovery Bundle on another PC in order to make a bootable Windows password recovery CD/USB drive. After the download is complete, install it. Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, a new dialog will appear which enables you to create a bootable recovery disc.

Step 2:
After the recovery disc is created, move to the locked computer with a Windows password you want to recover, either insert the CD/DVD or the USB flash drive what you opted for and select it as the first boot device in computer BIOS.

Step 3:
Once you have booted into it you will see that the computer is loading the Windows PE operating system inside the CD/USB drive. After one or two minutes, the Reset Windows Password program will open up and automatically detect the SAM registry files for all your Windows installations.

Step 4:
Choose the SAM registry file for your Windows installation, it will show you all the user accounts that are associated with your Windows system. Select the user account you forgot password of, and then click on “Reset Password” button. It will remove/reset your lost Windows password instantly!

Step 5:
After you are completed with all the above steps successfully, remove the Windows password recovery CD/USB drive and restart the computer. you can then immediately log back into Windows without a password.

It’s so easy to recover a lost Windows password! It’s illegal to recover others’ Windows passwords without permission. This tutorial is designed to recover only Windows password on your own computer when necessary. If you worry about others using it to recover your password, make sure you are the only person who have physical access to your machine, or go to BIOS > change the boot sequence > HDD first > and then set a BIOS password, so others are unable to boot your computer from a CD/USB drive.

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

Tags: recover lost windows password recover windows password windows password recovery

Password Expired and Can’t Log into Windows?

April 28th, 2013 by Admin

Hi! It seems that my windows 7 account password has expired. When I typed the password as usual, the following message appeared: Login Failed:Your password has expired. Is there any way of me logging in? Just to be clear I am not asking how to disable password expiration but rather my password has expired and I cannot log in. Also I can’t log in to safe mode either.

password-expired

Password expired and can’t log into Windows? This usually happens when you haven’t used a computer for a long time so you forgot the password. Sometimes, even if you can remember the old password, you’ll also fail to change the password and still get stuck at the logon screen. In this tutorial we’ll explain how to fix the issue of Windows password expiration so you can log back into Windows.

Password Expired and Forgot the Current Password

If you’ve forgotten the existing password on your computer, you are unable to change the expired password from the logon screen. In this situation, Reset Windows Password utility can be of help! Download a copy of the Reset Windows Password utility and burn to a blank CD from another PC, then boot from this CD and there is a password removal program on it to reset your password. This program also helps you disable the password expiration of your user account.

Password Expired and Know the Current Password

For some unknown reasons, some computer users will get the error message such as “access denied” when changing the expired password from the login screen. In other words, your password is expired but Windows doesn’t allow the user account the privilege of changing its password! If you have run into this issue, try to roll back the BIOS clock. Boot the machine into the BIOS setup mode, then set the BIOS clock back by one or two months until the password is not expired.

Once you’ve change the expired password successfully, you might also want to disable Windows password expiration so you won’t be forced to change the password from now on, then proceed to the next section.

Disable Windows Password Expiration

Once you’ve managed to log into Windows, you can then turn off Windows password expiration easily, by following these steps:

Open the Local Users and Groups administration panel by typing in lusrmgr.msc into the start menu search box. (or the Run box on XP) Select “Users” in the left hand pane, and then double-click your user account in the list.
On this screen you’ll find the “Password never expires” checkbox.
Just make sure the box is checked and you won’t be forced to change your password anymore.

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

Tags: can't log into Windows disable Windows password expiration turn off Windows password expiration windows password expired

2 Options to Turn off Password Expiration in Windows 8/7/Vista/XP

April 27th, 2013 by Admin

When booting up to the logon screen, Windows may notify you that your password will expire in a number of days and ask whether you want to change it now. This behavior can start months after your initial installation of Windows. Its purpose is to help enforce password policies in a business environment, but if you don’t need that enforcement, it can be very annoying. In this tutorial we’ll show you two options to turn off password expiration in Windows 8/7/Vista/XP. The steps are quite simple!

Note: If your password expired and couldn’t remember your Windows password, you need to use a password cracking bootdisk such as Reset Windows Password utility to remove your forgotten password, before following this guide to turn off Windows password expiration.

Option 1: Turn off Password Expiration Through GUI Interface

Press Windows + R key combination to bring up the Run box. Type netplwiz or control userpasswords2 and press Enter. The User Accounts dialogue box will appear.
Click on Advanced tab in the user account.
Click on Advanced button in the Advanced user management window and it will open Local User and Group.
Double click the Users Folder in the Local User and Group.
Select your user account from the list. Right click on it and then select Properties
It will open another window, click on General tab and check the option of Password never expires.
Click Apply and then OK.

Option 2: Turn off Password Expiration Using Command Prompt

Open up a Command Prompt as administrator (type “Command Prompt” in the Start search box and instead of just pressing Enter as normal, you right-click the menu item for it and select “Run as administrator”) and type the following command at the prompt:

net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited

and press Enter. That should do it. (If you get access error 5, you didn’t run Command Prompt as administrator.)

Note: If you don’t know how to open up a Command Prompt as administrator in Windows 8, please refer to this article: http://www.top-password.com/blog/how-to-run-an-application-as-administrator-in-windows-8/

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

Tags: disable password expiration turn off password expiration turn off Windows 7 password expiration turn off Windows 8 password expiration turn off Windows password expiration turn off Windows vista password expiration turn off Windows xp password expiration

Can’t Remember Windows Password? How to Get Back into Your Computer?

April 26th, 2013 by Admin

I have an old laptop that’s not been used for quite a while and I can’t remember my Windows password. I’ve tried many different passwords that it could possibly be without any luck. Is there anyway I can recover or reset the password? I have some important documents and pictures on there that I really don’t want to lose with a brand new windows install. It’s currently running windows 7.

Can’t remember Windows password? How to get back into your computer without data loss? It’s one of the most annoying problems a computer user can face. In such a scenario, be sure to check whether you can boot into safe mode and log in to the built-in administrator account. This account was, by default, not password protected so you could just log on and remove your forgotten user account password. If this option doesn’t work, some third-party password cracking software can be of help.

Reset Windows Password utility is one of the most popular and powerful password cracking software which can help you reset lost or forgotten Windows password easily! This program can run from a bootable CD or USB flash drive and perform password recovery on all versions of Windows systems, including Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. Let’s see how can you reset lost Windows password and get back into your computer, in case you can’t remember Windows password.

Can’t Remember Windows Password? How to Get Back into Your Computer?

Step 1:
First, download the Reset Windows Password utility on another PC in order to make a bootable Windows password recovery CD/USB drive. After the download is complete, extract the ISO image file from the zip and burn the ISO to a CD or DVD using your favorite CD Burning utility such as ISO2Disc or ImgBurn.

Step 2:
Now move to the locked computer with a Windows password you can’t remember, either insert the CD/DVD or the USB flash drive what you opted for and select it as the first boot device in computer BIOS.

Step 5:
After you are completed with all the above steps successfully, remove the Windows password recovery CD/USB drive and restart the computer. you can then happily get back into your computer without a password.

Conclusion

Can’t remember Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password? Follow the simple steps above you can reset your forgotten Windows password by yourself and get back into your computer immediately! No need to wipe and reload your computer.

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

Tags: can't remember windows 7 password can't remember windows 8 password can't remember windows password can't remember windows vista password can't remember windows xp password forgot windows password reset windows password

How to Set Windows 8/7/Vista/XP Password

April 23rd, 2013 by Admin

Set up a password on your Windows user account so others can’t access your programs and files without knowing your password. Although you may be the only person who makes regular use of your computer, it’s still a big security concern if you left your Windows password blank/empty. Setting a Windows password is quick and easy process that will greatly increase the security of your computer. Here’s how to set Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password.

Set Windows 8 Password

To change your local account password, open the Settings charm (press Windows Key + I to quickly open the Settings charm) and select Change PC settings.
Select the Users category and click the Create a password button. You’ll be asked to type a new password and enter a password hint.
After setting your Windows password, you’ll be prompted to enter your password next time you turn on your computer.

Set Windows 7/Vista/XP Password

Right-click on My Computer icon from your desktop or Windows Explorer, and select Manage.
Navigate to the Local Users and Groups option and click Users.
Right-click on the user account and select Set Password or Change the Password from the context menu.
Enter the new password twice (to confirm it) and optionally enter a password hint. Click Change Password to complete the task.

If you want to set a new Windows password because you’ve forgotten your current one and can’t get in to Windows, please use the third-party Windows password removal bootdisk such as Reset Windows Password, which enables you to remove forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password using a bootable CD/USB flash drive.

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

Tags: set windows 7 password set windows 8 password set windows login password set windows password set windows vista password set windows xp password

Forgot Windows 8 Local Account or Microsoft Account Password

April 22nd, 2013 by Admin

Forgot Windows 8 local account or Microsoft account password? How to reset the password so you can log back into your PC without data loss? There are basically two types of accounts that you can create in Windows 8: Local accounts and Microsoft account. In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between local account and Microsoft account, and provide an easy way to help you reset lost Windows 8 local account and Microsoft account password.

Local Account vs. Microsoft Account

A local account is just what we always used to log on to a Windows machine (if the computer is not a member of a Windows domain). All credentials for this account are stored only on the local computer. Your user profile is stored on your local computer only. This type of account has been around since the time of Windows 98.

A Microsoft account is a new logon option introduced in Windows 8, which allows you to sign in to your PC using an email account. The email account can be a hotmail/Microsoft live account or any other email account that you registered in Microsoft’s website. The credentials of Microsoft account are stored in Microsoft’s cloud and are locally cached, so you can also log on without an Internet connection. The user profile is accessible to other computers running Windows 8, provided you’ve logged on with your Microsoft account.

Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Local Account & Microsoft Account Password

The passwords of both local account and Microsoft account are stored in a SAM file which is usually located in the folder c:\windows\system32\config. Windows 8 stores the passwords in a hashed format (in LM hash and NTLM hash). Since a hash function is one-way, it is almost impossible to recover such passwords. However, you can reset the password easily and instantly.

Reset Windows Password utility is a recovery bootdisk which can run from a CD or USB drive and enables you to reset forgotten Windows 8 local account and Microsoft account password easily. The local account password will be blank/removed immediately so you can then log on your PC with a empty/blank password, while the Microsoft account password seems to be impossible to reset because it is stored online in Microsoft’s cloud. But as long as you can reset the Microsoft account password which is cached on your local computer, Windows 8 still allows you to sign in your PC, but without connecting to Microsoft’s cloud. Reset Windows Password utility can help you do this job perfectly so you can log back into your computer with a new Microsoft account password.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

Tags: forgot Microsoft account password forgot Windows 8 local account password Microsoft account password reset reset Microsoft account password reset Windows 8 local account password

How to Reset Computer Password After Forgetting It

April 21st, 2013 by Admin

Did you forget the computer password and couldn’t log in? It’s happened to the best of us. In fact, I once had a friend set a password on my laptop as a joke when my laptop was left unattended during a trip to the restroom. He forgot the password he used and left me locked out of my computer for the night.

So what do you do if this happens to you? Well, I have bad news for you. Unfortunately, you’ll have to format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. All data on your system drive will be lost and you may also lose your genuine copy of Windows or Office. In this tutorial we’ll show you an easy way to reset computer password when you forgot it, all without reinstalling the operating system.

How to Reset Computer Password After Forgetting It?

To get started, we need to prepare a blank CD or USB drive, and use a second computer to burn the disc. Next, take the CD/USB drive to boot off your locked computer and perform password resetting. Reset Windows Password is the password cracking software we used during the following steps.

Step 1:
First, download the Reset Windows Password utility on another PC in order to make a bootable Windows password recovery CD/USB drive. After the download is complete, extract the ISO image file from the zip and burn the ISO to a CD or DVD using your favorite CD Burning utility such as ISO2Disc.

Step 2:
Now move to the locked computer you want to reset the password, either insert the CD/DVD or the USB flash drive what you opted for and select it as the first boot device in computer BIOS.

Step 3:
Once you have booted into it you will see that the computer is loading the Windows PE operating system inside the CD/USB drive. After one or two minutes, the Reset Windows Password program will open up and automatically detect the SAM registry files for all your Windows installations.

Step 4:
Choose the SAM registry file for your Windows installation, it will show you all the user accounts that are associated with your Windows system. Select the user account you forgot password of, and then click on “Reset Password” button. It will remove/reset your forgotten computer password instantly!

Step 5:
After you are completed with all the above steps successfully, remove the Windows password recovery CD/USB drive and restart the computer. you can then happily log back into your computer without issue.

Conclusion

Forgot the login password on your computer? Simply follow these steps and you can reset computer password on all versions of Windows. Quickly regain access to your system in case your computer password is lost or forgotten.

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

Tags: forgot computer password how to reset computer password lost computer password reset computer account password reset computer password reset password on computer

How to Blank or Clear a Forgotten Windows Password

April 16th, 2013 by Admin

Is there anyway to blank or clear Windows password if I’ve forgot my password? I changed my password on Friday and by Monday I have no idea what I changed it to. I don’t want to reinstall OS. Please help!

Forgot your Windows password and locked yourself out of the system? No problem! This tutorial will show you an easy way to blank or clear a forgotten Windows password easily! This method works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 8/7/Vista/XP.

How to Blank or Clear a Forgotten Windows Password?

Reset Windows Password is a small boot disk that you can use to blank/clear lost Windows password quickly and easily. This utility can enable you to blank or delete passwords, but it cannot tell you what the password for an account actually is. No matter how strong your password is, it can clear your forgotten password instantly.

First, download the compressed ISO image of Reset Windows Password utility on an alternate PC and extract it locally. Burn the resulting ResetWindowsPwd.iso file to a blank CD or USB flash drive using ISO2Disc program.
Second, insert the CD or USB drive into the locked computer that has a forgotten password and reboot it. Before the Windows OS loads (while the manufacturer’s screen is briefly displayed), hit the appropriate key (usually one of the twelve ‘F’ keys) to enter the boot menu option where you can specify a device to boot to.
Your computer will load the contents of the bootable CD or USB drive. When it is finished you will be prompted with the Reset Windows Password screen.
The program will search your PC for Windows SAM registry files and display the local user accounts on your system. Choose a desired user account and click on “Reset Password” button. It will blank/clear your forgotten Windows user password immediately.
After clearing Windows password, remove the CD or USB drive and restart the computer. You can then log in to Windows without typing a password! It’s so simple!

At this point the user account should have no password. You can reset the password once you successfully log in to Windows.

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

Tags: blank windows password clear windows password

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?

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

Tags: forgot safe mode password reset safe mode password safe mode administrator password safe mode password safe mode password recovery safe mode password reset windows safe mode password