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.