This article will show you how to reset Windows administrator password (for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7) at times when you forgot it or when you want to gain access to a computer for which you do not know the password.

Most of us have experienced a situation where we need to gain access to a computer which is password protected or at times we may forget the administrator password without which it becomes impossible to login to the computer. So here is an excellent password recovery trick which you can use to reset the password or make the password empty (remove the password) so that you can gain administrator access to the computer. You can do this with a powerful Windows password recovery software – Reset Windows Password. This utility works offline, that means you need to shutdown your locked computer and boot off the computer using a CD or USB flash drive. The tool has the following features.

• You do not need to know the old password to set a new one
• It will detect and offer to unlock disabled or locked-out user accounts

How It Works?

Most Windows operating systems store the login passwords and encrypted passwords in a file called sam (Security Accounts Manager). This file can be usually found in the directory of \windows\system32\config. This file is a part of Windows registry and remains inaccessible as long as the OS is active. Hence it is necessary that you need to boot off your computer and access this sam file via boot. Reset Windows Password utility intelligently gains access to this file and will reset/remove the password associated with administrator or any other account.

Download the zip archive of Reset Windows Password

Once you download you’ll get a bootable image which you need to burn it onto your CD or USB flash drive. Now boot your locked computer from it and follow the screen instructions to reset the password.

Reset Windows Password can be used to reset lost local administrator/user passwords and change forgotten domain administrator/user passwords on all Windows systems.

I’m having trouble logging into my user account under Windows 7. It seems that my password is no longer valid and now I can’t get in. The only way I can login to the system is to do so under my son’s account which does not have administrative rights. Also, when I go to Control Panel -> Users (under my son’s account), my user account is not listed. Any ideas how I can resolve this? “

Depending on the access level applied to your son’s account, he may / may not be able to see any other accounts listed on the system. In his case, the access level is low enough that Windows 7 will not display any other user accounts.

The best option here is to reset your account password. You can do this using Password Recovery Bundle. To reset Windows administrator password, first you need to download Password Recovery Bundle onto any other accessible computer (not your locked PC), then follow the steps below:

Part 1: Create a Windows Password Reset Disk

before the work, prepare a blank CD/DVD or a USB drive. Then install and run Password Recovery Bundle on your computer, and you’ll get the interface as follow.

Insert a blank CD, DVD or USB drive into the computer, and click on the Windows Password button. It will prompt a ISO Burning dialog. Choose your prepared disc and click Start Burn button, you’ll get a bootable Windows Password Reset Disk.

Part 2:  Set Your Locked PC to Boot from Windows Password Reset Disk

Boot your locked computer. When it is powered on, check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab, then change the Boot Device Priority:  Set 1st Boot Device to CDROM or Removable Device. Press F10 to save your changes.

Part 3: Reset Windows Administrator Password

Insert the Windows password reset disk you’ve created into the locked computer. Restart the computer. The computer will load the Windows password reset disk. Once it launches the Reset Windows Password program,  you can see Windows SAM registry hive and all user accounts available on your computer.

Choose the administrator account and click Reset Password button. The program will reset your forgotten administrator password immediately. The last step is to take out of the Windows password reset disk and restart your computer. You’ll find that the computer doesn’t ask you for any password, and you can log on to Windows successfully. To set a new password, make sure that it’s a safe password and you’ll never forget it anymore.