What to do if you forgot the administrator password in Windows Server 2016? As a IT administrator, you should have ever experienced trouble logging into a server with unknown password, so in this post we’ll show two simple ways to reset forgotten Windows Server 2016 administrator password. These methods work on other Windows versions as well.

Method 1: Reset Windows Server 2016 Password with Installation Disk

If you have the original Windows installation disk, you can reset forgotten Windows Server 2016 password by following these steps:

1. Boot the server from the Windows Server 2016 Installation DVD. When the Setup screen appears, press SHIFT + F10 keys to open Command Prompt.
2. At the Command Prompt, run the following commands:
   d:
cd Windows\System32
ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.original
copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe
shutdown -r -t 0

   

3. The server should now reboot and present the logon screen. Press Windows Key + U or click the Ease of Access button, Command Prompt will pop up and type:
   net user Administrator P@ssword123

   This will set the password for the Administrator to be P@ssword123 (case sensitive).

4. Close the Command Prompt and you should now be able to log back onto Windows Server 2016 using the password you have provided in the previous step. After logging in, browse to the directory C:\Windows\System32, delete Utilman.exe and rename Utilman.exe.original back to Utilman.exe.

Method 2: Reset Windows Server 2016 Password with PCUnlocker

PCUnlocker is easy to use bootable utility that can help you reset domain & local administrator password in Windows Server 2016. Here’s how:

1. Boot your server from PCUnlocker Live CD (or USB drive). If you don’t have one, you need to create it from another working PC. Download the PCUnlocker ISO file and burn it to CD (or USB drive) using the ISO2Disc software.

   

2. When booting to the PCUnlocker program, you’ll see two options: Reset Local Admin/User Password, Reset Active Directory Password. The latter option is for domain controller only.

   

3. Select the Administrator account and click the Reset Password button. Depend on your account type (local account or domain account), the program will set the password to be empty or Password123.

   

4. After resetting the password, reboot the server and take out CD. You can then log into Windows Server 2016 administrator account successfully.