How To Reset, Change or Recover Windows 7 Administrator Password

Have you ever in a situation where you can’t log into your Windows PC because you lost its password? I know some people will revert to have the most extreme which is re-formatting the PC and some will send their PC to some shops who sometimes charges you a ridiculous price.

So, let me show you the guide on how to reset, change or recover Windows 7 Administrator password safely in the video below.

Overview:

• This is a utility to reset the password of any user that has a valid local account on your Windows system.
• Supports all Windows from NT3.5 to Win7, also 64 bit and also the Server versions (like 2003 and 2008)
• You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
• It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a CD or USB disk to do the password reset.
• Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
• There is also a registry editor and other registry utilities that works under linux/unix, and can be used for other things than password editing.

Step by step guide after the jump.

Steps :

1. Create a bootable CD from http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/ (Offline NT Password & Registry Editor)
2. Boot from the Bootable CD
3. First we select the disk where the windows system partition resides. In the case of this demo it is the number 2 disk, you can see the disks listed in the output. Choose disk 2 and hit Enter
4. The next choice is to select the PATH to the windows system directory and registry. The program should automatically find and select the correct path for you by default but unless the path shown isn’t correct just hit Enter to accept the found path.
5. Next you will choose what part of the registry you want to work with, in this case we are going to go with “Password Reset” which is the SAM. For this we select 1 and hit Enter
6. Now you will select “Edit User Data and Passwords” by typing 1 and Enter
7. By now you should see a list of the users on this machine and whether they are an ADMIN or not. Type in the user name you want to reset and hit Enter
8. You will now see all the information about this account that is in the SAM. You have a few options here like including:
   • Clear User Password
   • Edit User Password
   • Promote User
   • Unlock & Enable User Account

   I would recommend option “Clear User Password” as it always works. “Editing User Password” doesn’t always work most of the time. “Promote User” is when you want to make another user as an Administrator instead and “Unlock & Enable User Account” is when in case you have locked out or disabled the account.

9. You should see the message Password Cleared! and then it will ask if there is another user to reset. If your done with recovery at this point then enter ! and hit Enter to quit.
10. Now you have to work your way out of the program just the way you came in. Hit q to quit out and hit Enter
11. The program now lists the files that have changed and if it should make the changes permanent. It is important to note that at this point you have been working with a copy of the account data and once you complete this step it will be saved to disk permanently. Click Y and Enter
12. You should see a ***Edit Complete*** message to show that the password reset has been saved and then you can choose to run the program again or exit by hitting Enter.
13. Now you can restart your machine and let it boot into the OS. You should be able to go straight to your desktop for the user that you removed the security for! i.e. Administrator.

Congratulations on recovering your Windows 7 password and not having to reinstall your OS and lose your data. You can now set your password again by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and choosing Change Password. In your old password just leave it blank, and fill in your new password in the two text spots, then click OK.

Need to change Domain Admin password?

Okay, some of you naughty geek might think of using this method to reset your Domain Administrator password just so you can have full access on the PC and remove the limitation set by your employer. This tool, however useful, will only reset the local administrator’s password (e.g. the one found in the local computer’s SAM).

To reset a password of a domain administrator (or any other user for that matter) you must perform the routine that is described in the following page: Forgot the Administrator’s Password? – Reset Domain Admin Password.

Is there any alternative method to recover administrator password?

Sure, just have a read on 7 Free Windows Password Recovery Tools by Tim Fisher.