In this topic I will tell you guyz how to reset Windows administrator password (for Win 2000, XP, Vista and Win 7) at times when you forget it or when you want to gain access to a computer for which you do not know the password.
All of us have experienced a situation where in 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 hack using which you can reset the password or make the password empty (remove the password) so that you can gain administrator access to the computer.
- The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor password cracker is one of the fastest free Windows password recovery tools I've used. I even prefer this tool over many premium password recovery programs.Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is a program that deletes passwords so the first thing you'll need to do is visit the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor website.
When the website loads as shown above, scroll down to the Download section and click the link next to Bootable CD image - in the example above, that would be the cd110511.zip file.
Note: Since you obviously can't access your computer right now because you don't know the password, these first three steps will need to be completed on another computer that you have access to. This "other" computer will need to have access to the Internet and the ability to burn a disc.
Another Note: This is a complete tutorial on using Offline NT Password & Registry Editor to remove your Windows password but I'd highly recommend that, before you even get started, you walk through the whole process once just to see how it'll work.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is completely text based which can be a little intimidating. However, anyone should be able to complete the password reset process using this tool as long as you can follow along with these instructions.
Note: A program called PC Login Now works in a very similar way to Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and is much easier to use. However, it causes Windows to detect a hard drive problem which doesn't seem to actually exist but is a little concerning nonetheless. I highly recommend that you try Offline NT Password & Registry Editor first even though it is a bit harder to use.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor should begin downloading automatically. The download is in the form of a single ISO file contained in a single ZIP file.
Important: There are not separate versions of Offline NT Password & Registry Editor for different Windows operating systems. This single program is capable of removing the password from any user account in Windows 2000 or newer Microsoft operating systems. This includes Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
If prompted, choose to Download or Save the file - browsers often phrase this differently. Save the file to your Desktop or another place you can get to easily. Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is a small download so it won't take long.
Note: The screenshot above shows the completed download process for the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor ZIP file when downloading using Internet Explorer in Windows 7. If you're downloading with a different browser or on a different operating system, this will likely look a little different for you.
- Once downloaded, extract the ISO file from the ZIP file. Feel free to do this using the integrated tool in Windows or a dedicated program like WinZip.
After extracting the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor software ISO file (cd110511.iso) from the downloaded ZIP file, you'll need to burn the ISO file to a disc.
Tip: Considering the size of the ISO file (under 5 MB), a CD is the most economical disc choice, though a DVD or BD will work just as well if that's all you have.
Burning an ISO file to a disc is a little different than burning ordinary files or music. If you've never burned an ISO file to a disc before, I recommend following the instructions I linked to at the end of the first paragraph above. It's not a difficult process but there are very important things that you need to be aware of.
Important: If the ISO file is not burned properly, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor may not work at all.
After burning the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor ISO image to disc, go to the computer that you're trying to gain access to and continue to the next step.
- The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc you just burned is "bootable" meaning it contains a small operating system and software and can be ran independent of the operating system on your hard drive. This is exactly what we need in this situation because you can't access the operating system on your hard drive right now because you don't know the password.Insert the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc into your CD/DVD/BD drive and then restart your computer.
The initial screen you see after restarting should be the same one you always see immediately after starting your computer. There may be computer information as pictured above or there may be a computer manufacturer logo.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor begins to load after this point in the boot process, as shown in the next step.
If Windows started, you see an error message, or you see a blank screen for longer than a few minutes, then something went wrong. If you see anything other than the message shown above then Offline NT Password & Registry Editor did not start correctly and will not remove/reset your password.
The next thing you'll see is several lines of text that quickly run down the screen. You don't need to do anything here. Just wait for the process to end up.
- The next step in the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor process is to select the partition that contains the Windows installation that you want to delete a password from.Some computers, especially those with Windows XP or earlier, have a single operating system installed on a single partition on a single hard drive, making this a very easy choice.
If that's the case for you, just press ENTER to accept the default partition. Otherwise, type the number corresponding to the correct partition from the Candidate Windows partitions found list and then press ENTER.
Tip: If more than one partition is listed and you're not sure which one to pick, chances are the larger partition is the one with Windows installed.
Windows 7 Note: Every Windows 7 PC will have more than one partition listed. In many cases, the right partition to choose will be number 2. The 100 MB partition labeled BOOT is never the right choice.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know the exact location of the Windows Registry. Except in the rarest of occasions, the default location will be the correct one.
Press ENTER to accept the default Windows Registry path of Windows/System32/config.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is now asking which part of the registry it should load. We're interested in resetting the Windows password so we'll do that.
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of 1, which is Password reset [sam system security].
Note: The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor tool can perform various functions aside from resetting Windows passwords but since that's the focus of this particular tutorial, that's all we'll discuss.
Tip: Are you seeing lines of computer code with a --More-- at the bottom of the screen? Some of you will and that's okay, just hit any key and the program will continue on.
Now that the registry is loaded and available to the program, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor needs to know exactly what you want to do.
- Press ENTER to accept the default choice of Edit user data and passwords.This will load the necessary options for the actual password reset.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know which Windows user's password you'd like to delete (erase, clear, blank, remove, call it what you like).
A default user is listed between the brackets at the prompt. In the above example, you can see that it's the Administrator user.
If the default user is the user you'd like to remove the password from, simply press ENTER. Otherwise, enter the username (I entered Tim) and then press ENTER.
At the bottom of the screen you'll see the User Edit Menu with several options to choose from.
Type 1 for Clear (blank) user password and then press ENTER.
Note: Offline NT Password & Registry Editor shows some interesting information about the username you entered in the last step - the full name, what groups the user belongs to, how many failed login attempts have taken place, how many total logins have been completed, and more.
Important: If you see a check in the Passwd not req. box, this means that a password is not a requirement for this particular user. It does not mean that a password is not required to access the account in Windows. In other words, it's saying that it is possible to erase this user's password.
Assuming there weren't any problems, you should see a Password cleared! message after entering 1 in the previous step.
- Type ! to quit editing user and then press ENTER.
Important: You must confirm these changes in a later step before they are actually complete. If you quit Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now then the password reset will not take place!
- Enter q and then press ENTER to quit the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor registry editing tool
At the Step FOUR: Writing back changes menu, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor asks if you want to write file(s) back.
- Type y and then press ENTER.
You should see an EDIT COMPLETE message appear on screen. If you do, it means that Offline NT Password & Registry Editor has written the password changes to your computer!
Press ENTER to confirm the default option of not rerunning the password reset
That's it... you've just completed the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor password removal process.
In the next step, you'll finally get to logon to Windows without entering a password!
Note: If you receive a "job control turned off" or a "can't access tty" error, don't worry. As long as the EDIT COMPLETE confirmation message was posted to the screen after you confirmed the password reset changes then your Windows password was successfully reset. You should still be able to see the confirmation on the screen at this point.
Remove the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc from your optical drive and then manually restart your computer.
Here is another simple way through which you can reset the password of any non-administrator accounts. The only requirement for this is that you need to have administrator privileges. Here is a step-by-step instruction to accomplish this task.
1. Open the command prompt (Start->Run->type cmd->Enter)
[ In window7 click on start button then type Run in search window then press enter]
2. Now type net user and hit Enter
3. Now the system will show you a list of user accounts on the computer. Say for example you need to reset the password of the account by name bayo, then do as follows
4. Type net user bayo * and hit Enter. Now the system will ask you to enter the new password for the account. That?s it. Now you?ve successfully reset the password for John without knowing his old password.
