What is Microsoft account password reset. I forgot my Microsoft account password: what should I do? Several simple solutions. Reset and recovery methods

We all sometimes face the inability to log in to any service, because the password was forgotten. A Microsoft account is a universal way to log into many services: mail, cloud storage, Windows 8 and newer, Xbox, etc. How do I recover my Microsoft account? You can find the answer here.

If you forgot your password, then this is not a reason to register a new Microsoft account, because the system provides a login recovery function, but for this you need to convince the system that you are the rightful owner of your account.

To do this, go to the Microsoft account sign-in troubleshooting page, check the box "I forgot my password" and select the button "Further" .


In the next window in the graph "Email or Phone" from your Microsoft account, and below in a separate field, enter the characters shown in the picture.


You must verify your identity by entering a security code to the system. When registering for an account, you were required to provide an alternate email address and mobile phone. Choose the most suitable source for obtaining the code and move on.

If neither the first nor the second method of obtaining a confirmation code is suitable for you, check the box "I do not have this data" .


If you checked one of the first two items, then a security code will be sent to the indicated source, which must be entered in the indicated column. Next, the password will be reset, after which you.

If you selected the item "I do not have this data", then in the next window you need to specify an additional e-mail address, which will contact you from the Microsoft feedback service. You will be asked questions to help you ensure that you are the legitimate user of the restored account. If you pass the verification, the password will be reset.

Many users are faced with the fact that they forget the set authorization password for entering the Windows operating system. In some cases, the problem is compounded because the computer's BIOS may be password protected.

In this article, we will look at the right ways to solve these problems and tell you how to reset the BIOS and Windows password.

How to "crack" BIOS password?

Protecting your BIOS with a password is one of the most common and oldest ways to protect your computer from unauthorized use. But note that this method will be useful if outsiders do not have access to the computer's system unit. Otherwise, it is tantamount to the fact that the door of the house is locked with several locks, but the window is open wide open.

By default, manufacturers do not provide built-in passwords for motherboards. Therefore, in order to remove the password, it is enough to reset the configuration settings to the standard ones. This action will also destroy all settings that were set by the user.

There are two ways to perform a BIOS reset.

The first is the use of a special jumper, which is designed to clear CMOS memory. Most often, this button is located on the motherboard next to the battery. On some models of motherboards, instead of a jumper, 2 contacts are provided; to reset the BIOS settings, they need to be closed for a moment. In any case, in order to be sure of the correctness of your actions, it is best to first familiarize yourself with the instructions for the motherboard.

If there is a jumper on the motherboard, then to reset the password and BIOS settings, you need to turn off the computer, then close the jumper contacts and start the computer. The system will not start, but the BIOS settings will be reset.

After restarting the PC, the screen most likely prompts you to press the F1 key to make the necessary settings. After setting all the necessary parameters, click the "Save and exit" item.

If the jumper cannot be found, then you need to remove the CMOS power supply. Typically, this is a small coin cell battery located on the motherboard. First, disconnect power from the computer by unplugging the power plug. Then the battery is removed and after 5-10 minutes it returns to its original position. Next, the BIOS parameters are configured, as in the above paragraph. Such methods can be easily performed on a personal computer.

If you forget the BIOS password on a laptop, then, most likely, you will need the help of specialists, since it will not be easy to get to the battery or the jumper in it.

Now let's talk about resetting the password from the Windows account.

How to reset Windows password

There are several ways to solve this problem.

Reset password from administrator account in safe mode

The first most common way to reset a password in the Windows operating system is to log into an administrator account using Safe Mode.

When loading the operating system, you must press F8. In the menu, you need to select the "Safe Mode" item. Then, when loading, you need to select the "Administrator" account. It is usually not password protected.

After booting the system, in the appeared notification window that the PC is running in safe mode - click "YES".

Then go to Control Panel (Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts). Select the icon of the account for which you want to reset the password. In the menu that appears on the left, fill in the items - "Account_name" and password. If there is no need for a new password, then leave the field blank.

Press Change Password to confirm. After completing this procedure, reboot your PC.

Reset password using Net User

The second method that will allow you to start the computer if you cannot remember the Windows password is to change the password using the Net User command.

Press F8 while loading the operating system. In the menu that appears, select the "Safe Mode with Command Line Support" item. Select the Administrator account. In the Interpreter window, enter:

net user

user_name

new_password

Then enter the command exit and enter. The password has been successfully changed, you can restart your computer.

Changing the password using the Windows Command Interpreter

For this method, you need to enter Safe Mode under an administrator account by pressing the F8 button at boot time.

Then follow these steps:

Click Start, then click on "Run", in the window enter the command "cmd" and confirm by clicking "OK". In the window that appears with a dark background, type “control userpasswords and then enter.

A window will open with a list of all accounts installed on the system. After selecting the required entry, uncheck the box next to the item "Require the username and password", and below in the item "Password" - select "Change password". In the window that appears, enter a new password, if it is not necessary, then leave these fields blank. Confirm your actions by clicking the "OK" button. Changes saved - you can restart your computer.

Another common way to help if you forget your Windows password is to use the program prompt.

To do this, you need to start Safe Mode with Command Prompt. This is done by pressing F8 at boot. Next, you need to write the command CD WINDOWS and confirm it by pressing Enter. Then the command rename * .pwl * .abc or rename * .pwd * .abc is entered. We press the Enter key and restart the PC.

You can use software tools to remove a forgotten password from a Windows account.

Use the Windows Admin Password Hack program. It can be used to reset Windows 2000 / XP password. To do this, select the item in the BIOS settings - boot the PC from the CD. A disc with a program image is inserted into the drive. Next, a mini version of the Linux operating system is launched, with the help of which the necessary changes are made in the account settings.

An Apple ID account is an important component, without which the owner of an "apple" device will not be able to work with the existing functionality of his device. For example, App Store purchases will be closed. In addition, it will not be possible to activate the Find iPhone option, as well as use the iCloud cloud service. Therefore, for normal operation with iOS, you will have to start Apple ID. Unfortunately, registration data is forgotten over time. And in some cases, you have to think about how to reset your Apple ID account. Can this be done at all? Below you will find information about the mentioned "apple" account, as well as how to work with it. For example, how can you disable a profile or restore access to it. Such information will be useful to every owner of Apple products.

Profile description

What is Apple ID? This is the name of a certain "identity card" of a person in the iOS system. An account is a profile with which the user can use all the existing functions of Apple devices. If you need to back up your data or restore your iPhone, Apple ID can help. The main thing is to know how to work with this profile.

Managing your Apple ID account isn't as difficult as it sounds. First, you will have to register a new profile and come up with a password to log into the system. After that, it remains to go through authorization on the mobile device and explore the options offered by Apple.

Unfortunately, sometimes you need to know how to reset your Apple ID account. It is proposed to cope with this task in different ways. Usually the algorithm of actions is chosen taking into account the life situation. Below we will consider all possible circumstances and means of restoring / resetting Apple ID.

When is it required?

How do I delete my Apple ID account? The answer to this question directly depends on the situation. The fact is that sometimes it is not necessary to delete an account, but to reset it or restore a password.

The listed manipulations can be useful if:

  • the mobile device has been stolen or lost;
  • a person bought an "apple" device from his hands, and then found someone else's "Apple ID" on it;
  • forgotten password for entering the system;
  • the user has forgotten the password and answers to security questions;
  • I would like to log in to the Apple system under a different account.

In fact, everything is not so difficult. Even a child can manage an Apple ID account, and restore it or reset it too.

Login to the system

But first, a few words about how to properly manage your Apple account. Let's consider two main functions: logging in and logging out.

Let's start with the first operation. For her you need:

  1. Open the "Settings" of your "apple" smartphone or tablet.
  2. Go to Apple ID block.
  3. Tap on the appropriate label and indicate in the "Identifier" field the email address to which the account is linked.
  4. In the "Required" section, write the password to enter the system.
  5. Click on "Login" and wait.

In a few seconds, the data will be loaded from the Apple ID account. The user will be able to work with his account without much difficulty.

Sign out of your account

How do I sign out of my Apple ID? Such an operation can also be useful to modern owners of Apple devices. For example, if you need to reset your Apple account before selling.

  1. Visit the main menu of the mobile device.
  2. Go to the "Settings" block.
  3. Switch to the Apple ID section.
  4. Click on the username. Information about the owner of the profile will appear on the display of the device and a small functional menu will light up.
  5. Select the "Exit" option.
  6. Confirm the procedure.

In a couple of minutes, your Apple ID account will be reset. If at the same time the "Find" iPhone "function was active on the smartphone / tablet, you will have to confirm the performed manipulations by repeating the password from the account.

Reset and recovery methods

Apple ID account settings allow you to reset passwords and security questions, and rebind accounts to different email addresses. If necessary, you can permanently get rid of the profile or set up two-level verification in it. This helps protect your device from being tampered with.

When thinking about how to reset Apple ID, users often choose between the following methods:

  • work with smartphone settings (normal exit from the profile);
  • changing account settings (re-linking Apple ID);
  • contacting Apple technical support by e-mail;
  • a call to the Apple call center;
  • work with iCloud on a computer (using the Find iPhone option).

As already noted, sometimes you can simply reset the password and security questions from the "apple" account, then regain access to the profile and log out of the account "peacefully". As practice shows, it is not always possible to achieve the desired goals. This is especially true of attempts to reset the profile on someone else's Apple device.

Recovering your password: mail help

Before you reset your Apple ID profile using radical methods, you should think about how to restore access to the corresponding profile. In this case, it will be extremely easy to disable "accounting". So let's start by exploring ways to reset your password. This operation is also often referred to as resetting an Apple account.

The first way to recover your password: using e-mail from your account. To use this technique, the user needs to:

  1. Go to your Apple account page.
  2. Click on the "Forgot your password?" It is located under the authorization log in the system.
  3. Enter your Apple ID.
  4. Select the command you want to execute. In our case, this is "Reset Password".
  5. Decide on a way to restore access to your Apple account. For example, "By email".
  6. Wait for the e-mail to which the Apple ID profile is linked. The user needs to disclose the message from Apple tech support.
  7. Click the Reset Password hyperlink.
  8. Go to the tab with the password recovery form and specify the new authorization data (twice).
  9. Submit a request for processing.

Control questions

How do I reset my Apple ID? Some people prefer to restore access to their profile first. If resetting your password by e-mail is not suitable, you can use the security questions. To them, even when registering an "apple" account, each user gave answers.

To reset your Apple ID password, you need:

  1. Go to your Apple account page and enter your Apple ID.
  2. Click on "Forgot your Apple ID or password?"
  3. Check the box next to "Password reset".
  4. Mark the method of data recovery. This time you need to specify "Test questions".
  5. A log with questions will appear on the screen. All answers must be typed in the designated fields.
  6. Click "Continue".

If everything is done correctly, the Apple ID system will let the user into the password recovery form. It remains to come up with a new combination for authorization, repeat it and save.

Change mail

How do I delete my Apple ID account? Once access to it is restored, you can choose from several available and fairly quick solutions. The first is to manually log out of the system, it has already been described. The second trick is to work with the "apple" account settings. For example, you can rebind your Apple ID to a different email address.

What is needed for this? The owner of the "apple" device is recommended to act as follows:

  1. Open the Apple ID page.
  2. Log in to your profile using your username and password.
  3. Click on the "Manage ..." item.
  4. Scroll through the menu that appears. You need to stop near the e-mail section.
  5. Click the Edit hyperlink.
  6. Enter the address of the new mail to which you want to link your "apple" account.
  7. Save adjustments.

As a rule, the Apple ID will now be re-linked. The old email address is freed from the "apple" profile. Mail can be used to register a new Apple ID.

Important: in the same way, you can rebind Apple ID through iTunes.

Complete removal

We've figured out how to reset your Apple ID. The techniques described above are the simplest, but if necessary, you can completely delete the Apple ID profile. It is advisable to first get access to your profile, then there will be nothing embarrassing in this procedure.

How do I remove an Apple ID?

  1. Go to the official website.
  2. Log in to your account.
  3. Select the "Delete ..." option.
  4. Indicate the reason for getting rid of the profile.
  5. Collect data for feedback.
  6. Confirm that you deleted your Apple ID account.

Once the request goes through the processing stage, the person will only have to follow the link to delete the Apple profile.

Reset via tech support (mail)

You can also reset your Apple ID account through tech support. For example, by email or by calling the call center.

In the first case, it is necessary:

  1. Take a photo proving the fact of owning a specific device. The photographs must contain receipts, boxes of "apple" devices, as well as mobile phones / tablets themselves. It is advisable to fit all this into one photo.
  2. Generate a letter of inquiry for Apple technical support. It is recommended that you indicate the reason for the reset of your account.
  3. Download photos taken in advance as an application.
  4. Send the received letter to technical support.

If it can be proven that the claimant is indeed the owner of the Apple product, the account may be reset. The technical support staff will send a form for this to the specified mail.

Technical support and call center

Resetting your Apple ID is sometimes done over the phone. This is not the best solution, but it helps speed up the process of getting rid of the unnecessary profile.

To get rid of Apple ID you need:

  1. Call the hotline, which is listed on the official website.
  2. Wait for the operator's response.
  3. State your intentions to reset Apple ID or recover your password.
  4. Identify your identity and prove that the mobile device really belongs to the caller.
  5. Report on which contacts you can contact a citizen.
  6. Go to the form to reset or restore your account. It will be sent to the named contacts.

At this stage, decisive action ends. The Apple ID will either be reset or restored.

Find My iPhone option

The last scenario is to work with the "Find iPhone" option. If this feature is activated on your mobile device, you can use it to remotely reset your Apple account.

You need to act like this:

  1. Go to your Apple ID account page and sign in to your account.
  2. Go to iCloud.
  3. Click on the button labeled "Find iPhone".
  4. At the top of the window, select the device that you want to urgently disconnect from the profile.
  5. Select the "Erase" command.

All that remains is to confirm the operation. As soon as the user does this, the selected mobile device will be automatically signed out of the Apple ID.

The user sets a password on his computer to protect himself from third parties logging into his account. But, sometimes, irreparable happens - the password can be forgotten after a while, or when you change it to a new one, make a typo, and then you certainly won't be able to log into your Windows account. What to do in this situation? The first thing to try is to type the password by changing the keyboard layout from Russian to English and vice versa, turn on the Caps Lock key and try again. If you fail, then you need to move on to a more complex solution, and this instruction will help you figure it out. The methods described below are suitable for resetting Windows password for both Microsoft account and local Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 account:

Reset Microsoft account password online

If you have one of the latest versions of Windows installed on your PC, then most likely it uses a Microsoft account, which gives you much more options than a local one. To reset the password on such a computer, you need it to be connected to the Internet, and then use another computer, tablet, or even a smartphone to change the password.

Step 1 Open a browser on the other device and go to account.live.com/resetpassword.aspx

Step 2 Select "I forgot my password" and click Next

Step 3 After that, enter your email address and enter the verification characters. Click Next to continue

Step 4 When registering a Microsoft account, you must specify an additional mail or phone number, so at this stage you will need to specify this. Then check your phone or mail and enter the sent code to change the password

The last step you will need to enter a new password for the account on the locked computer.

Change user password using command line

To use this method, you will need to boot from a LiveCD, a system recovery disc or a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. We will give an example of how to do this from a bootable disc or USB flash drive.

If you decide to use the LiveCD, then you will need to open the disk on which Windows is installed and go to the Windows → System32 folder, find and rename the utilman.exe file to utilman2.exe there, and also make a copy (duplicate) of the cmd.exe file and rename it to utilman.exe. Next, restart your computer and proceed to Step 6 of this manual.

Step 1 Insert the Windows disk or USB flash drive into the computer and boot from it into the Windows installation environment

Step 2 After the screen with the choice of language, keyboard and regional settings appears, click Next and in the lower left corner of the window click on the link System Restore and select Troubleshooting (Diagnostics) → Extra options → Command line or press the keyboard shortcut Shift + F10

Step 3 Now you need to find out on which disk the system is installed. At the command prompt, enter the following commands:

After that, a list of computer disk partitions will be displayed on the screen, you will need to remember the letter of the partition with Windows installed (you can determine it by size), we will need it for further actions. Exit the Diskpart program with the command:


Step 4 Now that you know the letter of the partition with the installed OS, enter the following commands with your letter (in our case, this is C):

move c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman2.exe
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ cmd.exe c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe

Step 5 Restart your computer to normal mode. To do this, use the command:

Step 6 After loading the window with entering the password, in the lower right corner, click on the "Accessibility" icon. You should have a Windows command prompt

Step 7 At the command prompt, enter the following command:

net user username new password

If you do not remember the username, use the net users command to list all users on the system. Username consisting of two or more words must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Now you can easily log into your account with a new password.

Changing a user password using the built-in Administrator account

This method can only be used by owners of the operating system Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 Professional and Enterprise, and Windows 7 is also Ultimate. Also, one of the conditions for opening an Administrator account is an activated Command Line, as we described above.

Step 1 Call the program Command line on the screen, for this in the lower right corner, click on the "Accessibility" icon

Step 2 Activate the Administrator account using the command:

net user Administrator / active: yes (for users using the Russian version of Windows)
net user Administrator / active: yes (for users using the English version of Windows)

After restarting your computer, you should have another account: Administrator

Step 3 Select an Administrator account and log in


Step 4 Open the program Computer management, press the keyboard shortcut Win + R and type: compmgmt.msc


Step 5 In the left pane, go to Local users→ I used it. In the right pane, you will see a list of computer users. We would like to warn you that this method only works for local Windows accounts. If you have a Microsoft account, then you need to use the very first method.

net user Administrator / active: no or net user Administrator / active: no
and return the files to their places so that the "Accessibility" icon displays them, and not the Command line. To do this, boot again from a bootable flash drive or disk and call the Command Prompt, then enter the following commands:
del c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe
move c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman2.exe c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe

You can also boot from any LiveCD and delete the utilman.exe file, and rename utilman2.exe back to utilman.exe. These files are located in the Windows → System32 folder.

We hope the article was useful for you, and now, when you forget your password, you can easily reset it.

You can find many other useful tips on our pages on social networks.

But then a misfortune happened - the owner forgot the administrator access code and when trying to log in, he sees a message about an incorrectly entered password and the impossibility of logging in. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Windows stores all passwords in a securely protected partition on the hard disk using the SAM system. For security reasons, accessing it and finding out the password is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. On the one hand, this will protect you from outside interference, but, on the other hand, it spoils life a lot if you forget the access combination. Users of Windows 7 suffer the most, since this version of the OS offers only work with a local account, unlike the newer Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Here the user can attach a Microsoft account to the computer and in case of a forgotten password he can reset it through site from any device. PC owners on the 7 can only remove the administrator password.

Fortunately, everything is not as scary as it might seem at first glance. If you follow our detailed instructions on how to reset the Windows 7 administrator password when using a local account, as well as how to find out the password, you can easily solve your problem in a short time without outside help. So let's get started.

Method 1.Using an installation disc or a recovery image

To do this, you will need a bootable disk or USB flash drive with Windows, or a previously created recovery disk (it can also be a USB flash drive). If you may not be able to work with the second, since you are unlikely to constantly create fresh recovery discs, then the installation image can be downloaded from a large number of sites.

  1. Insert the disk or USB flash drive into the PC, in the BIOS mark the media as a priority at boot. This is necessary in order to boot from external media, and not from the built-in hard drive.
  2. Depending on the version of Windows, click Diagnostics - Advanced Options - Command Prompt or System Restore - Next - Command Prompt.
  3. When Command Prompt opens, add regedit and hit Enter.
  4. Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section to select it, then click File - Load Hive.
  5. In the window that opens, go to C: \ Windows \ System32 \ config (if the system is installed in a different section, the address will be slightly different) and open the file System.
  6. Give the bootable partition any name, for example 555.
  7. In the registry editor, find the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ 555 \ Setup section, find the CmdLine and SetupType parameters there. Double click on each of them and change the indicators to the following:
    • CmdLine - cmd.exe.
    • SetupType - change 0 to 2.
  8. Check the 555 section you created, then click File - Unload Hive.
  9. Remove the USB flash drive or disk, close all active utilities, select "Restart" in the main window of the recovery wizard.

After restarting, the command prompt will be expanded upon login. With its help, we will perform further operations.

Password reset

To reset your password, use the following command:

net user login password

This command is useful if you remember exactly the spelling of the username. If you forgot, then type the command net user, after which all the accounts saved on the PC will be displayed.

Create a new account

If you do not have a single administrator account installed, you need to create one by entering a few commands. To do this, enter them one by one at the command line:

net user login password / add

net localgroup Administrators login / add

net localgroup Users login / delete

The first command first creates a new account, then assigns it to the administrator group, and then removes it from the user group. After applying all the commands, close the command prompt.

By creating a new account with a new password, you should be able to log into Windows without any problems.

Note! You will not be able to find out the password in this way, just reset it!

Method 2. Using third-party utilities

Offline NT Password Editor

If the first method implied using standard Windows features, the second suggests using third-party utilities that allow you to reset the Windows 7 administrator password. One of the most acceptable is the Offline NT Password Editor, which allows you to get full access to the OS system partition. You can either remove or change the password, or activate the administrator account. The utility does not provide a graphical interface, but nevertheless it is not at all difficult to deal with it. Each step is numbered and indicated what you need to do. So what steps do you need to follow to reset your password using this utility?

  1. On another computer or laptop, go to the developer's website, in the Bootdisk section, scroll down to the Download inscription and download the version you need. The file name consists of numbers and letters. If you want to create a bootable disk, download the file with cd in the name, but if you use a flash drive, then usb.
  2. If you use a disk, write down the downloaded image through the recording program, and if you use a USB flash drive, then perform the following manipulations:
    • Copy the contents of the archive to a USB flash drive without creating any additional files.
    • Expand Command Prompt as Administrator.
    • Use the command f: \ syslinux.exe -ma f:, where instead of f write the letter under which the flash drive is defined in Windows Explorer. If it does not give any error, then everything has been recorded as expected.
    • Insert your external media into the computer, set it as the first one in the BIOS at boot, turn on the computer. Instead of the Windows Welcome window, the utility interface should start.

Step 1

The first step is to select the hard disk partition on which Windows is installed. The program provides a list of disk partitions with an indication of their size, which you should be guided by. If you remember that usually the system is installed on the C drive, which is several times smaller than the D drive, it will be quite difficult to make a mistake. Enter the numbers with the section number and press the Enter button.

Step 2

After that, the utility asks which part of the registry to load. Select 1 - Password reset, press the corresponding number and confirm with the Enter key.

Step 3

Change or reset password by editing user data in the registry. The utility will launch chntpw Main Interactive Menu, in which item 1 - Edit user data and passwords is immediately selected. Confirm your selection by pressing the Enter button. If you need to change the password, select 2 - Edit (set new) user password.

In the chntpw Edit User Info & Passwords menu that opens, all computer accounts are displayed, with their code designation in hexadecimal notation (RID column). We are interested in the administrator account, most often it is displayed first in the list and is selected by default. If the account name is displayed in English letters, type it in the input field below the table, if in Russian, then use the information from the RID column. The entry in the input field will be in the 0xABCD format, where instead of ABCD you need to put the value from the table. The selection is confirmed with the Enter key.

Next, the User Edit Menu is displayed with a list of actions that can be performed with the administrator account. Select 1 - Clear (blank) user password and confirm with Enter. The program should report a successful password reset.

Step 4

Saving the changes made (Step Four: Writing back changes). Press consecutively! and q to exit the previous menus, after which the utility will offer to save the changes by prompting “About to write file (s) back! Do it? " Enter y, and at the next prompt, type n.

To reboot, enter the command reboot or click on the small button on the computer system unit. The system will launch you without asking for a password. You can install it yourself in the account management menu.

ERD Commander

Another fairly advanced utility for resetting Windows administrator password. First, you need to create a bootable USB flash drive with the utility on your working computer. For this:

  1. Prepare a USB flash drive of at least 1 GB and download the following four files: HPUSBDISK.zip, Ghost32.exe, Grub4dos.zip, ERD Commander image file in gho format.
  2. Insert the USB flash drive into your computer, then run HPUSBdisk.exe, select your drive in the Device window, mark File system as FAT32, and then click the Start button. The flash drive will be formatted, so take care to save important information stored on it somewhere.
  3. Unpack the Grub4dos.zip archive and run grubinst_gui.exe, then select the USB flash drive in the Disk field and click the Install button at the very bottom. In case of successful completion of the procedure, you should see a message with the following content: “The Mbr / bs has been successfully installed. Press to continue… ". Now you can safely proceed to the next stage.
  4. Run Ghost32.exe - click Ok - Local - Disk - From Image, then specify the ERD.gho file and click on it with the mouse.
  5. In the window that opens, select the USB flash drive, click Ok - Ok - Yes and wait until the bootable USB flash drive is completely created. This usually takes 10-15 minutes.

Now you have to work with the ERD Commander bootable USB flash drive. Here's what to do:

  1. Having connected the USB flash drive to the computer, through the BIOS, set the boot priority so that the flash drive is the first, and turn on the PC.
  2. Select your Windows version. If you confuse the system's capacity, then it's okay, just at the next stage the utility will generate an error and you can repeat the procedure from the beginning.
  3. After waiting for the download, select the installed operating system, click Next - Microsoft Diagnostics - Change Password Wizard.
  4. You will see a window with a list of users and fields for entering a password. Select an administrator account, write down the new password and confirm it.
  5. Remove the USB flash drive from the USB port, boot in normal mode and use the new password.

Note! You will not be able to find out the password in this way, just delete or set a new one!

Method 3. Substitution of system files

You've probably heard of Sticky Keys. It is enough to quickly press the Shift button 5 times, and a window will appear with a request to activate the mode. The sethc.exe file located in the Windows system partition is responsible for it. Interestingly, you can activate it even in the password entry window when Windows starts. But since the situation is such that the user has forgotten it, we need to replace it with the cmd.exe file, which is responsible for opening the command line. How to do it?

  1. Boot from external Windows media, in the installation window, click System Restore - Command Prompt.
  2. Apply the following commands in sequence:
    • copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ sethc.exe c: \- to create a backup copy of the sethc.exe utility.
    • copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ cmd.exe c: \ windows \ system32 \ sethc.exe- to replace the sethc.exe file with cmd.exe.
  3. Restart your computer normally.
  4. When the password window appears, press the Shift key five times, which will open the command prompt.
  5. To change your password, type the command net user login password, then reboot again and now you can definitely get into the system.

Note! You cannot find out the password in this way, just delete it!

How to find out your account password

In this paragraph, we will get to know how to crack the administrator password or just find out it. Indeed, in many cases it is simply easier not to reset the password, but simply to count the forgotten one. To do this, we need the Ophcrack utility, which has the capabilities we need. It is capable of working in a graphical and textual interface and, according to the assurances of the creators, is able to find out almost any password stored on your system. How do I use it?

  1. Go to the official website and download the appropriate version: as an installation file of the program, if you can log in, or Live CD to create bootable media, if it does not start up in the system, because you forgot your password.
  2. Run the installation file or boot from a USB flash drive or disk and select the graphical or text interface of the utility.
  3. Wait until the utility reads and displays the system passwords. Depending on the power of the computer, this may take different times.

That's all. As you can see, there is nothing complicated and if your password is not too complicated, then the program will help you find it out. You will then be able to re-enter the system and enter your access code. Practice shows that if the password is very complex, consisting of a combination of upper and lower letters, as well as numbers, then the program may not cope.

Conclusion

We hope that our instructions helped you in a situation when you forgot your Windows account password. You now know how to reset it and install a new one. If you still have questions, ask them in the comments.