In this tutorial we’ll walk you through how to enable SysKey in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP, and use a USB drive as a key to lock & unlock your computer.

How to Lock & Unlock Windows PC Using SysKey?

Syskey (also known as SAM Lock Tool) was introduced since Windows NT. It’s so old that it only stores the Startup Key on the A: drive. So you need to assign the drive letter A: to your USB flash drive before following the steps below.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type syskey and press Enter.

   

2. Click the Update button.

   

3. Choose the System Generated Password option, and then select Store Startup Key on Floppy Disk and click OK.

   

4. You will be asked to insert a disk into drive A: to save the Startup Key. Make sure you change the drive letter of your USB drive to A: and click OK.

   

5. After Windows writes the Startup Key into your USB drive, you’ll receive the message that the disk is now required to start up the system. Open your USB drive and you can see a single file named StartKey.Key, which is 16 bytes big.

   

6. Every time you computer boots up, you’ll be presented with the Startup Key Disk dialog which requires you to insert your USB drive. Without the USB drive, you’re unable to get past to access Windows login screen.

   

Tired of entering the startup password every time you boot your PC? Or simple forgot your startup password? This article will introduce you to all common options of removing startup password in Windows.

BIOS Password

BIOS is the first program that runs when your computer starts. You can tell the BIOS to ask for a password when it starts, thus restricting access to your computer. BIOS passwords can be added extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers, and are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password.

Forgetting your BIOS password can lock up the hardware and make the computer completely unusable. Fortunately there are a few known backdoors and software that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password on most systems. The BIOS password on desktop computer can be reset by removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes. However, laptop BIOS passwords are stored in a special chip on the motherboard and the only way to recover this password is to using BIOS password cracking utility. Have a look at this article:Recover BIOS/CMOS Password Using Free CMOSPwd Utility.

Syskey Password

As we all know, the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database has been used by Windows to store password hashes for local user accounts. To make the hashes harder to decrypt, Microsoft introduced SysKey password, an additional layer of obfuscation SysKey which can be enabled in Windows using the SysKey utility. To learn how to enable Syskey, please refer to this article: How to Lock Your Computer with Syskey.

Syskey password can be helpful to prevent hackers from cracking Windows user password. There are no reliable tools that will help brute forcing Syskey password. The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor claims that it can help you disable Syskey startup password but I’ve tried it with no luck. After forgetting your Syskey password, the only feasible option is to do a system restore using a restore point dated before SysKey password was set, or reinstall the operating system.

Windows User Password

Have you ever been locked out of your computer by a forgotten Windows user password? There’s no need to get frustrated. It is relatively easy to bypass this safeguard. Reset Windows Password utility is the well-known software which enables you to remove Windows admin/user password easily by creating a password removal Live CD/USB. It works with almost all versions of Windows, including the latest Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

• If you forgot the password the only way to reset is formatting the Windows.
• You need to enter the syskey before log into user accounts. If your PC is used by multiple users, everyone should know the password.

Syskey is also known as Startup Key. You can store the syskey in Windows locally or on a USB flash drive. If you set syskey to be stored locally, you will have to enter the syskey whenever you boot up the computer. This tutorial will show you how to lock your Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP computer with syskey.

How to Lock Your Computer with Syskey?

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box, type syskey and press Enter.
2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Continue.

3. Click on Update.

   

4. Click on Password Startup, then enter your password for syskey.

   

5. Click OK. Now it’s done.

6. Next time, you would need to enter syskey to login to your computer.

   

Windows will now require you to enter syskey at startup when you boot your computer.  If your Windows account is password protected, then you are still required to enter your Windows account password in order to get into Windows.