Many people will think of some tools such as Offline NT Password and Registry editor, Ophcrack, Hiren’s Boot CD or Ultimate Boot CD. These tools may be a good choice when you forgot Windows local admin/user password, but none of them support Active Directory user passwords. As it’s known to us, Microsoft keeps encrypted passwords of Windows local accounts in SAM database, while using much stronger algorithms to secure Active Directory passwords and saving them in NTDS database. Cracking a lost Windows password is quite difficult for us, not to mention  cracking Active Directory password. But it doesn’t mean we can’t get around the problem. We can still reset Active Directory password quickly and easily.

With Password Recovery Bundle we can reset lost Active Directory password on Windows Server 2008, 2003 and 2000. It works even if your Active Directory account is locked out or disabled. The password resetting procedure can be done in 2 steps:

Step 1: Create a Active Directory Password Reset Disk
First we need to find another accessible computer to download and install Password Recovery Bundle. Launch the program and click the Windows Password button, it allows you to create a password reset disk, which will be used to reset your lost Active Directory password.

Step 2:  Reset Active Directory Password
Insert the Active Directory password reset disk into your domain controller. Restart the computer and have it to boot from the password reset disk. When the loading procedure is complete, you’ll see the Reset Windows Password program. Choose  your Active Directory database (ntds.dit), the program will display a list of Active Directory user accounts. Select a user whose password you already forgot, then click Reset Password button. The program will immediately change the Active Directory password to a new one: Password123.

Restart your domain controller and remove the Active Directory password reset disk, you’ll be able to log in to your Active Directory user account using the new password. It’s that easy!

With all the important functions handled from the server, what will happen if you forget Active Directory password, or it happens that an ignorant system administrator leaves the job without telling the password to anyone else? Question arises, “How to reset Active Directory Password?” There are many manual methods and third party tools available to help you out from the critical situation.

Windows Server account can be categorized as local account and domain controller account. This means that you cannot use the Active Directory service when you login through local account. With Password Recovery Bundle we can easily reset local account password and change active directory password.  In this tutorial we’ll only show you how to change Active Directory password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000.

Step 1: Create a Active Directory Password Reset CD

1. First download and install Password Recovery Bundle on another computer you have access to.
2. Launch the program and click Windows Password button.
3. Insert a blank CD/DVD into the CD drive and then click Start Burn to create a Active Directory Password Reset CD.

Step 2: Change Active Directory Password

1. To have your domain controller to boot from the Active Directory Password Reset CD, you may need to change the BIOS settings to set CD/DVD as the 1t boot device.
2. Insert the Active Directory Password Reset CD  into the CD drive of your domain controller and start the computer.
3. Now that the computer is booting from the CD, an initial set up screen that says the computer is loading files will be displayed.
4. When the screen of Reset Windows Password appears,  select a Active Directory user and then click Reset Password button.
5. The program will change the Active Directory password to Password123 by default.

Reboot the domain controller and eject the Active Directory Password Reset CD, you’ll be able to log on the domain controller using your Active Directory user account.

I have install first time Active Directory on my server 2003 and set the password within installation. And after this I forget password. Now I cannot logon even server 2003. Is there any possibility to logon my server and Active Directory or I need format & do installation again.If there is any way to out over this problem, tell me how to do this?

Forgot Active Directory password? The network administrator left without leaving the server password?  The problem may become quite tricky if there are a lot of domain accounts in it. You may couldn’t simply choose to reinstall Active Directory as there are many factors you need to consider. Fortunately there is an easy-to-use Windows password recovery software that can give you a hand. With Reset Windows Password utility, you can easily and quickly reset forgotten Active Directory password in minutes.

Let’s see how can you reset Active Directory password you forgot:

Step 1: Burn a bootable CD/DVD or USB flash drive

1. Click here to download and save the Reset Windows Password self-extracting Zip file to a folder on your hard drive, then extract the ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso from it.
2. Insert a blank CD/DVD or USB flash drive on your computer.
3. Download and install the ISO2Disc utility, launch the program.
4. Click the Browse button to locate your ISO image file, then click the Start Burn button to burn the ISO image to your CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

   

Step 2: Change BIOS Settings

1. Boot your locked computer. When it is powered on, check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
2. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab, then change the Boot Device Priority: Set 1st Boot Device to CDROM if you just created a bootable CD or DVD, or set 1st Boot Device to Removable Device if a bootable USB flash drive was created.

   

3. Press F10 to save your changes. Now your computer is able to boot from CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

Step 3: Reset Windows Active Directory Password

1. Insert the newly burned CD/DVD or USB flash drive to your locked computer, then reboot your computer.
2. Then you will see Reset Windows Password is initializing.

   

3. Simply select the Active Directory database file (ntds.dit), the program will list all domain accounts for your domain controller. Select a user account and click the Reset button, the password will be changed to Password123.

   

4. Click the Restart button to reboot the computer, you are able to log in to Active Directory (AD) server using the new password: Password123.

In addition, Reset Windows Password also enables you to reset Windows local administrator and user password on Windows 8, 7, 2008, Vista, 2003, XP, 2000.