I just came back from vacation and I totally forgot the administrator password to log into Windows 7 on my new laptop. I am the only account set up and cannot remember the login. Is there any way to unlock my computer by recovering or resetting the Windows login password?

Forgot your Windows administrator password and can’t bypass the logon screen? Have you tried all possible passwords but the login dialog keeps saying that you’ve entered a wrong password? It is really frustrated if you’ve lost your Windows password. Some users have gone as far as reformatting their hard drives and reinstalling the operating system, simply because of a forgotten password. In most cases, it’s not necessary to go to such extremes. You can regain access to your computer in a number of ways. In this tutorial we’ll show you several well-known methods which you can use to reset lost administrator password from Windows login screeen.

Method 1: Reset Lost Admin Password with the Hidden Administrator Account

This method includes the first thing which should do whenever you forget your Windows login password. When we install Windows, it automatically creates an account “Administrator” and sets its password to blank. So if you forget your user account password then try this:

1. Start your computer and when you see Windows Welcome screen / login screen, press ctrl + alt + del key combination twice and it’ll show you the Classic Login box.
2. Type Administrator in Username and leave Password field blank. Press Enter and you should be able to log in to Windows.
3. Now you can reset your account password by accessing the Control Panel -> User Accounts.

You can also log in to the hidden administrator account from Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this hidden Administrator account on the login screen.

Method 2: Reset Lost Admin Password with Password Reset Disk

The easiest way to reset a forgotten Windows password is to use a previously created password-reset disk. You can create such a disk on USB removable media within the Windows User Accounts menu by opening the Windows Control Panel, selecting User Accounts, and clicking “Create a password reset disk” in the left pane. But you will have the foresight to create a password reset disk before you forget password. Once you have the disk, you can reset lost admin password easily by following the steps below:

1. Once you’ve typed the wrong password in the login screen, Windows will show a “Reset password” link below the login box.
2. Make sure you already have the password reset disk inserted at this point, then click on the “Reset password” link.
3. Follow the instructions in the Password Reset wizard. This will allow you to create a new password.

After that you should be able to log in to Windows with the new password. You can use the same password reset disk any time you need to reset your lost admin password.

Method 3: Reset Lost Admin Password with A Boot CD

If the methods above can’t help you out, the last resort is to use a bootable password cracking CD to reset your lost Windows user password. Reset Windows Password is a recovery utility which runs from a bootable CD/USB drive and enables you to reset forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP admin password easily. Here we’ll explain how to create a bootable CD and then use it to reset your password.

1. Download the Reset Windows Password utility on an alternate PC. Unzip the download file which contains a bootable ISO image.
2. Burn the ISO image to an empty CD using ISO2Disc, BurnCDCC or ImgBurn software.
3. Boot your locked computer from the boot CD, then wait for the OS inside the CD to load.
4. After the Reset Windows Password program opens up, choose your administrator account and then click on “Reset Password” button.
5. It will remove your lost admin password in no time.

Remove the boot CD and restart your computer. When you reach the Windows login screen, left the password blank and you can then log in to your administrator account successfully.

Ophcrack is a Linux Live CD using which you can boot your computer and it will automatically crack Windows login passwords for all your user accounts. Here is how you can recover Windows administrator password you have forgotten using the Ophcrack live CD.

How to Recover Lost Administrator Password with Windows Password Recovery Freeware?

Step #1: First of all you’ll have to download Ophcrack. Once the Live CD ISO is downloaded, you’ll need to burn it on a blank CD using a software like ISO2Disc or ImgBurn.

Step #2: Now when ever you forget or lose your Administrator Password. On system restart, insert the burned disc into your CD/DVD-ROM. Make sure you have set the boot sequence to CD-ROM first. If not go to BIOS and set the boot sequence accordingly.If every thing works, you should see a loading screen immediately.

Step #3: Once the Live CD loads it will automatically start working on the passwords, using rainbow tables and some pre-calculated data stored in memory, it will crack the password depending upon the length and complexity. For average passwords of length 6-10 letters it can take up to 3-7 minutes. In case you have more than one account, you will have to choose from a list of accounts.

Step #4: Note down the cracked password once its displayed. After recovering your lost administrator password, you can take the Ophcrack CD out from the CD/DVD drive and start booting into Windows. Type in the recovered password at the Windows logon screen, you can then successfully logged back into Windows.

Ophcrack Live CD can really help those who forgot Windows administrator password on regular basis. However, it does not crack strong passwords. If your password uses only numbers and letters (both lowercase and uppercase letters), then you have a better chance of the password recovery.

Thankfully, you can easily fix a lost administrator password using Windows 7 or Vista system restore. Just restore Windows to a point that includes an old password you can remember. This will definitely save you a lot of trouble and may also save your data and user settings. For this to work, you only need a System Repair Disc or the original Windows installation DVD. If you don’t have a System Repair Disc, you can create one easily by following this guide: Create a Windows System Repair Disc for Emergency Use.

How to Fix a Lost Administrator Password Using Windows 7 or Vista System Restore?

Insert your Windows Installation DVD or System Repair Disc into your drive, turn on the computer, and wait until you see the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD”. Press any key to continue. (Note: If you don’t see this message, you probably have to change the boot order in the BIOS and/or disable Secure Boot.)

When the system boots from the DVD, follow along with the prompts as you normally would. When you get to the Install Windows screen, click the Repair Your Computer link.

After searching the Windows installations on your hard drive, you’ll then be prompted to select the operating system to repair. Just select your desired operating system and click Next.

The System Recovery Options dialog box will open up and offer different recovery options to help you troubleshoot computer problems. Here we need to click System Restore to load the System Restore wizard.

When you see the first window of the System Restore wizard, click Next.

At this screen you’ll be prompted to select the restore point that you want to use. Click Next.

Finally, you’ll be prompted to confirm your restore point and if everything looks right, click Finish.

Click Yes to the warning message that comes up making sure you want to restore the computer to the selected restore point. The restore process will begin. It may take a while to complete, so sit back and be patient.

Once the restore operation is complete, you’ll be prompted to restart your system.

Remove the DVD and restart the computer. You can then log in to your machine with an old password which you used before. Done!

Conclusion

Windows 7 or Vista system restore will make sure that you don’t lose any documents or files. However, any programs or updates that have been installed since the corresponding restore point have to be installed again. This approach works perfectly with Windows 8, 7 and Vista. But it doesn’t work with Windows XP.

If you can’t even do a system restore or can’t afford to lose any software recently installed on your computer, I would highly recommend you using some commercial software to unlock your forgotten password, such as Reset Windows Password utility.