How to Recover or Reset Forgotten Windows Passwords | …
https://www.avast.com/c-recover-windows-password
Windows 7: Recover your password (the hard way) Windows 7: Recover your password (the hard way)
If you don’t have a disk or a Microsoft account to help you reset your password, you need to reset your password the hard way. Here’s how it works: Turn on your computer. Wait until you see the Windows logo, then unplug the power cord or hold down the power button to force the PC to turn off. When you turn it on again, you should be greeted by this screen:
Select Launch Startup Repair (recommended). Startup Repair now attempts to fix your problems. It won’t succeed, but it needs to try: After a few minutes, the Windows 7 repair process fails. Windows 7 asks you if you want to send information to Microsoft. Ignore that query. Instead, click on the Hide problem details button right below it. Scroll down to the very end of the text box. Click on the link X:\Windows\System32\en-US\erofflps.txt. You are now in Notepad, which gives you access to your hard disk. YES! This is how the magic works: By opening Notepad and following the subsequent steps, you can work within your computer’s file system. Next, click on File and then select Open. Now you need to access the C:\ drive, which probably is named Local Disk (C:\) or Windows 7 (C:\), for example. See the Files of type option at the bottom? Select All files here. Then navigate to Windows, System32, and scroll down the huge list of files until you find the sethc file. Right-click that file and select Rename. Rename the file to anything you want, such as sethcpassword. Next, look for a file called cmd. Scroll back up until you find it, still in System32 directory. Right-click on cmd and select Copy. Then, click in the empty space within the window and select paste, so you get a copy of that file. The result is that you end up with a file called cmd - copy. Now, here comes the hacky part: Rename that file to sethc — the exact same name of the file you renamed above! Close all windows. When you reach the following Windows 7 screen again, click on Finish. Restart your computer. This brings you back to the Windows 7 login screen. What you’ve done is replace the Sticky Keys accessibility option with the command line option. To access that, press the SHIFT key on your keyboard five times. You’ll hear a weird beeping noise and should see this: Type in the following command:Net user
Press Enter. This gives you a list of usernames that are available, including your own. Find the one you want to log into; in our case it’s called “IEuser.” Next, type in the following command:
Net user YOURNAME *
So for our example, we type in
Net user IEuser *
The system asks you to confirm a new password. Press ENTER key twice to use an empty password and confirm that:
Done! Close this window. Then log in with an empty password by just clicking on the arrow button.Windows 10: Recover your password (the hard way) Windows 10: Recover your password (the hard way)
There’s not much that’s as frustrating as trying to log into a Windows computer when you don’t remember the password. If you use Windows 10, but you don’t have a recovery disk or a Microsoft account to help you reset your password, you need to take the hard route. Here’s how: Turn on your computer and wait until you see the Windows logo. Then, unplug the power cord or hold down the power button to force the hardware to turn off. Turn it on again, and you should be greeted by this screen: Choose Advanced options. Click on Troubleshoot, Advanced options, and System Image Recovery. That brings you to a screen that looks like this: Click Cancel to clear the dialog box, then click on Next. On the next screen, select Advanced and then Install a driver. Confirm with OK.
This brings up an Explorer window, which allows you to perform the password reset magic. On the left side of the screen, click This PC. Open up the C:\ drive. Depending on how the computer is configured, it might be named Local Disk (C:\) or Windows 10 (C:\). Navigate to Windows, System32, and scroll down the huge list of files until you find the file utilman. Right-click on that file, select Rename, and rename it to whatever you like, such as Utilmanpassword. Remember that name! Scroll all the way up and find the cmd file. Make a copy of that file by right-clicking on it, selecting Copy, right-clicking on a free area in the file listing, and selecting paste. (In other words, you’re duplicating the cmd file.) Rename the original cmd file to utilman (yes, the same file name as the one you just renamed).
It should look like this now: In order to see the changes, you might need to right-click on a free white area of this window and select Refresh.
That’s it for now. Close all windows and select Continue (Exit and continue to Windows 10). After a few seconds you’ll see the Windows 10 login screen.
What you just did is replace the Ease of Access button with the command line, which allows you to reset your password.
Click on that. You now see a command line prompt like this one: Type in the following command:
Net user Press Enter. This shows a list of usernames that are available, including your own. Find the one you want to log into; in our case it’s called IEuser.
Next, type in the following command:
Net user YOURNAME *Or to use our example:
Net user IEuser * Windows 10 asks you to confirm a new password. Click on ENTER twice to use an empty password. Done! Close this window and then log in with an empty password by hitting the arrow button.
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