How to Reset Your Windows XP or Windows Vista Password If You Forgot It

Recently, I had to help someone get back into their Windows XP PC but had forgotten their password. This is an easy problem to resolve if there is another administrator account on the computer for which they do know the password (just login and use User Profiles to edit the password of the forgetten user's password). The next easiest solution involves using a Password Recovery Disk, which is only available if you made one before losing your password (but most people who forget passwords don't plan on forgetting them).

I couldn't use any of those options, so had to resort to other more roundabout methods. In this case, booting from a Linux CD, logging in as root (to have administrator equivalent access), and editing the password (in my case, just clearing it to no password). Once that was accomplished, I booted into Windows, logged in as administrator (with no password), and changed the password to one they could remember. Luckily, Petter Nordahl-Hagen has put together a relatively small CD Image that helps accomplish just this.

From a different computer (such as the one you are using to read this page), download this ISO image: ZIP (or unzipped ISO image mirrored on this server) and use CD ISO burning software (such as a free one like ISO Recorder or a paid tool like Alcohol 120%) to make a bootable CD.

Insert the bootable CD into the computer with the forgotten password and boot using the CD. You may need to go to BIOS setup and change the boot drive from hard disk to CD-ROM drive.

After booting, the computer should ask:
boot:
Just hit enter.

After a bunch of messages, the display should read something like:
Disks:
Disk /dev/sda: 42.9 GB, 42949672960 bytes
 
Candidate Windows partitions found:
1 : /dev/sda1 40958MB BOOT
 
Please select partition by number or
q = quit
d = automatically start disk drivers
m = manually select disk drivers to load
f = fetch additional drivers from floppy / usb
a = show all partitions found
l = show propbable Windows (NTFS) partitions only
Select: [1]
Select the disk that has the Windows partition (in this case - and most cases - it will be 1). Press 1 (or the correct partition number), then Enter.

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Step TWO: Select PATH and registry files
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What is the path to the registry directory? (relative to windows disk)
[WINDOWS/system32/config] :
Assuming that Windows was installed in the normal (default) directory, just hit Enter.

Select which part of registry to load, use predefined choices
or list the files with space as delimiter
1 - Password reset [sam system security]
2 - RecoveryConsole parameters [software]
q - quit - return to previous
[1] :
Select 1 here.

1 - Edit user data and passwords
2 - Syskey status & change
3 - RecoveryConsole settings
- - -
9 - Registry editor, now with full write support!
q - Quit (you will be asked if there is something to save)
Select 1 here also

| RID -|---------- Username ------------| Admin? |- Lock? --|
| 03e8 | admin                          | ADMIN  |          |
| 01f4 | Administrator                  | ADMIN  | dis/lock |
| 01f5 | Guest                          |        | dis/lock |
| 03ea | Michael                        | ADMIN  | *BLANK*   |
Select: ! - quit, . - list users, 0x - User with RID (hex)
or simply enter the username to change: [Administrator]
Select a user account to edit - I recommend just using Administrator.

A bunch of additional info will be presented and then:
- - - - User Edit Menu:
1 - Clear (blank) user password
2 - Edit (set new) user password (careful with this on XP or Vista)
3 - Promote user (make user an administrator)
(4 - Unlock and enable user account) [seems unlocked already]
q - Quit editing user, back to user select
Select: [q] >
Select 1

Password cleared!

At the next prompt, you can quit or select another user:
Select: ! - quit, . - list users, 0x - User with RID (hex)
or simply enter the username to change: [Administrator]
Press ! and Enter to quit to main menu.

1 - Edit user data and passwords
2 - Syskey status & change
3 - RecoveryConsole settings
- - -
9 - Registry editor, now with full write support!
q - Quit (you will be asked if there is something to save)
&nbsp
What to do? [1] ->
Select q

About to write file(s) back! Do it? [n] :
Press y and enter.

If something went wrong, you can try doing it all over again by pressing y at this prompt:
You can try again if it somehow failed, or you selected wrong
New run? [n] :
Hopefully, everything worked - so just press y and enter.

Remove the CD and reboot the computer (using [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Delete])

Log into Windows using the account you modified (Administrator). There should be no password.

Congrats!

If you do encounter problems try referring to the complete documentation for the Offline NT Password and Registry editor.