Our forgetfulness often plays various unpleasant jokes on us. Forgetting a password for a program or for Windows is a completely common thing and happens to literally every second user. Especially with those of them who write down passwords not in a notebook, but on pieces of paper scattered everywhere, or even rely on their powerful and bottomless memory. And who is not familiar with the situation when the password for an account on a network resource is forgotten - on some Facebook or Vkontakte.
Imagine that in this situation, valuable data or simply the carefully organized software environment of the Windows operating system is at risk. Who wants to reinstall Windows and reinstall all the programs? There are no such individuals in nature. The solution, in this case, is . We will talk specifically about Windows 7, since approximately the same password reset procedures are valid for the G8. And these, whatever you say, are the most popular operating systems installed on the computers of hundreds of millions of users.
To begin with, we will discuss the simplest reset procedure, which uses a bootable Windows image on a CD (like the common “LiveCD”) or a bootable flash drive with similar functionality. We also need a minimal understanding of the command line. Using these tools we will try to remove the existing administrator password. In conclusion, we will offer for consideration some other options for user action in the event of a forgotten password.
At the preparation stage
Preparing to reset your password in Windows 7 will involve one tricky procedure: we will replace the system's Sticky Keys program with the command processor.
The command processor - the cmd.exe file - is precisely the system utility that is responsible for providing the command line interface. To launch the console, you need to run this file. By replacing the sticky utility with the Windows 7 command console, we can manage the process of manipulating input and changing the password.
Please note that we will need a proprietary installer of the “seven”, which includes administrator functions, such as “System Restore”. Some stripped-down versions of installation disks and flash drives do not contain administrator functionality. So, let's begin our preparatory steps for the reset:
copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\
- Thus, we copy the keystroke handler to the root of the “C:” drive, that is, we create a backup copy of the handler, which we need to remove and replace with the cmd.exe file. We do the replacement according to the command:
copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
That's all the system administrator's preparations for resetting the password on Windows 7. The reset itself will be described in the next section.
We are struggling with authentication in the system
To remove authentication from the system, proceed as follows:
- We remove the bootable media from the system and log in through the normal Windows boot procedure.
- When logging in, we will be asked to enter the password of the administrator or other registered user of the system.
- Instead, press the Shift key five times. This will launch the command processor, which will allow us to remove the forgotten password. In order to reset it and remove all information about previous authentication, type the following command:
net user Username New password
As you can see, it also allows you to remove the old username and assign a new one to it.
- Everything is ready, you can log in with new credentials.
This seems to be the easiest way to reset your credentials using the console. All that remains is to “plant” the file sethc.exe that we moved in its place. Copy it back to the C:\Windows\System32 folder. There are alternatives to this procedure, which can be found here: http://www.3dnews.ru/623507.
Many users are asked the question: how can you remove the password on Windows 7, 8, 10? Some people think that they don’t need it. For some people it’s completely annoying or trivial, they forgot the password for their account and now they can’t log in to the system. It turns out there are a lot of reasons why people want to reset their Windows password or completely remove it. Therefore, we decided in this article to show you various options on how to reset or bypass your login password on various Windows operating systems.
A way to remove the password on Windows 10, 8, 8.1 during startup or locking of the PC
This option is simple and fast, and does not require much computer knowledge. Here you just need to uncheck one box and that’s it. So let's start reviewing.
- First, let's open the window " Execute" Press keyboard shortcuts " Win And R».
- We write in the box “ netplwiz", click " OK».
- You will be taken to the section " user accounts", uncheck the box here " Require name entry..." Click " OK».
- The system will ask for a password to confirm your actions, enter it twice.
- Be sure to reboot the PC. Done, let’s check if we succeeded, if not, move on to another method, which is described below.
Please note: you cannot remove the password this way on Windows 7, but you can bypass it on Windows 10, 8.
How to remove or change your local password
Usually, when logging into the system, a local account is initially used, for which you will need to enter a key. You can easily change it or delete it, we’ll show you how to do it now:
- We log in to the panel where you can manage all accounts. Press the keys " Win – R", copy and paste the command " netplwiz».
- Next, you will see that in the panel that appears, it is written how to change the password: press and hold “ CTRL with ALT and DEL" A blue screen will pop up where you will need to select the line “ Change password».
- We drive in the key that is currently relevant. Flood we register a new key with which we want to replace it. If you want the system to start when you log in without asking for a key, then enter one valid key and leave the other fields blank. Click " Enter».
It is not necessary to restart the computer. That's all, now your computer will start with a new password or without it at all. It all depends on what you wrote in the lines.
Resetting a password that you forgot
Often, many users, in pursuit of the security of their PC, come up with complex keys. It would be good if they wrote it down somewhere, but what if not? Then there is only one way, either you throw it off or restore it. Now we will show you methods on how to reset your password in Windows 10, 8, 8.1.
Resetting the code from a Microsoft account
To reset the key, it will be most convenient to contact the Microsoft online service. The company took care of the users and created a service where you can reset the code in case you forget it. Therefore, let’s move on to consider the method:
Resetting the local account password in Windows 7
On Windows 7, unlike other operating systems, there is one local account, which is in no way tied to the World Wide Web. Therefore, if you suddenly forget, you won’t be able to reset it using the Internet. Let's consider another option, in which you must have access to the system.
- Click on " Search in Windows", enter the command " cmd" Right-click on the black window and select Run as Administrator.
- To enter a new key, enter the command “”, for example net user xxx 336699.
- To reset, enter another command “ Net user (account name)’’’’».
Now we try to log in by entering a new key. Or without a key, if you decide to reset it in Windows 7. Unfortunately, the method will not help everyone, but it’s worth a try.
Resetting the password on Windows 7
Due to the fact that you do not have access to your system at all, you will need an installation disk, a flash drive with any Windows operating system (7,8,10). If such media is available, we now proceed to step-by-step actions:
- Let's boot from our installation media. Click on the line “ System Restore».
- From the list, click on “ Command line" A black window will pop up called the command line.
- Enter the command " copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\", click on " Enter" Thanks to this command, a backup copy will be created, which is responsible for sticky buttons in Windows on the root of drive C.
- Replace " seth.exe"in the System32 folder to the file " cmd.exe», « copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe».
- We reboot the PC, press the ““ button many times Shift", the command line will pop up. Changing the code " Net user (account name) (new password)» .
In more detail, how to do this in Windows 7, thanks to the command line, is described above in the article.
Bypass the administrator password using the registry on Windows 10
Let's try the password bypass method through the registry. It is simple and does not require additional downloads and installations of software.
- Press the buttons " Win And R", in the window we enter the command " regedit».
- To appear " Registry Editor"where it will be necessary to open " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", Further " Software", then we look for " Microsoft», « Windows NT», « CurrentVersion" and click on " Winlogon».
- Now in the center we find the file “ AutoAdminLogon", move the cursor over it and double-click with the mouse. In line " Meaning» enter the number 1 , « OK».
- Changing the file " DefaultDomainName", we also open it and change it in the paragraph " Meaning" to the name of the local computer. You can view this name by right-clicking on the shortcut " My computer», « Property».
- If necessary, you can change it in " DefaultDomainName» to any other login.
- We reboot. After completing the steps, all that remains is to check whether it worked or not.
Resetting your password using the Dism++ program on Windows 10
This is a multifunctional, free utility. Thanks to Dism++, it is possible to remove the local password on Windows 10, as well as clean the entire system of unnecessary garbage. We will now show you how to implement this:
- Make a boot disk on any other PC, or a USB flash drive, and unpack the archive with the Dism++ application there.
- Boot from this bootable media on the PC where you want to reset the password. Press the key combination " Shift And F10" in the installation application. Specify the path to our Dism++ program on the command line ( for example: F:\dism\dism++x64.exe). To accurately determine which letter the flash drive has, use the following commands one by one: diskpart, list volume, exit(command number two will show which partitions are connected, as well as their current letters).
- The window “ Dism++ License Agreement", click " Accept».
- The application will open, where you need to select “ Windows 10...", Further " Open session».
- Let's go " Tools», « Additionally», « Accounts" In the window that appears, click on the user who needs to reset the password. Click " Password reset».
Everything is ready, you can close everything, and start the computer as you always do. That's all, we figured out how to remove the password in Windows 10. Read also the article about how this might be useful to you.
We bypass the administrator key in Windows 10.
This method is for more experienced users; it requires a boot disk; an option with a flash drive is possible.
- We launch from a disk or flash drive, click “ Recovery».
- The next step is to select " Diagnostics», « Additionally», « Command line».
- Enter the command "". Disk " D" which is specified in the command, this can be any disk other than the system one.
- You will see alerts " File copied: 1" We're going to reboot.
- When the window where you need to enter a password appears, click the “” button 6 times in a row. Shift" A console will pop up in which you need to enter the command: “ net user admin2 /add", after entering which, a second administrator will appear. Create a new entry, your new administrator " net localgroup Administrators admin2 /add" Thanks to the new entry, you can now delete the value of the previous one.
- We log in, press at the same time “ Win And X», « Computer management».
A window will appear, click on “ Utilities», « Local users», « Users" Click on the account for which you do not have a password and click “ Set a password" Reboot the PC.
Conclusion
The methods for resetting Windows 10, 8, 7 that we described in the article have been proven, and more than once. There are other methods that we have not talked about today. So if these options don’t help, write in the comments and be sure to indicate what operating system you have. We'll try to help.
Discussion: 4 comments
Bill is right! some kind of nonsense. Without you, it’s clear that this can be reset!
Answer
Are you real radishes?? Losers write how to remove the password because....!! They can't log into the OS!!!
And you write radishes on the command line and other paths when you are already logged into the OS!!!
Are YOU really smart?????
Answer
through live, sit and boot and write the command no.. before that we create a branch in the registry
Stage #1 - Configuring the Command Prompt to Launch Before the Windows Login Screen
1. Boot from the Windows 7 installation disc or recovery disc.
Note. If you do not have an installation or recovery disc,
but there is a LiveCD
with Windows PE or on another partition of the hard drive, another Windows is installed,
You can use them - go to point No. 3.
2. In the window for selecting language options, click Next ->
[only when booting from installation disk]
Click System Restore -> Next -> Command Prompt.
3. At the command prompt, type regedit and press Enter.
The Registry Editor will open.
4. Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section, then from the File menu
select Load hive.
5. Go to the drive where Windows 7 is installed
(the letter may differ from the usual C), and open the file:
:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM
Note. In some cases, the OS disk may not be visible to the recovery environment, in which case you will need to download the driver in step 2.
You will need the same driver that was used when installing the OS.
6. Enter a custom name for the partition to be loaded. In the example - 888.
7. Go to the section
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\888\Setup
Then double-click on the parameter:
o CmdLine, enter cmd.exe and click OK.
o SetupType, replace 0 with 2 and click OK.
8. Select partition 888 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then from the File menu select
Unload the bush.
9. Remove the installation disk, close the Registry Editor and Command Prompt,
Click Restart in the recovery options window.
Stage No. 2 - Reset your password or create a new user and log in
After rebooting, continue to log into Windows 7 normally. Before logging in, you will see a command prompt window.
Password reset
To reset your password, enter the following command and confirm its execution with the Enter key:
net user username new password
Important! If your username or password contains spaces, enter them in quotation marks.
If you have forgotten your account name, enter the net user command without parameters,
to display all available accounts.
Create a new account
If you don't have any administrator accounts, you can easily create one.
To do this, enter the following commands sequentially, pressing the Enter key after each.
For Russian (localized) Windows:
net localgroup Administrators username /add
net localgroup Users username /delete
For English Windows:
net user username password /add
net localgroup Administrators username /add
net localgroup Users username /delete
The commands sequentially perform the following actions:
1. Create a new user.
2. Adding a user to the Administrators group.
3. Removing a user from the Users group.
If you want to set passwords to never expire for all accounts,
enter the command at the end:
net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited
If the User Profile Service prevents you from logging in.
Unable to load user profile
That
net user name /active:yes
When you finish typing, close the Command Prompt window.
Login
You now have an account with administrator rights and a new password.
Simply select a user and sign in to Windows:
How it works?
To change user settings, you must have access to the Windows Control Panel
or command line launched with administrator rights from Windows. Since the entrance
the system is blocked, changes must be made before logging in.
To do this, at the first stage we enter the registry editor of the recovery environment and load
into it is a part of the registry (hive) of installed Windows 7. Using the SetupType parameter we indicate
that before the next login to Windows you need to execute the command from the CmdLine parameter,
and in CmdLine we indicate the command line (cmd.exe). These parameters are originally intended
to perform administrative tasks during unattended Windows installation,
but we use them for our own purposes. After this, the registry hive is unloaded and the computer
goes to reboot. Then everything is simple - in the command line window that appears
We carry out the necessary operations with users and log into Windows.
Answer
Great article, it worked!
Answer
From time to time, situations occur when a computer becomes inaccessible to its owner due to too serious security measures. Now we will discuss what to do if a person has forgotten the Windows 7 password. There are several options to solve this problem; we will consider them sequentially.
Forgot your Windows 7 password: what's the solution?
Let's start with the good news. The password can be reset and changed without reinstalling the operating system. Now we will look at several methods to reset your password. In some cases, you need to use a special program that runs from a special bootable CD or USB drive. Such software solutions typically support all server and desktop x64 and x86-bit versions of Windows. You can also achieve the desired result using the Windows 7 or Vista installation disk. We can say that this option is easier to implement.
Windows 7: forgot password - download the program
First, download a special program onto your computer that will help you reset your password and make changes to the Windows registry, offline, without loading the operating system itself.
Creating a boot disk with a recovery program
The process is simple. Unpack the desired archive containing the program and get an ISO image. Insert a blank CD into the drive and burn the image to disk. To do this, in a program that saves data on media, select “Burn disc from this image” (the name of the function may change depending on the selected program). As a result, on the disc you burn, you will see several files that contain the “.iso” format. Follow all program instructions that appear on the screen while recording.
Creating bootable flash media
This option is a little more complicated. First, unzip the archive and add its contents to the root partition of the flash drive. There will be no problems if other folders and files are already located there. Now you need to turn the media into bootable media. Open the command line, enter a special command via “syslinux.exe”, you will also need to specify the letter of the partition with your flash drive. Press "Enter". If no messages about various errors appear, then everything completed successfully.
Implementation
Let's move on to the next stage. Now, to recover your Windows 7 password, you need to boot your computer using the created USB or CD media. Press the “F8” key after loading the “POST BIOS”, a window will appear prompting you to select boot media. In some cases, this step may look different, since it directly depends on the model and manufacturer of the motherboard. Next, in the downloaded program, select the partition with the deployed Windows platform (system), and also specify the path to the required system folder. After this, follow the further instructions of the running program. Most often, you just need to press Enter to perform the default actions. Enter the path pointing to the system registry. Enter the username you selected to reset your password. After this, an exclamation mark will appear. Next, press the Y key. To be able to make changes, you must properly shut down Windows. When the password is reset, you will lose access to encrypted data if you created any. Remember that the only way to recover them is to remember your password. We do not recommend changing your password using such programs, as sometimes it may not work. However, erasing your password can always help.
Recovery using the official installation disk
If a user has forgotten his Windows 7 password, an installation disk with the operating system can help him. This method only works in Windows 7 and Vista. The solution works just fine. First of all, boot your computer from the operating system installation disk inserted into the drive. Once the files are copied, you will be prompted to set your language preferences. Leave everything as is, click the “Next” button. In the window that appears, instead of the “Install” option, click in the lower left corner the item called “System Restore”, so “Windows” will proceed to search for installed operating systems in order to restore them. You may encounter a message indicating that problems have been detected in the current boot options. You can ignore it by clicking the “No” button. Going to a new window, select your system, click “Next”. A window will open with a list of various settings and system components to restore. You could say they don't really matter. Go to the very bottom and click on “Command Prompt”. Next on the line, enter the command facing “sethc.exe”. Press the Enter key. Replace the required utility. Press "Enter" again. Close your command prompt window and click the Restart button in the available menu. After this, perform a standard boot from your hard drive. After the login window appears asking you to select a password and user, press the “Shift” key 5 times. This should bring up the command prompt. In it, enter a special command indicating the user and new password and press “Enter”. Close the Command Prompt and click Restart. That's it, the password has been changed. Put the files back where they belong. After this, you can enjoy receiving a new password. Then follow the instructions. So we looked at what to do if the user forgot the Windows 7 password. We hope our tips were useful to you. There are other methods, but we will not consider them, since they are more complex.
We remind you that attempts to repeat the author’s actions may lead to loss of warranty on the equipment and even to its failure. The material is provided for informational purposes only. If you are going to reproduce the steps described below, we strongly advise you to carefully read the article to the end at least once. The editors of 3DNews do not bear any responsibility for any possible consequences.
Windows has long used the SAM system to store and manage all user passwords. All information in it is well protected, so in order to find out the password, you will have to spend a lot of time and resources, especially if it is quite complex. Most often, however, there is no need to find out the password at all - just reset it or change it. Several utilities have been developed for this, one of which we will use. Another important point is that, obviously, when the OS is running, it will not allow you to just break into the password storage. Therefore, you need to make sure that your computer supports booting from a CD/DVD or USB media in order to launch the necessary utilities.
The most famous of them is Offline NT Password and Registry editor, which can work with passwords and the registry of Windows XP/Vista/7. Download the USB or CD version of the utility, burn the downloaded image to disk, or use our tips for creating a multiboot flash drive. The utility does not have a graphical interface, but you shouldn’t be afraid of this - everything in it is quite simple and clear. In addition, the desired option is often offered by default, so you only need to press the Enter key.
Boot from removable media Offline NT Password and Registry editor. You are unlikely to need additional boot options, but in some cases you will have to empirically select those that will help the utility start. The next step is to select the partition number on which Windows is installed. You will have to navigate first of all by its size. In principle, until the very last moment the program does not make any changes to Windows, so in case of an error, you can simply start the password reset procedure again.
Then the utility will ask you to specify the path to the folder where the SAM files are located (in fact, this is a registry hive). The default is X:/Windows/System32/config, this is what the program offers at the beginning. Then you need to select the first item (Password reset), since we are going to reset the password.
Then everything is simple. Select the first item (Edit user data and password) and enter the user name or identifier in the format 0xabcd, Where abcd is the RID listed in the first column. RID is useful if the username is not displayed correctly or cannot be entered. For example, when using Cyrillic.
All that remains is to specify item 1 (password reset) or 2 (password change) for the selected user. Exit password editing mode by entering an exclamation point and pressing Enter.
Everything is almost ready. Enter q, press Enter, and then agree to the changes by entering y and pressing Enter again. We refuse to continue working in Offline NT Password and Registry editor ( n), remove the flash drive or CD and press the treasured combination Alt+Ctrl+Del to reboot. Done - the password is reset!
This was an easy way to reset your Windows 7 password. There shouldn't be any difficulties with it. You just need to be careful and careful. Problems can only arise if the necessary drivers for working with the hard drive are missing. Then you will have to put them on a floppy disk (if, of course, you find a living representative of this almost extinct species and a working drive for it) or on a USB flash drive and at the first stage select the fetch additional drivers item.
For the second and third methods, you only need the Windows 7 installation disk and nothing else. A more complex option involves enabling the initially hidden “Administrator” account by editing the registry from the Windows 7 installation environment. In the future, you can log in under this account and edit any other account in the OS. By default, “Administrator” does not have a password, which only plays into our hands.
So, boot from the installation disk and press Shift+F10 to open the command line, where we enter regedit and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
Selecting a section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and in the menu select “File” → “Load hive...” (File → Load hive...). We need to open the SAM file, which is located in the folder \Windows\System32\config on the partition where Windows 7 is installed. When opening, you will be asked to enter the name of the hive to load - enter any.
Now you need to select a section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hive_name\SAM\Domains\Account\Users\000001F4 and double click on the key F. An editor will open in which you need to go to the first number in line 038 - this is 11. It must be changed to 10. Be careful and do not make a mistake - you only need to change it, without adding or deleting other numbers!
Now we need to select our bush HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hive_name\ and in the menu select “File” → “Unload hive...” (File → Unload hive...), and then confirm unloading the hive.
That’s it, you can reboot by removing the pre-installation disk and log in under an administrator account. In the Windows Control Panel, under User Management, you can change the settings of another account. Including changing the password.
There is one last way left, the wrong one. Why wrong? Because we will deal with replacing system files, and this is a ignoble matter. What is the main idea? It's simple - the OS has the function of detecting sticky keys enabled by default. You've probably encountered it at least once, and if not, just quickly press Shift at least 5 times, and you will see this wonderful window:
This window belongs to a small auxiliary program sethc.exe, which is located in the Windows system directory. Moreover, it even starts on the welcome screen, when you are asked to select a user and enter a password. But it can be replaced with something useful. Eg, cmd.exe. Naturally, not directly in the running OS, but by booting from the Windows 7 installation disk and pressing Shift+F10.
You need to start by identifying the drive letter on which Windows is installed. The easiest thing is to simply view the contents of the root partition with the command dir. C: will most likely be seen as D:, but not necessarily.
Having decided on the volume letter, we execute two simple commands - with one we copy the original file, just in case sethc.exe to the root of the disk or wherever you like, and change the second one to cmd.exe.
Copy d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe d:\copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
We reboot, quickly press the Shift key (or Ctrl, or Alt) several times and observe the command line window. You need to enter another command in it, substituting the name of the desired user and a new password accordingly. Other options for this command can be found in the official help.
Net user username new password
If you want to return everything to normal, you need to boot from the installation disk again, open the console and run the command:
Copy d:\sethc.exe d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
However, you don’t have to restore anything, but leave this little trick in the system just in case. In addition to the methods listed above, there are many other methods for resetting or recovering a password in Windows, but we will not consider them now. Once again we urge our readers to be attentive and careful when working with the internals of the OS, and even better not to bring the situation to a “surgical” intervention in SAM. Good luck restoring access to your accounts!
Forgotten passwords are a perennial problem for PC users. Losing your login information will result in loss of access to your documents and other resources. In this article, we will look at ways to reset your Windows 7 account password.
Methods for solving the problem can be divided into those that work only in a running OS, and those that allow you to perform a reset without logging into your account. Next we will look at all possible options.
Method 1: ERD Commander
ERD Commander is a disaster recovery disk containing a standard Win PE environment with additional integrated programs (MSDaRT) for solving various problems, including resetting passwords. Of course, this method will only work if you have a flash drive with the ERDC distribution recorded on it, so you need to take care of creating it in advance (it can be created on another PC if the system is not available). Read below to see how this is done. The same material contains a link to download the required image.
After preparation has been completed, you can begin resetting.
- At the first stage of loading, use the arrows on the keyboard to select the item corresponding to the bit depth of the installed “seven”. In our case it is "ERD WIN7 (x64)". Click ENTER.
- We don’t need a network, so in the dialog box that appears "NetStart" press "No".
- At the next stage, you can choose any option. This doesn't matter, since we won't be working with disks.
- Leave the keyboard layout as default and move on.
- After the search for installed systems is complete, click on the desired item in the list (if you have not installed several copies of Windows, then there will be one) and click "Further".
- Follow the latest link in the list of tools ( "MSDaRT").
- Choose "Password Change Wizard".
- In the start window of the program, click "Further".
- We look for the required account in the drop-down list and enter a new password in both fields below. There is no need to come up with something complicated; three units will do just fine. Later, this data can be changed while the system is running. Click "Further".
- Finishing the job "Masters" button "Ready".
- Close MSDaRT.
- Reboot the computer. At this stage, you will need to go into the BIOS and configure booting from the hard drive.
- After the OS starts, enter a new password on the lock screen.
- We receive a warning that we need to change the data. Click OK.
- Here we come up with a combination that will be used to enter in the future, and click ENTER.
- The system will inform you that the password has been changed. After pressing the button OK The desktop will open.
Method 2: System remedy
This method requires access to the system, and under an account with administrator rights. This way you can reset the password for any user on the target PC.
- Let's go to "Control Panel" from the menu "Start".
- Turn on "Small Icons" and go to the section "Administration".
- Next, double-click on the shortcut "Computer Management".
- Go to the folder "Users" in the thread "Local Users and Groups".
- Right-click on the account name and select "Set password".
- The system will warn us that these actions may result in loss of access to some data. These are EFS (built-in Windows ransomware) encrypted files, personal security certificates and saved passwords to sites and local network resources. Click "Continue".
- Leave the input fields in the next window empty. In this case, data will not be requested upon login. You can also enter any combination of characters. OK.
- In the dialog box with the message “ Password set" press again OK. Done, problem solved.
Method 3: "Command Line"
You can reset the password for any account using "Command line" running on the lock screen. By default, this option is not available, so some preparatory steps will be necessary. Below we will provide a link to detailed instructions for using this method.
There is one more technique not described in the article above. It is distinguished by its preparation stage and comparative simplicity.
- We boot from a flash drive with the Windows 7 distribution. Please note that this must be a version of the system similar to that installed on the PC. After loading, call "Command line" (SHIFT+F10).
- We check which drive letter is the system one. The team will help us with this
From experience we can say that most often the Windows folder is located on media with the letter "D". This is a feature of the installer: it changes the volume letters.
If the system folder is not found, check other letters, "C", "E" and so on.
- Next we run another command.
copy d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe d:\
Here d– system drive letter, sethc.exe– built-in utility that includes sticky keys. We can see its window by pressing the key several times SHIFT, and it is also shown on the lock screen. We will take advantage of this feature by replacing the executable file "Command line". The command above copies the utility to the root of the disk for saving and subsequent restoration (backup).
- Now we replace sethc.exe executable file "Command line".
copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
A question about replacement will appear. Enter "y"(yes) and click ENTER.
- We boot the machine from the hard drive. On the lock screen, press several times SHIFT, calling "Command line".
- Reset your password as described in the article linked above.
- In order to return the utility to its place, and this must be done for security reasons, we boot again from the same flash drive, and into "Command line" execute the command
copy d:\sethc.exe d:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
We agree with the replacement by entering "y" and pressing ENTER.
Method 4: USB flash drive to reset password
Not many users know that the standard set of 7 tools includes a utility for creating media for resetting an account password. This method, like the first, requires the presence of such a flash drive. The difference is that it can only be created on the target computer, that is, if access to the system is already closed, you will have to use other methods. The same tool serves as insurance in case the problem discussed today arises, and also eliminates the loss of access to data, like the system tool in paragraph 2.
When recording media, you should take into account a couple of nuances: it will only work with the account in which it was created and, in addition, it is assumed that the current “account” password is known.
- We insert the drive into the USB port and wait until it appears in the folder "Computer", and remember the drive letter. You can choose a flash drive of minimal size, since the file written to it “weighs” only two kilobytes.
- Let's launch "Command line" and enter the following:
"C:\Windows\system32\rundll32.exe" keymgr.dll,PRShowSaveWizardExW
Click ENTER.
- The utility will open "Forgotten Password Wizard", in the start window of which we click "Further".
- In the drop-down list, select the connected flash drive, guided by the letter that you remembered in step 1. Move on.
- Enter the password for the current account.
- After completing the operation, click "Further".
- Close the utility window with the button "Ready".
The created drive is used as follows:
- We connect the flash drive and start the PC.
- On the lock screen after entering and pressing incorrectly ENTER a corresponding warning will appear. Click OK.
- Follow the link that appears "Restore password".
- A utility window will open allowing you to perform a reset. Click "Further".
- Select the drive in the drop-down list.
- We enter new data twice and come up with a hint.
- Click "Ready".
- Log in with the created password.
Please note that the recorded key is unique and if you create a new flash drive, you will no longer be able to use the old one. Remember to keep it in a safe place to prevent third parties from accessing your PC.
Conclusion
All of the above methods, except the last one, imply loss of access to encrypted documents and other resources (see paragraph 2). If you actively use such system capabilities, take care of creating a password reset flash drive. This will avoid many troubles and eliminate the need to perform unnecessary manipulations.
