How to Reset Lost XP Administrator Password for Free

There are many a times when we forgot Windows XP administrator password in our home or office system. In this article I'll show you how to reset lost administrator password in Windows XP using a setup CD. Here we go with the steps:

1. Boot your system with the Windows XP setup CD. A screen will come up to welcome you, then you'll have an option to accept the EULA agreement, etc. Proceed as required.
2. You'll get an option to install a fresh copy of Windows XP or repair your existing Windows XP installation. Press R to repair.
3. It will then start the repair process by first copying files needed. In a few minutes, the setup will begin to restart your system.When it restarts, remember not to press any key when it shows "Press any key to continue...".
4. It will start doing other tasks and show a small progress bar with a few details in left hand corner.
5. Look carefully at the details and when it shows "Installing Devices", remember to press Shift key + F10 key in your keyboard.
6. This will open up a Command Prompt window. Now type nusrmgr.cpl and press Enter.
7. This opens up the "User Accounts" window which you normally get in the Control Panel, Cheers! You can now reset any account's password.

Bypass Windows Login with The Hidden Administrator Account

Locked out of your computer and can't log in? In Windows XP, you can log into the hidden Administrator in Safe Mode only. However, starting from Windows Vista, the hidden administrator account is disabled by default and you can't even access it from Safe Mode.

With PCUnlocker Live CD you can enable the hidden administrator account in Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. So you can then bypass Windows login with the hidden administrator account.

Part 1: Create A PCUnlocker Live CD/USB Drive

1. Click here to download and save the PCUnlocker self-extracting Zip file to a folder on your hard drive, then extract the ISO image file: pcunlocker.iso from it.
2. Insert a blank CD or USB flash drive into your computer. Download and install the freeware ISO2Disc.
3. Start the ISO2Disc program. Click the Browse button to locate your ISO image file, then click the Start Burn button to make a PCUnlocker Live CD or USB drive.
   

Part 2: Boot Your Locked PC from CD/USB Drive

1. Connect the burned CD or USB drive to 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 will restart and then boot from PCUnlocker Live CD/USB drive. If you still can't get your computer to boot from the CD/USB drive, please refer to this boot up troubleshooting guide.

Part 3: Enable the Hidden Administrator Account

1. After the computer boots up from the CD or USB drive, it will start the PCUnlocker program which displays a list of local accounts that are stored in Windows SAM registry hive. Select the hidden administrator account and click on Reset Password button.
   
   
2. Click Yes to confirm your operation. The program will enable the built-in administrator account and also remove its password if it is protected with a password.
3. Click Restart to reboot the computer and remove the CD or USB drive. You can then log into the hidden administrator account without a password.

Windows 2003 Password Reset for Local and Domain Administrator

Forgot Windows 2003 administrator password? Try to get an old or unused server up and running but you can't remember the login password? Need to unlock a Windows 2003 server which is password protected by a former employee?

Simply boot your computer from PCUnlocker Live CD and it allows you to reset Windows 2003 password for both local administrator and domain administrator. Gain admin access to your server even if your administrator account is locked out or disabled. The whole recovery process is remarkably easy and quite quick.

How to Reset Windows 2003 Local / Domain Administrator Password?

1. First of all, download PCUnlocker's ZIP file from this link. Open the ZIP file and extract it to a folder named in a way that you'll remember in your local drive or on your desktop. Within the folder, you'll find a file called "pcunlocker.iso". Burn the ISO image file to a CD (or USB flash drive) using ISO2Disc program.
   
   
2. Insert the PCUnlocker Live CD into your Windows 2003 machine and restart the computer. It should boot from the CD instead of the hard drive. If not, you'll need to change the boot order in your PC's BIOS settings to boot from the optical drive first.
3. If you boot from the CD successfully, the computer will load the contents of the CD drive. Once the system has finished booting, you should see the PCUnlocker program on the screen.
   
4. The program provides two recovery modes as follow. While resetting your forgotten Windows 2003 password, the program will also unlock/enable the user account in the background if it is locked out or disabled.
   

    

   Option 1: Reset Local Admin/User Password

   Simply select the Windows SAM registry hive from the list, the program will display a list of Windows local user accounts. Choose the local administrator account and click the Reset Password button. It will remove your Windows 2003 local administrator password instantly.
   

    

   Option 2: Reset Active Directory Password

   Simply select the Active Directory database file (ntds.dit), the program will display Active Directory user accounts for your Windows 2003 domain controller. Select the domain administrator account and click the Reset Password button, it will assign a new password Password123 to your domain administrator account.
   
5. Click the Restart button to reboot the computer and remove the CD, you can then log into Windows 2003 local / domain administrator account successfully.

In addition, PCUnlocker also enables you to reset forgotten Windows password on Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000, including both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system.

Reset Forgotten Windows 8.1 Password without A Reset Disk

If you ever find yourself locked out of your Windows 8.1 administrator account because you forgot the password, you'll know how frustrating it can be when you don't have a reset disk. There are many Window password recovery Live CDs out there, but most of them are unable to deal with Microsoft account logon credential, or simply don't work because Windows 8.1 uses UEFI firmware instead of the traditional BIOS.

PCUnlocker is the most powerful Windows password recovery program which not only supports UEFI booting, but also allows you to reset forgotten Windows 8.1 password for both local account and Microsoft account. Let's walk you through the steps to reset Windows 8.1 password without a reset disk.

Part 1: Create a Bootable CD or USB Drive

1. Download the self-extracting .zip archive of PCUnlocker using any computer you still have full access to. Unzip it and you'll get the pcunlocker.iso file, which contains a WinPE operating system along with the PCUnlocker software for you to reset Windows 8.1 password.
2. Use the freeware ISO2Disc to burn the ISO image file to a blank CD or USB flash drive.
   

 

Part 2: Change BIOS Settings

1. Turn on 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 so you can boot from the CD, or choose Removable Device if you want to boot off a USB flash drive.
3. Press F10 to save your changes.

 

Part 3: Reset Windows 8.1 Password

1. Boot your locked Windows 8.1 computer from the CD or USB drive, and you'll see the main interface of the PCUnlocker application immediately.
2. The application automatically locates all user accounts inside the SAM registry file of your Windows 8.1 installation. If you use a Microsoft account with your Windows 8.1 system, there should be a local account which is linked to your Microsoft account.
   
3. Select a local account from the list, and click the Reset Password button. It will reset your forgotten Windows 8.1 password instantly. To reset a Microsoft account password, you need to choose the local account which is linked to your Microsoft account.
4. Click the Restart button to reboot the computer and remove the CD or USB drive. You can then log back into Windows 8.1 system with a blank password.

That's it – you have successfully reset your Windows 8.1 password. But remember to obtain the Enterprise edition of PCUnlocker, if you want to reset forgotten password on a UEFI-based computer.