https://goo.gl/4Jk43J Lost or Forgot Administrator Password in Windows

Method 1 – Windows DVD

Go ahead and grab your installation disc for Windows 7 or 8.1 and pop it into your CD/DVD drive. Restart your computer and boot up from the disc. Note that you might have to change the boot order in your BIOS before the system will boot from the disc.

For Windows 7, the first screen will make you pick your language, keyboard, etc. Just leave those as default and click Next. For Windows 8, it will be similar. On the next screen, you’ll see a Repair your computer link at the bottom. Click on that link.

On the next screen for Windows 7, System Recovery options should find your Windows 7 install. Click on the Use recovery tools radio button and then click Next.

Finally, click on Command Prompt to open the command prompt. For Windows 8, after you click on Repair your computer, you’ll need to click on Troubleshoot. Next, click on Advanced Options at the bottom. Finally, click on Command Prompt at the far right.

Now you should be at the command prompt whether you were using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Now we have to type in two simple commands.

opy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\

copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe

on’t worry about what the commands do, just hope they work. If you get an error message like cannot find the path, etc., then use a different drive letter than C. For example, type in the same commands, but replace C:\ anywhere with D:\. I had this problem on Windows 8.1 and using D:\ fixed it. Close the command prompt windows and choose Continue if using Windows 8.1.

Now you can go ahead and reboot your computer and don’t boot to the DVD. Actually, after you run the commands, you can take out the disc and then reboot. When you get to the Windows login screen, go ahead and press the SHIFT key 5 times.

A command prompt box should pop up on top of the login screen in Windows 7 and 8.1. Here you have to type in one final command to reset the password for the user account:

net user "User Name" newpassword

Note that you don’t need to use the quotes if the username is just one word like John. Since my username is two words, I had to use the quotes. The password can be anything you like. Once you have done this, close the command prompt window and type in your new password to log into your account! It works!

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