If you have been using a computer for any amount of time you have no doubt forgotten a Windows 7 password or two and have had to have it reset or recovered from you administrator at the office. With the increase of security on home computers Windows 7 now by default requires you to have a Windows password for the administrator account. If you forget or lose this at home there is no help desk to call unless you have a relative that does computer work, which is what most of my “extended family” does when something happens. In this case you are on you own, unless you want to pay a premium price to one of the “geek squad” out there to take care of it for you. Instead of bothering your second cousin on your sister in laws side of the family or paying out the nose from some “expert” that couldn’t work anywhere but a big box store for technology, I will walk you through how to reset your Windows 7 password for free.
Free Windows 7 Password Reset & Recovery Tool
This utility is free but requires you to be able to make a bootable disk or USB. I’ll go through the utility and post instructions with a video.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
This one has been around for awhile as it will work on versions of Windows all the way back to NT. It currently supports Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 for reset and also has a registry editor with utilities for other things. It works by booting from a CD that you create on another system or create before you forget your login!
In testing I had some issues in changing a lost Windows 7 password, but I was able to clear the users Windows password every time. I would recommend clearing the password instead of trying to change it on Windows 7 at least. That way on reboot Windows 7 will just login as that user and you can then set a new password through the windows user interface by selecting CTRL-ALT-DEL and then change password.
If your not comfortable working in a command line interface and would rather use a point and click program that will walk you through everything I recommend using Password Resetter. My walk through will work perfectly but you have to be comfortable using a text interface and text commands. For a small price you can use an easier windows interface. |
I created a video where I reset the Windows 7 password using this tool but it is a little hard to see because I was using a virtual machine. Ill do a quick walk through on how to use it.
- Create a bootable CD from http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
- Boot from the Bootable CD
- First we select the disk where the windows system partition resides. In the case of this demo it is the number 2 dislk, you can see the disks listed in the output. I’m going to enter 2 and hit Enter
- The next choice is to select the PATH to the windows system directory and registry. The program will find what it thinks is the correct path and put it in for default. Unless you know for sure this isn’t correct just hit Enter to accept the found path.
- Next you will choose what part of the registry you want to work with, in this case we are going to go with “Password Reset” which is the SAM. For this we select 1 and hit Enter
- Now you will select “Edit User Data and Passwords” by typing 1 and Enter
- Finally! We now see a list of the users on this machine and whether they are an ADMIN or not. Type in the user name you want to reset, in this case it is WS Training and hit Enter
- You will now see all the information about this account that is in the SAM. You have a few options here like including:
Clear User Password – Always works for me
Edit User Password – I have had iffy success with this
Promote User – Makes them an administrator account
Unlock & Enable User Account – In case you have locked out or disabled the account
In this instance I am going to choose 1 for “Clear User Password” and hit Enter
- You should see the message Password Cleared! and then it will ask if there is another user to reset. If your done with recovery at this point then enter ! and hit Enter to quit.
- Now you have to work your way out of the program just the way you came in. Hit q to quit out and hit Enter
- The program now lists the files that have changed and if it should make the changes permanent. It is important to note that at this point you have been working with a copy of the account data and once you complete this step it will be saved to disk permanently. Click Y and Enter
- You should see a ***Edit Complete*** message to show that the password reset has been saved and then you can choose to run the program again or exit by hitting Enter.
Now you can restart your machine and let it boot into the OS. You should be able to go straight to your desktop for the user that you removed the security for! Congratulations on recovering your Windows 7 password and not having to reinstall your OS and lose your data. You can now set your password again by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and choosing Change Password. In your old password just leave it blank, and fill in your new password in the two text spots, then click OK.
Here is a video that walks your through the same steps above about you can see it live.
Windows 7 Password Reset & Recovery Video
Thanks for watching, I may cover other Windows 7 password recovery utilities as I need them but I have been able to use this one without a hitch for a long time. If you have other favorites post them in the comments and Ill take a look at them!
It’s very helpful. Thanks a whole bunch.
many many thanks you are a star
Thanks! Perfect instructions for an 8 year old to follow!
Works GREATTTT….thnx
a lifesaver.. followed the simple to follow instruction and works without a glitch… THANKS!!!
you are heroooooo , so many thanksssssssssss.
Ophcrack is also a free password recovery tool and Windows Password Breaker works well on Windows 7 to reset password.
I cant thank you enough for the great instructions and the utility. Worked like a charm.
Appreciate your help.
sam
wow, thanks a lot for your direction. you are my life saver. Thanks again.
Im sorry can you actually download the program to a usb?
@Marco – As long as you create a bootable USB stick there shouldn’t be any issues.
Great work dear i really Like your work God blessing u thx a lot
i hope in future you are doing more and more
This works.I had to give it a couple of tries but it worked 100%
Dave,
Thank you so much for doing this, I bought a new computer ran it and it said I had a password that I didn’t setup, no recovery disks with the new computer, hours wasted, but you saved the day.
Wonderful work. This worked for me.
Thanks so much!!
Thank You so much, you saved my life.
When I tried to follow these instructions, I kept getting an error and so when I tried to load from the USB, it said there was no OS.
How to make an bootable USB drive
Copy all the files that is inside the usbXXXXXX.zip or on the CD onto an usb drive, directly on the drive, not inside any directory/folder.
It is OK if there are other files on the USB drive from before, they will not be removed.
Install bootloader on the USB drive, from command prompt in windows (start the command line with “run as administrator” if possible)
X:syslinux.exe -ma X:
Replace X: with the drive letter the USB drive shows up as (DO NOT USE C:)
If it seems like nothing happened, it is usually done.
However, a file named ldlinux.sys may appear on the USB drive, that is normal.
It should now in theory be bootable.
Please know that getting some computers to boot from USB is worse than from CD, you may have to change settings, or some will not simply work at all.
Thanks mate, it worked a treat !
Dave,
I would like to know this works in Windows Vista? Thank you
Wow! this really help me.
Thanks!
By the way in my case, I need to enable or unlock the account first before clearing the password.
Thanks you so much. It’s perfect
Not working.
Excellent! Used this several times to clear passwords when stuck. Good job! Thanks.
This all looks easy enough to follow, but I’m having trouble with the initial booting. I downloaded to a blank cd (on a mac), but I need help getting my Windows 7 PC to recognize it. Is there something I need to do to make the disk a “bootable” cd? All of the files that were downloaded within the zip appear to be on the cd. Upon startup of the PC, should I be pressing F10, F12, ESC or something else. I’m assuming the cd should already be in the PC. Once I get booted, the rest should be easy enough to follow. Thanks, Drew
Gread Job….it’s very helpful for me….
Works wonderfull. Unlock progen successful. Thank you
TNX A LOT!!!!!! IT SAVES MY LAPTOP\
This was the last program I was going to try before reinstalling Windows 7. I have tried other programs and was unable to reset user password. This program really did work and it was great to follow the instructions listed. Thanks a lot!!!!!!
Works wonderfull . I have save my data and with little time
Thnks very Much
well it works on win 2000 xp xp pro vista and 7 flawlessly this program rocks flawlessly thank you
Worked like a charm with a laptop running Windows 7. Thanks!
This was so simple even I could do it!!!
thank you so much po.
salamat (in filipino language)
Thank you very very much!!! Very helpful!! very good job!!
Cheers mate!
Works perfectly. Thank you so much!
Wow, It worked..!!! Many thanks. You saved me from spending a lot :-). Thanks again………
What if you are unable to make a recovery disk?
Nice work !
You saved me from having to take back a brand new PC. Thanks so much for your awesome work!
Awesome!
Thank you! Your instructions worked like a champ. On the #11 instruction, be sure a lower case “y” is entered instead of upper cased “Y”. It did not save changes when I entered an upper cased “Y”, but worked perfectly with the lower casing.
Nice job. It works as was explained. (On Win 7 OS)
GREAT!!!!…. ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!!!…….
MANY THANKS DUDE!!!!
Worked like a charm. I thought I was gonna lose everything, but found this site with this info. Thanks so much for doing this.
THANKS BOSSSSSSSS UR GREAT
Thank you very much, great explanations and the video just makes it better. Worked like a charm the first time I tried it.
Thank you again =)
thank you so much for your help i just helped my sisters laptop to be resetted i tried for weeks
Works GREAT !!!!!! Thank you so much for this help Dave =)
Awesome work Sir…….
I can’t for the life of me get my usb to boot the said laptop up!!!! I’m running xp and trying to make the drive bootable for windows 7.. can someone help me step by step. cheers.
Brilliant! I am a business applications programmer/systems analyst – this is high priest/temple type stuff to me. Thank you.
Thank you, it worked like a charm…
OMG THANK YOU! very very helpful 🙂
Worked great recovering a windows 7 login password on laptop. Burned to cd from other PC, booted to cd on laptop and followed directions. Thanks a lot !!
thanks 2 u bro……….u rok………u r really a engineer…..
Thanks so much. Real life saver
Thank you for this write up. I was all over the place looking for something, then your site reminded me that I already Offline NT (cd100627). Pop in the cd and was all set within 3 mins.
Thank you, Your awesome!!!!!!
thank for dhis software
It worked great,thanks to people like you who help us mere mortals the world is a better place,Seriously Thanks
i know how to get rid of hdd lock
very good system works very well thanks
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Thanks a million!!!! awesome software, worked a treat. Can I suggest you giving people tips on changing the boot up bios to boot from a usb if the can get it to work the first time!!
Dave, thanks a million for your well written instructions on removing a password. Typically I would back up the data and do a factory restore. It worked for me on my first try, so no more tedious factory restores and lengthy downloads of windows updates.
hey thnx a ton……you have one of my customers day…………..
Worked great, person was told she had to restore entire computer for a FEE ,used your guide and software, 30 min repair, done thanks.
My Windows 7 HP 64-bit laptop suddenly decided not to accept my login password. Found this site fairly quickly and decided to use the clear password method. Removed password lock at same time. Various tries had no success. In desperation, tried the reset password method. Worked very smoothly. Thus, do explore all the possibilities. Many thanks for this web page!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! Simple burn, simple to use… Did I say Thank you???
Thank you works perfectly
Thanks for saving a lot of time. It worked on Windows 7 Professional Edition.
Youre the Man Dude. Nice Work. 🙂
Worked Perfectly, You Rock!
thank you a your a lifesaver
Hello.
I am a computer tech and from time to time needed a way to recover lost passwords for my clients. This method (USB) is by far the easiest way to get those lost passwords without having to burn any disks. Takes less than 5 minutes !
HOOYA !
Thank you !
Rohrer
Thx U So Much……U made my day….GOD BLESS U…
Awesome, very cool man!
Some of the Characters on my keyboard messed up a but, then I had to use Alt Codes but figured it out ☺
yes its good, finaly i found something helpful
thank u sir fantstic pgm 🙂
Thankyou. It makes me a good guy for end users.
OMG, thank you! I felt so bad because I was the one who screwed up setting the password for a 92 yr lady, thereby locking her out of her own laptop. Thanks to you and these very clear directions, I was able to get her back in in less than 15 minutes. Worked like a dream – you are a godsend!
Thank you very much . . . I’m gonna love you for this!
Super thanks Mr. Lawlor!!! 😀
The tool really works and it is absolutely amazing!
It helped us a lot! (…thought there’ll be no other free way but to reformat..)
Maraming maraming salamat po! (Thank you very much!)
Thank you very much !! Great job !!
Worked superbly! Thanks mate 🙂
thnxxxx man , ur the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
job done thanks
Amazing…it worked fantastically well. I can not thank you enough for your simple instructions and help resetting my password. I’d recommend to any one (including non-techies like me).
Thanks!!! Respect!!!
Peter