How to easily reset a forgotten password in any version of Windows. How to reset a Windows password using an installation USB flash drive or disk Boot disk to reset windows user passwords

The problem of forgotten passwords has existed since the time when people began to protect their information from prying eyes. Losing your password from your Windows account threatens to lose all the data that you used. It may seem that nothing can be done, and valuable files are lost forever, but there is a way that will most likely help you log into the system.

Windows systems have a built-in "Administrator" account, which can be used to perform any action on the computer, since this user has unlimited rights. By logging in under this "account", you can change the password for the user whose access is lost.

A common problem is that often, for security reasons, during the installation of the system, we assign a password to the Administrator and successfully forget it. This leads to the fact that Windows cannot be penetrated in any way. Next, we'll talk about how to log into the secure Admin account.

It is impossible to reset the Admin password using standard Windows XP tools, so we need a third-party program. The developer named it rather unpretentiously: Offline NT Password & Registry Editor.

Preparing bootable media

There are two versions of the program on the official website - for recording to a CD and a USB flash drive.

The CD version is an ISO disk image that is simply written to a disc.

The archive with the flash drive version contains separate files that need to be copied to the media.
Next, you need to enable the bootloader on the flash drive. This is done through the command line. We call the menu "Start", expand the list "All programs", then go to the folder "Standard" and find the point there "Command line". Click on it PKM and choose "Run as...".

In the launch options window, switch to "Account of the specified user". Administrator will be registered by default. We press OK.
At the command line, enter the following:
g:\syslinux.exe -ma g:

G- the drive letter assigned by the system to our flash drive. Your letter may be different. After entering press ENTER and close "Command line".
We reboot the computer, set the boot from a USB flash drive or CD, depending on which version of the utility we used. We reboot again, after which the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor program will start. The utility is a console one, that is, it does not have a graphical interface, so all commands will have to be entered manually.

Password reset

First of all, after starting the utility, click ENTER.
Next, we see a list of partitions on hard drives that are currently connected to the system. Usually the program itself determines which partition needs to be opened, since it contains the boot sector. As you can see, we have it located under the number 1. Enter the appropriate value and press again ENTER.
The utility will find a folder with registry files on the system drive and ask for confirmation. The value is correct, click ENTER.
Then we look for a line with a value password reset and see what number corresponds to it. As you can see, the program again made a choice for us. ENTER.
On the next screen, we are offered a choice of several actions. We are interested in "Edit user data and passwords", this is again a unit.
The following data may be puzzling, since we do not see "accounts" with the name "Administrator". In fact, there is a problem with the encoding and the user we need is called « [email protected]» . Do not enter anything here, just click ENTER.
Then you can reset the password, that is, make it empty (1) or enter a new one (2).
Enter "one", press ENTER and see that the password has been reset.
Next, we write in turn: "!", "q", "n", "n". After each command, do not forget to press Input.
We remove the USB flash drive and reboot the machine with a keyboard shortcut CTRL+ALT+DELETE. Then you need to set the boot from the hard disk and you can log in under the Administrator account.

This utility does not always work correctly, but this is the only way to gain access to the computer in case of loss of the Admin account.

When working with a computer, it is important to follow one rule: store passwords in a safe place, different from the user's folder on the hard drive. The same applies to those data, the loss of which can cost you dearly. To do this, you can use a USB flash drive, or better cloud storage, for example,

If you can’t log in to Windows 7 because you forgot or lost your account password, then this article will help you. It contains all effective ways to remove, reset or change the password of any account(even the administrator) in the "seven" and recommendations are given on how to protect yourself in case the password is lost in the future. All the described methods to unlock a user account are absolutely safe if you follow the instructions and do everything carefully.

How to reset a forgotten password with Ophcrack

Ophcrack- a unique utility that allows you to restore access to any account in Windows 7 in just a few minutes. Moreover, it works in any edition of the OS, starting with XP, and can function from a bootable USB flash drive. The mechanism of the program is somewhat different from the algorithms for selecting passwords of similar applications and includes several components:

LM hash algorithm- in this format, passwords are stored in Windows 7, the number of characters of which does not exceed 15 pieces;
rainbow tables- a mechanism designed to recover encrypted passwords through the use of hashes with a complex reverse decryption process.

The program can also unlock complex passwords by extracting them from registry files and then decrypting them using completely new methods of data processing, due to which the load on hardware resources is small, and the selection speed increases by orders of magnitude.

Using a bootable flash drive with Ophcrack

The algorithm below is relevant for computers that cannot be accessed by the following reasons:

the password from one account is lost, but there are no other accounts;
no user profile can be accessed on this computer.

If you encounter such a case, you will have to execute instruction, which boils down to this: create a bootable USB based on a special version of Ophcrack and boot from that media to regain account access. In more detail, this instruction looks like this:

For inexperienced users, it is recommended to select the first (graphical) mode of operation of OphCrack: Ophcrack Graphic mode. But it should be noted that in graphical mode the program may not start, and the text mode works flawlessly, although it requires certain skills in handling console programs.

If we consider work in a program with an interface in more detail in the next section, then we will dwell on using its console version in more detail. Although of the features here there is only the absence of windows and buttons. After launching the console version of the utility, it will automatically determine the passwords for all accounts and display them in the " Results».

Removing a password from under Windows

What to do if you forgot administrator account password? The program will also help here. Ophcrack, but with a network connection to download it. Consider the sequence of actions:

After a few seconds or minutes, depending on the complexity of the combination of characters in the password, it will be displayed in the " NT Pwd».

Using system recovery tools

What to do, if no access to the internet or another computer do you need to sign in to your account? Will help solve the problem bootable USB stick or disk, which contains the distribution of the Windows 7 operating system that is running on the computer.

In this case, resetting the Windows 7 administrator password is maximally carried out as follows.

We connect the boot drive of the same edition of the "seven" as installed on the PC.
We restart the PC.
We call the boot menu of the computer / laptop. This can be done using the F2, F9, F11 keys or another one indicated in the motherboard manual or on the BIOS boot screen.
In the list of available devices, select the target USB drive to start the computer from it.
Press any key to boot from the selected media.
We select the language of the system installed on the computer, and then click the button Next.
Click the link « » in the window with the Install button to launch Windows 7 Resume Tools.
In the parameters, select the command line to call the system command execution tool.
In the window that appears, enter the regedit command and execute it using the Enter key. As a result, the window of the classic system registry editor will open.
In this window, as in the file manager with the display of directories in the form of a tree, go to the HKLM section.
Through the main menu we call the command "", located in the menu " File».
Select file " config» - « SYSTEM, which has no extension.
Set any file name without using Cyrillic characters and confirm it by pressing the enter button.
Let's go to the bush HKLM” - “entered_bush_name” - Setup .
Double-click to open the key editing menu " CmdLine».
As the value of the parameter, enter " cmd.exe" to launch a command prompt before Windows 7 boots.
In the same way, set the value Setup Type» equal « 2 ».
Select a new bush in HKLM.
We call the command " Unload bush”, located in the menu item “ File».
We restart the computer, as a result of which the command line will appear.
At the command line, enter a command like net user username password and execute it with the Enter key. After that, the command line can be closed.

Thus, it is easy to recover a forgotten password as many times as you like, but using the proposed method on other people's computers will not work due to the fact that changing the password is required when gaining access to any of the accounts.

Create a flash drive to instantly reset a password from a specific account

If you do not want to repeat the situation with a forgotten password, it is better to make a floppy disk to reset it. By a floppy disk we mean a flash drive, because the use of floppy disks and disks has not been relevant in recent years.

We call " Start” and click on your account avatar.
In the vertical menu located on the left, click " Create a password reset disk».
"" will open, where we click Next >.
We select our flash drive (or floppy disk) from the list.
Set the current account password, then click Next >.

As a result, the wizard will generate a boot disk necessary to unlock an account whose password has been lost.

Now, if for some reason you cannot log into Windows 7, click the Reset password button, insert the created disk or USB flash drive and follow the instructions. which boil down to clicking the Next button.

After reinstalling the system, changing the password, or creating a new account, the password reset disk will have to be recreated.

Knowing how to reset the Windows 7 administrator password and having a flash drive with a key file, a forgotten password will no longer be a problem.

Related videos

Good afternoon, dear blog readers, today I want to tell you how to create a bootable USB flash drive to reset the Administrator password in Windows. Earlier, I talked about how to create a forgotten administrator password reset diskette in Windows, Now let's talk about creating a special bootable USB flash drive. We will create it using the Rufus utility and the Passware Windows KeyEnterprise 11 program.

To create a bootable USB flash drive, download the Rufus utility from the link above, the Passware WindowsKey Enterprise11 program can be . The program itself is packaged in iso image. With this program, you can reset the password on Windows operating systems starting from 2000, except for Windows 8 .

By running the Rufus utility, select a removable disk (flash drive),

We launch the Passware Windows Key Enterprise password reset program, for this you need to go into the BIOS , using the F2 or Delete key and in the BOOT section select the option "Boot from USB, press the F10 key and ENTER. At the first start, the program will detect the drive on which the operating system is installed.

Press 1 at the bottom of the window to continue. The next step is to specify the user who needs to reset the password.

Having selected the user at the bottom of the window, press the Y key (we agree) to reset the password. Confirm password reset Y and at the bottom of the window press the N key

We remove the USB flash drive, restart the PC and enter the system.

If you need to immediately set a new password, then click on the "My Computer" icon and select the "Manage" item. In the window that opens, select "Local Users" - "Users",

select the one you need, right-click on it and click on the item "Set password"

How to reset the password in Windows 7 if it was lost. Reset password for 7 32 and 7 64 bits.

We will reset the password either from a USB flash drive or from a disk
To begin with, we need to have either a boot disk with ERD Commander, or a bootable USB flash drive with ERD Commander, since it is with the help of ERD Commander that we will reset password in windows 7!
According to the manual, I will do this from a bootable ERD Commander flash drive (there are practically no differences if you did this from an ERD Commander boot disk)
To get started, select your Windows 7 bit depth from the list. If you do not know what bitness of Windows you have, then choose at random. If you have chosen incorrectly, then an error will pop up and after reboot, just select another option

After a few minutes, select your operating system from the list (most likely it is the only one), press OK a couple of times and Next

ATTENTION! If an error pops up, restart your computer and select a different ERD Commander for 7, as you have selected the wrong BIT!If you clicked Next and a window popped up, as in the picture below, then you did everything right. Select Microsoft Diagnostics...
On the screen you will see a window in which you should select the utility that is responsible for resetting the Windows 7 password -> Change Wizard passwords(or Locksmith)

After that, a window will appear in which you need to select the REQUIRED USER from the list and write a NEW PASSWORD for it.

After that, take out the flash drives and load Windows. Come in with a new password, which, by the way, first change immediately to another one!
That's the whole procedure! If you want to remove the password altogether, go to Start-> start typing accounting-> select User accounts -> Removing a password-> Enter your old password and click Remove password

We remind you that attempts to repeat the actions of the author can lead to the loss of the warranty for 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 are not responsible for any possible consequences.

Windows has long used the SAM system to store and manage passwords for all users. 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, it is not at all necessary to find out the password at all - it is enough to reset it or change it. Several utilities have been developed for this, one of which we will use. Another important point - it is obvious that when the OS is running, it will not allow you to just get into the password store. Therefore, you need to make sure that the computer supports booting from CD / DVD or USB media in order to run the necessary utilities.

The most famous of them is Offline NT Password and Registry editor, which can work with Windows XP/Vista/7 passwords and registry. 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 should not be afraid of this - everything in it is quite simple and understandable. In addition, often the desired option is 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 find 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 focus primarily on its size. In principle, the program does not make any changes to Windows until the very last moment, 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, and the program offers it at the beginning. Then you need to select the first item (Password reset), since we are going to reset the password.

Further everything is simple. Select the first item (Edit user data and password) and enter the username or ID in the format 0xabcd, where abcd is the RID listed in the first column. RID is useful if the username is displayed incorrectly or cannot be entered. For example, when using Cyrillic.

It remains to specify item 1 (password reset) or 2 (password change) for the selected user. Exit password editing mode by typing an exclamation point and pressing Enter.

Everything is almost ready. Enter q, press Enter, and then agree to the changes by typing y and pressing Enter again. We refuse further work in the Offline NT Password and Registry editor ( n), remove the flash drive or CD-ROM and press the cherished combination Alt + Ctrl + Del to reboot. Done - password reset!

This was an easy way to reset your Windows 7 password. It shouldn't be difficult. You just have to be careful and careful. Problems can arise only in the absence of the necessary drivers to work with the hard drive. Then you 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 option.

For the second and third methods, you only need a Windows 7 installation disc 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 call the command line, where we drive in regedit and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

Highlight 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 you open it, you will be prompted to enter the name of the hive to be loaded - drive in any.

Now you need to select a section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hivename\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\hivename\ and in the menu select "File" → "Unload hive ..." (File → Unload hive ...), and then confirm the unloading of the hive.

That's it, you can reboot by pulling out the pre-installation disk and log in with an administrator account. In the Windows Control Panel, in the User Management section, you can change the settings for another account. Including changing the password.

The last way is the wrong one. Why wrong? Because we will be engaged in the substitution of system files, and this is an ignoble business. What is the main idea? It's simple - by default, the sticky keys detection function is enabled in the OS. You have probably come across it at least once, and if not, then just quickly press Shift at least 5 times, and you will see such a wonderful window:

This window belongs to a small helper program sethc.exe, which lies in the Windows system directory. What's more, it even runs on the welcome screen when you're prompted to select a user and enter a password. But you can replace it with something useful. For example, 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 determining the letter of the drive on which Windows is installed. The easiest thing is to simply view the contents of the partition root with the command dir. C: will most likely be seen as D:, but it doesn't have to be.

Having decided on the volume letter, we execute two simple commands - one copy the original file just in case sethc.exe to the root of the disk or wherever you like, and the second change it 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. In it, you need to enter one more command, substituting the name of the desired user and the new password, respectively. Other parameters of this command can be found in the official help.

Net user username newpassword

If you want to return everything to normal, then 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 can not restore anything, but leave such a small 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 careful 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 with your account recovery!