Can't log into Windows 7. Keeps telling me my password is in correct

[Dave Potts]

Hi all,

I got a problem I can't seem to fix. I checked online for help to no avail.

Here's my problem:

I boot my Dell (windows 7 Professional) and when the welcome screen appears all I get is "password is incorrect'"

There are no usernames present nor administrator. When I click on the "ok" underneath the password is incorrect, It brings up my username, but when I enter my password it says it's incorrect (it's not). I can't log in from safe mode, nor will system restore fix the problem.

Since this is an old work computer I was never given the disc that could solve this problem.

Anyone have any idea of what is wrong and how it can be fixed?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[Ztruker]

See this Tutorial by Dinesh: User Account Password - Change from WinRE System Repair Disc.

That will allow you to enable the hidden Administrator account. Once done, login then you can fix your password.

 

[Dave Potts]

Thanks for the reply Ztruker. Unfortunately when I attempted to enter the "CD Windows\system32" from the command prompt it came back with "The system could not find the path specified." Thanks for the Help. I'm sure there must be a fix somewhere.

 

[Taplice]

If you have more than one user account on the computer, you might be trying to log on to the wrong user account.

 

[Acecool]

I've seen this with machines that used Windows 8 - 8.1 and upgraded to Windows 10 and had an old auto-login enabled.

If you have automatic login enabled, make sure it is using the correct password and update it: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee872306.aspx

If you're locked out of your computer, you can try using CTRL + ALT + DELETE at the logon screen and using Administrator as the username with a blank password. If that doesn't work, you may need to download a utility / boot-cd to reset / remove your password using another computer.

Note: When using Command Prompt, make sure the right drive is shown before using CD / Change Directory. IE: if C:\ is showing then CD "Windows\System32" will work. If you have something else you can use the full path: CD "C:\Windows\System32"

 

[Ztruker]

Did you do these in sequence from a Command Prompt once you booted WinRE? Make sure the OS drive is C:
Enter bcdedit and look at the osdevice line to see what the drive letter is, use that instead of C:.

• C:
• CD \Windows\system32
• ren cmd.exe cmd.old
• ren magnify.exe cmd.exe
• ren cmd.old magnify.exe