How to Reset a Windows Password in Regedit at Boot
This is a fairly simple way to reset / change your Windows user account password if, for whatever reason you can't gain access to your account.
Note
A big thank you to Everlong for helping me sort the last steps of this.
This tutorial can be used to reset the password in Windows 7 or Vista.
Information
If you don't have a proper Windows installation disk, have a look at the link below to create a repair disk that can be used to reset your user account password in Windows 7 and Vista.
(Windows 7) System Repair Disc - Create
(Vista) Create a Recovery Disc - Vista Forums
(Windows 7) System Repair Disc - Create
(Vista) Create a Recovery Disc - Vista Forums
Warning
Making changes to the Windows Registry has the potential to disable the PC, if you have any concerns over using the information set forth here please feel free to post a question in this same tutorial and we will be glad to help.
Be Advised: if you use this method to reset you're user account password ANY / All access to encrypted files stored in the account will be lost.
Be Advised: if you use this method to reset you're user account password ANY / All access to encrypted files stored in the account will be lost.
Let's get Started!
1) The Boot Priority in the BIOS needs to be set to boot first from the optical drive; insert your Windows disk and re-start the PC.
At the first screen select your language then Repair your computer then it'll do some searching, at System Recovery Options dot Use recovery tools then select the OS and click next; while there make note of the OS drive letter, it may not be C: like mine is D:.
2) At the next screen select "Command Prompt" then in the Command window type "regedit" (without the quotes) and hit enter.
3) In the Registry Editor window that opens click to select "HKey_Local_Machine" then at the "File" menu select "Load Hive".
4) In the "Look In" in the "Load Hive" window that opens navigate to (in my case) LocalDiskD:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM and click "Open".
5) In the "Load Hive", "Key Name" box give the new key a name e.g. " 123 " (it can be whatever you like) and click OK.
6) In the left pane of the registry Editor window click the " + " sign to expand the "HKey_Local_Machine" key then click the " + " sign to expand the "123" key then click to select the "Setup" key.
7) Now in the right pane right click "SetupType" and select "Modify", set the "Value data" to " 2 " and click OK.
8) Again in the right pane right click "CmdLine" and select "Modify" and set the "Value data" to "cmd.exe" and click OK.
9) Now just as a precaution, close the Registry Editor at the "File" menu click "Exit"; then in the Command window that's still open type "regedit" and hit enter to open the Registry Editor again.
10) In the Registry Editor click the " + " sign to expand HKey_Local_Machine and click to select the new "123" key, at the "File" menu select "Unload Hive" and click "Yes" for the "Are you sure ..." question.
11) Now close the Registry Editor at the "File" menu click "Exit" then in the Command window type "exit" and hit enter to close the Command window, then remove the Windows disk and restart the PC.
12) When the PC restarts a Command window will open, in that window type "net user <username> <new password>" mine is (net user "Bare Foot Kid" Test6) be advised: if you have a username like mine, with spaces, you must use " " quotes around the user name; when you get the "Command Completed Successfully" type "exit" in the Command window and hit enter; at the logon screen use the new password you chose.
Tip
If you like, you could type net user in the command prompt and press Enter to see a list of all names for each user account on the PC to help use with step 12.
Enjoy!
Related Tutorials
- How to Reset the Password of a User Account in Windows 7
- How to Change the User Account Password if Unable to Login to Windows
- How to Change the Password for Your or Another User Account in Windows 7
- How to Create a Windows 7 Password Reset Disk
- How to Create a "Forgotten Password Wizard" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Vista
- How to Create a "Password Reset Wizard" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Vista
- How to Use System Restore to Change User Account Password
- How to Prevent or Allow a User to Change their Password in Vista and Windows 7
- How to Remove the Password for Your or Another User Account in Windows 7
- How to Create, Change, and Use a Password Hint in Windows 7
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