Removed HDD - Forgot the password for the windows install - need help

[JSBadger]

Hi,

I pulled my old laptop out after about six months of not using it and tried to log on but have forgotten the user name and password.

I removed the hard drive thinking I could hook it up to my desktop and remove the password
from the SAM file under /system32 but can't make any sense of it.

Is there a way to allow me to reset the account so I can still keep everything on the hard drive as it was?

Any suggestions would be nice.

Thx.

 

[UsernameIssues]

I would use option 5 from this tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/238737-user-account-reset-password-windows-7-a.html