I'm helping my daughter set up her computer at a new home, and she has forgotten her password. When I go to the Accounts in Control Panel it, of course, wants an Admin password. How do I reset this so that I can work in her account? Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks, Giddyup

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

you use the Ophcrack Windows password cracker. you can download it on the net and It's free.

OPH works very well, but you might have some luck if you just log on as administrator, as this password is often blank.

Yeah, try booting into safe mode (tap f8 during boot). A new account called administrator should be present.

On the home editions this normally has no password

Great input one-and-all! Thank you.
Giddyup

No, certainly do not try any software provided by anyone with 5 posts, especially when there is a solution which involves nothing except the OS. In other words use Jbennet's solution.

Not a long time ago , I confronted with the forgetting password problem. Eventually, I solve the problem by the website:
<snip>

Reset password from another user account with administrator credentials

If you cannot log on to Windows by using a particular user account, but you can log on to another account that has administrative credentials, follow these steps on how to do the trick:

1. Log on to Windows by using an administrator account that has a password that you remember. You may need to start WinXP in safe mode.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type “control userpasswords2″, and then click OK.
4. Click the user account that you forgot the password for, and then click Reset Password.
5. Type a new password in both the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and then click OK.

By using a password reset disk

Vista allows you to create a password reset disk which enables you to reset your password without much hassle. The problem with this option is that you have to create the reset disk before the password is lost. If you have many Windows machines where users logon locally, this might be a daunting task.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.