We remind you that attempts to repeat the author’s actions may lead to loss of warranty on 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 do not bear any responsibility for any possible consequences.
Windows has long used the SAM system to store and manage all user passwords. 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, there is no need to find out the password at all - just reset it or change it. Several utilities have been developed for this, one of which we will use. Another important point is that, obviously, when the OS is running, it will not allow you to just break into the password storage. Therefore, you need to make sure that your computer supports booting from a CD/DVD or USB media in order to launch the necessary utilities.
The most famous of them is Offline NT Password and Registry editor, which can work with passwords and the registry of Windows XP/Vista/7. 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 shouldn’t be afraid of this - everything in it is quite simple and clear. In addition, the desired option is often 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 select 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 navigate first of all by its size. In principle, until the very last moment the program does not make any changes to Windows, 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, this is what the program offers at the beginning. Then you need to select the first item (Password reset), since we are going to reset the password.
Then everything is simple. Select the first item (Edit user data and password) and enter the user name or identifier in the format 0xabcd, Where abcd is the RID listed in the first column. RID is useful if the username is not displayed correctly or cannot be entered. For example, when using Cyrillic.
All that remains is to specify item 1 (password reset) or 2 (password change) for the selected user. Exit password editing mode by entering an exclamation point and pressing Enter.
Everything is almost ready. Enter q, press Enter, and then agree to the changes by entering y and pressing Enter again. We refuse to continue working in Offline NT Password and Registry editor ( n), remove the flash drive or CD and press the treasured combination Alt+Ctrl+Del to reboot. Done - the password is reset!
This was an easy way to reset your Windows 7 password. There shouldn't be any difficulties with it. You just need to be careful and careful. Problems can only arise if the necessary drivers for working with the hard drive are missing. Then you will 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 item.
For the second and third methods, you only need the Windows 7 installation disk 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 open the command line, where we enter regedit and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
Selecting 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 opening, you will be asked to enter the name of the hive to load - enter any.
Now you need to select a section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hive_name\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\hive_name\ and in the menu select “File” → “Unload hive...” (File → Unload hive...), and then confirm unloading the hive.
That’s it, you can reboot by removing the pre-installation disk and log in under an administrator account. In the Windows Control Panel, under User Management, you can change the settings of another account. Including changing the password.
There is one last way left, the wrong one. Why wrong? Because we will deal with replacing system files, and this is a ignoble matter. What is the main idea? It's simple - the OS has the function of detecting sticky keys enabled by default. You've probably encountered it at least once, and if not, just quickly press Shift at least 5 times, and you will see this wonderful window:
This window belongs to a small auxiliary program sethc.exe, which is located in the Windows system directory. Moreover, it even starts on the welcome screen, when you are asked to select a user and enter a password. But it can be replaced with something useful. Eg, 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 identifying the drive letter on which Windows is installed. The easiest thing is to simply view the contents of the root partition with the command dir. C: will most likely be seen as D:, but not necessarily.
Having decided on the volume letter, we execute two simple commands - with one we copy the original file, just in case sethc.exe to the root of the disk or wherever you like, and change the second one 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. You need to enter another command in it, substituting the name of the desired user and a new password accordingly. Other options for this command can be found in the official help.
Net user username new password
If you want to return everything to normal, 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 don’t have to restore anything, but leave this little 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 attentive 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 restoring access to your accounts!
Let's look at how to recover your Windows password if you have forgotten it. You can reset your Windows password in all versions of the OS, regardless of the complexity of the code word and the type of system build.
Resetting your password in Windows 10
The modification of the new version of Windows affected not only the OS interface, but also security and data storage services. Now all passwords and accounts are stored on a Microsoft cloud server. This allows you to protect users' computers from unauthorized account hacking.
The accounts themselves are now created not on a computer, but using email. Each account has its own email and password. The easiest way to recover your Windows 10 password is to use a service from Microsoft. The PC must be connected to the Internet. To connect to the global network, just click on the Wi-Fi icon at the bottom of the lock screen. You do not need to enter a password to perform this action.
Before you reset your password on Windows 10, make sure that you are entering the password in the desired language layout and that CAPS LOCK is disabled on your keyboard.
Once connected to the Internet, follow these steps:
- In the password entry window, find a link to the recovery page. Go to the Account Live service using any other device;
- Select the reason for changing the password (forgotten code word, computer hacking) click “Next”;
- In the window that opens, enter the email address to which your Windows account is linked;
- Enter the captcha (symbols from the picture) to confirm the action;
- The user attaches an additional email address or phone number to each email. You did this at the stage of registering your email page. The Microsoft service will send a secret digital code to your phone or trusted email;
- Enter the received code into the recovery window on your computer. Then set a new password.
The old password will be automatically reset and you will be able to log in with the new password using your old Windows account.
Notice! Microsoft has strict rules on password creation. It needs to be changed once a year. Also, the code word must contain upper and lower case letters and special characters. If you changed your email password using another device and are trying to log into Windows with the old password, it will be possible if the PC is not connected to the Internet. The last used password is stored in the computer's cache memory and until the online server updates the data, the PC user will use the old password.
Removing and recovering a password in Windows 8
In Windows 8, users can set up two types of accounts:
- Local;
- Microsoft ID account.
The first type of account is created in the same way as in earlier versions of Windows - the PC administrator creates a username and assigns a password to it. As a result, each entry has access to a personal desktop and shared folders in the file system. If necessary, only the PC administrator can make changes to the user page.
Microsoft ID allows you to link your existing email to your account. It helps you manage your account and reset passwords.
Follow these steps to recover your Windows 8 local account password:
- Turn on the computer and in the password entry window, open the “Run” system utility. It runs without the need to log in. You only need to enter a short digital password for the Windows administrator. It was created during the first startup of the system and is necessary to prevent other users without authority from changing system parameters. After entering the administrator's PIN code (usually 11111111), press the Win+R key combination;
- In the text field of the Run window, enter the command shown in the figure;
- Click “OK” and in the window that opens, uncheck the “Require password entry” box.
- Save your settings.
After you restart your computer, the password for the specified account will disappear. If you have multiple user accounts on your computer, just click on your profile photo to go to the desktop window.
To restore access to an account that is linked to a Microsoft ID, you will need to use a smartphone or other computer with Internet access. Go to http://account.live.com/password/reset.
After the site loads, you will see a recovery field. Enter the email address to which your account is linked. This address is indicated on the lock screen under your photo.
Then choose a recovery method. This could be sending a letter to the specified email address or a code that will be sent to a phone number. It is also possible to select a voice call to your phone.
The resulting secret numbers for recovery should be entered in the text field that appears on the site. Next, a window for creating a new password will open. To sign in to your account with a new password, connect your computer to your Wi-Fi router. Data about the change of code word will be synchronized between the server and the client PC.
OS backup
Another option for password recovery is to use an OS backup. This method should be used if someone has hacked the email associated with your profile or when you do not have access to your mobile number.
A backup copy allows you to roll back all settings and changes in the OS that were created after saving the archive with a copy. By default, Windows 8, 10 automatically create backups every week, deleting all previous archives.
If your account was hacked and your password was changed, using a backup you can log in with the old password. Follow the instructions:
- Restart your PC and after the Windows logo appears, click on F5 to launch the “Advanced Settings” window;
- Click on the “OS Image Restore” tile;
- In the new window, select the copy archive. The date it was created must coincide with the period of time during which you could log in with your old password.
Before starting the recovery, turn off the Internet on your computer and do not turn it on until the desktop window opens.
How to recover Windows 7 password
Let's look at how to recover a Windows 7 password. In this version of the OS, the password for logging into your account is created locally. This means that it is not associated with a Microsoft.com portal account. To restore, you will need a bootable disk or flash drive with a version of Windows installed on your computer.
A boot disk is a regular drive that stores only an ISO image of the operating system. You can create it using the following programs:
- Ultra ISO;
- Alcohol;
- Daemon Tools.
The principle of creating a boot drive:
- Using another computer, download a Windows image, the version of which matches the assembly installed on the computer;
- Connect a USB flash drive to the computer or insert the disk into the drive;
- Format the drive;
- Open one of the above programs and select the option to create a boot disk from the main menu. Follow all instructions that appear in the utility window.
When the boot drive is ready, connect it to the computer on which you want to reset the password. Don't forget to change the device boot queue in the BIOS, putting the disk or USB drive first.
Now follow the instructions to reset your Windows 7 password:
- Connect your boot drive to your computer and turn on the device;
- Wait until the “Windows Installation” window appears, at the bottom of which you need to click on “Recovery”;
- In the list of parameters that opens, click on “Command Line”;
- A console window will open. You can only recover your Windows account password using system administrator commands. Write the command shown in the figure in the console and press Enter to execute it. This command creates a copy of a file in which all cases of button sticking are recorded. The document is saved in the root storage of drive C;
- Now enter another command which is given in the image below. It will change the previously created file to a document with empty content.
Now restart your computer. In the BIOS, set the hard drive to the first boot location and wait until the OS turns on. After the password entry window appears, click on the Shift button five times. As a result, the system will not open the Sticky Keys fixer, but the Command Prompt.
Now to reset your password, enter the following command:
net user USERNAME NEWPASSWORD
Where, USERNAME is the name of the existing user account, and NEWPASSWORD is the new password. After running the command, close the console window and enter new login information. All settings, personal user files and installed applications are saved.
Now you know all the possible ways to reset your Windows password if it has been forgotten or your profile has been hacked. Share your recovery methods in the comments and ask any questions you have.
Good day, dear readers, Denis Trishkin is in touch again.
In the latest versions of operating systems from Microsoft, for security purposes, it is possible to set a password to enter the work area. If this tool is no longer relevant, you can disable it. I will tell you how to remove the password in Windows 7 in several ways. After all, constantly entering secret characters sooner or later gets boring. This is especially irrelevant when only one person is working at the computer.
Many users store information on their computer that only they should have access to. If only one person uses the device, this is not a problem. But in the case when another may approach him, certain difficulties may arise.
Windows provides a special tool that restricts access to data by setting a personal key. For example, parents often use this tool to prevent their children from seeing content they are not supposed to see. In addition, this way you can protect yourself from changing your personal settings.
Disable password( )
There are several ways to turn off key entry. Each of them assumes that you are the owner of the account that needs to be updated. The first means that the password is known and the user has administrator rights.
It allows you to quickly deal with this problem:
That's all. Now, when the system starts, you will not be prompted to enter a secret key.
Important! However, if you change your account or go to the lock screen, you will still need to enter your password.
You can remove the annoying function using the standard menu “ User Accounts" True, in this way it will not be a shutdown, but a complete deletion. Despite this, Password will not be asked under any circumstances, even after resuming from sleep mode.
To disable the protection tool, do the following:
That's it, now the system will not ask “stupid questions” regarding security in this area.
Here you can also create a secret combination of symbols.
Interesting to know! When installing a key, experts recommend entering large and small letters in different languages and also adding numbers. The length must be at least six characters. Only in this option can at least some security be guaranteed.
Resetting the network key( )
Probably all computer users know what a network is. It is a connection between two or more devices that allows the exchange of information. The younger generation is familiar with this concept, as games can be played together through this method.
But what should you do if, after connecting the machines, a window appears to enter the network password? Moreover, if it does not exist, confirming an empty string will not lead to the desired result.
The fact is that Windows 7 provides new security tools, and therefore several conditions must be met to log in:
Use classic settings on all devices.
If all this is done, then you will not need to enter secret characters.
Resetting the administrator password( )
Sometimes situations happen when, under some circumstances, you simply forgot the password with which you can get to your desktop, and generally gain access to personal data. This often happens when a user constantly works on multiple devices. And if the passwords on them are not written down anywhere, then it is quite possible to confuse them.
There are several solutions. The first thing you can do is spend some time on selection. Alternatively, simply remove the system from your computer and install a new one. But in this case, the data that was on the system disk will be lost. And it’s not a fact that they can be restored, although methods exist.
But there is a safer way - a bypass, which I want to talk about. To do this, you will need an installation disk or USB flash drive with Windows. It is important to note that the operating system must be exactly the same. For example, if the Ultimate version is installed, then the same is true on a portable device.
So, if everything is found and prepared, you can proceed:
After the work has been done, a command line will appear while the OS is loading. Here we can change the password. To do this, enter in the line “ net user user password" We confirm the action. Example command: " net user admin 1111».
In this way we changed the password for the user " admin" on " 1111 " Now, in the window provided, we enter our treasured numbers and wait for the download.
Password reset via SAM file( )
There are many ways to bypass the login security system. Despite this, they all only change the information that is stored in the SAM file. It contains all the necessary data related to User-Password links.
It is worth noting that this file does not have a special extension. The fact is that it is a registry component. It can be found in the folder " Windows\system32\config", which is located on the system disk.
It is also important to note that this method is considered one of the most difficult. Nevertheless, I consider it necessary to tell it to you. To work we need a special program. At the same time, each step must be performed with extreme caution, because this can radically change the entire process.
We will use Active password changer. In addition, we will need a clean flash drive.
So, to remove the password prompt, you need to:
If everything goes as it should, no problems should arise in the future, since only the components we need are changed in the system area.
The only downside is that some relatively older motherboards may not support starting with portable memory. In this case, you can use a plastic disk.
Well, as you can see, there are several different ways to remove or change your account password. At the same time, they are absolutely simple, you don’t even need to watch the video. By strictly following the instructions, everyone will be able to gain access to the necessary information.
I hope everyone here will find an option that will help them cope with the problem. Subscribe and tell your friends about me!
Modern Windows security features help protect personal data stored on a personal computer or laptop from unwanted users. However, how can the owner of the computer unlock a laptop if he has forgotten his account password? As a last resort, you can always reinstall the operating system, but there are easier ways to recover or crack a lost password. This login is much faster, since it does not require re-installing Windows and configuring numerous software.
This article discusses two simple ways to recover your password and unlock your Windows system. The first uses safe mode login as administrator using the BIOS, followed by changing the current password for the specified user.
The second method is carried out using specialized account hacking software.
The most trivial and easiest way to log into the system if you have forgotten your account password is through safe mode. You can completely remove the laptop password or change it to a simpler one. In this case, it is completely unnecessary to know the old one.
If you want to perform this operation, you need to do the following:
How to remove a user's password in an administrator account
In diagnostic mode, you can work on a laptop almost like a regular OS. However, many familiar functions will not be here. The first thing that will catch your eye is the lack of a driver for the graphics adapter. Here the user can remove the password he forgot as an administrator. To do this you need to do the following:
Administrator Command Line
Similar actions can be done a little faster if the lack of a graphical interface does not bother you. A console running on an administrator account can help with this. You need to do the following:
The data will be changed, after which you can restart the laptop and log into the operating system.
Ophcrack utility
This software is designed to crack lost passwords. With its help you can easily unlock access to the system. You can run Ophcrack on a variety of platforms and as a LiveCD. This can be useful if you only have one account and you can't log in to it right now.
You can download the utility by following the link. This is the official website of the program developer. Choose the regular version or LiveCD. 
The LiveCD image must be installed on a bootable USB flash drive (for example, using the UltraISO utility). After this, you need to restart your computer, go into the BIOS settings and select boot from a flash drive.
On the main screen, users will be able to choose between Graphic Mode and Text mode. 
The text mode is faster and more stable than the graphic mode, so it is better to work with it. Go to it, wait a little while the program recovers the lost password. After that, you can log into Windows and remove it from the settings.
Having administrator rights is the most important tool that every owner of a Microsoft operating system has in his hands. It allows you to restrict access to other people who use the same computer for their own purposes, make individual changes to settings, and so on. But what to do if you forgot your Windows 7 password? Continue to work in limited mode? Initiate the OS reinstallation procedure? Not at all necessary - fortunately, a forgotten password in Windows 7 can be recovered.
Solving the problem without reinstalling the operating system
The developers of this OS have provided several options that allow you to recover the administrator account password, which will not require the user to start the process of reinstalling Seven.
There are two ways to unlock Windows 7:
- The first implies that the user has access to the OS itself, although you can do without logging into it;
- The second may be useful to those people who are deprived of such an opportunity. For example, to launch Windows 7 it was necessary to enter the user’s personal data.
Naturally, we need to consider each of them in more detail.
The first way is to use special utilities
So, you forgot your Windows 7 administrator password - what to do. Initially, you will need to download one of the images of the required utility:
- Disk option;
- Option for flash drive.
Naturally, you will have to record them on the selected media type. This is quite easy to do if you have one of the specialized programs at hand, for example, NERO or its equivalent.
Further user actions are as follows:
- The PC is restarted and then entered into the BIOS.
- The download priority changes to the option that implies the primary use of an external source with the utility required for the procedure.
- The computer startup procedure is initiated by the utility.
After the program starts running, the user must do the following if he wants to recover the administrator account password:
Specify the path to the operating system system folder:
- C:\Windows\System32\config.
- Enter the name of the administrator to whom you want to restore access.
- Press “Enter”, then successively “!” and "Y".
As a result, the system resets the password. The person only needs to restart the OS in normal mode, go into the system settings and specify new personal data.
Second way
If you have forgotten your password and there is no way to fully log into the OS, then to solve the problem a person will need to have a boot disk with the operating system. If such a tool is not at hand, then you will have to go to your friends to create the necessary recording drive on their work equipment.
- Boot the computer from the installation disk (Again, the startup priority in the BIOS changes).
- After some automatic processes have completed, a window will appear asking you to select a language. Click "Next".
- Next, select “System Restore”.
- “Next” again, after which you will need to launch a line to enter commands in the proposed list.
- Enter two commands one by one: copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\ and copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe.
- After this, it will be necessary to confirm the launched operation three times (“Enter”, “Y” and again to “Enter”).
The next stage is to initiate a system reboot. As a result, a proprietary window appears, where the user is prompted to enter his data for further login. You need to press the Shift button five times. The command line will appear again, where you can specify the administrator name and a new password option. The reboot is performed again, but the boot disk is used again, with which you will need to repeat all operations until the third launch with the command line.
The user can only enter the command copy c:\sethc.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe and click confirmation three more times.
The problem is solved - you can restart the PC in normal mode and use the new data to start.