Member Avatar for madwoman1973

hhhhhhhhhhhelp unable to get into comp forgotten password .how can i get round this with out rebooting.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by whiptail

Dani AI

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Short answer up front: Windows will not let a standard logged-out session be bypassed without some form of external access. That means the practical, reliable fixes require booting the machine into a recovery environment or using removable-media tools — there is no supported way to reset a local Windows account password from the normal login screen unless an already‑logged‑in administrator or a prebuilt reset disk exists.

Two commonly used, non-destructive approaches that avoid reinstalling the OS are:

  • a password‑recovery LiveCD (for example, tools that try to recover the hash to plaintext), and
  • an offline SAM editor that boots from external media and blanks or changes the account password.

High‑level workflow (safe checklist):

  1. Use another PC to download a recovery ISO and write it to CD/USB.
  2. Boot the locked machine from that media (change boot order if needed).
  3. Let the tool detect the Windows install and the user accounts. Choose recovery (try to recover the password) or reset/blank the password.
  4. Reboot back into Windows and sign in with the recovered or blanked password.
  5. After access, create a proper admin user or a password reset disk and verify access to any encrypted files.

Important cautions: do this only on machines you own or are authorized to administer. Resetting or blanking a password can make EFS‑protected files inaccessible and may break some services that rely on that account. If the data is critical, image the drive first or remove the disk and copy files to another machine. If Windows’ special startup modes fail on your machine (as described), bootable recovery media is usually the best next step. For future prevention, keep a secondary admin account, create a password reset disk, or use a password manager.

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Member Avatar for Dani

First of all, what operating system is this? Are you talking about the Windows user password or the BIOS password? (I assume the Windows one?) If that is the case, sorry but you're outta luck if you totally don't have any user account with a password you remember. It's time for a reformat.

Member Avatar for caperjack

I would first try safe mode and see if the Admin account has a password ,some time people just password the account with there name on it ,and don't even know there is a admin account in safe mode .If this is the case and you can get into safe mode go to users in control panel and create a new password to your account .

Member Avatar for whiptail

i have the same problem but when i start in safe mode it hangs after about 1-2mins. I have a guest account with no password, just for internet use and troubleshooting sort of stuff. help!!

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