Protecting your computer with a strong, unique password remains incredibly important. You can protect your smartphone or laptop with fingerprint, iris and other biometric scanners. However, a strong one-time password is a vital layer of protection.
Unlock "100+ Basic Windows CMD Commands" now!
This will sign you up for our newsletter.
Enter your email address unlock Read our privacy policy
But what happens if you forget your Windows XP password? Are you permanently locked out of your Windows XP account?
Fortunately, this is not the case. Here are five ways to reset the administrator password on a Windows XP laptop or computer.
Reset Windows XP Password Using Ctrl + Alt + Del
If your Windows XP system is configured to log in through the Welcome screen, there is a chance that you will be able to log in as a system administrator. Unfortunately, this also depends on not having a password for the administrator account.
When you boot your system, it will load the welcome screen. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete twice to load the user login panel.
Click OK to try to log in without a username or password. If this doesn't work, try entering Administrator in the Username field and clicking OK .
If you can sign in, go straight to Control Panel > User Account > Change Account . Then select the account for which you want to change the password and follow the onscreen instructions.
If there is another profile with administrator rights
If you have several accounts with administrator rights, then recovering a password that one of the users forgot is quite simple:
- Launch Control Panel from the Start menu. Go to the "Accounts" section.
- Open the settings of the profile whose access key has been lost. Proceed to change your password and set a different security code or remove the current one.
When you start Windows XP for the first time, an administrator profile is created that does not have a security key installed. If the user has forgotten the access code to his account, you can restore it through this built-in administrator:
- Restart your computer and press F8 at startup until the boot options menu appears. Launch Safe Mode.
- Log in to the built-in administrator account, which is not password protected.
- Go to the list of user-created profiles. Find the account whose access code has been lost. Open its settings and reset the security key or set a different password.
The same steps can be performed through the Windows XP command interpreter. Start safe mode with command line support and run a command like “net user username password”. In the command syntax you need to specify the name of the account to which access has been lost and new authorization data. After the reboot, try entering the key that you entered on the command line - the account should open without problems, after which you can completely remove protection from it.
Reset Windows XP Password Using Safe Mode and Command Prompt
If your Windows XP Administrator account is frustratingly inaccessible, you can try to reset your password using Safe Mode and Command Prompt.
To access Windows XP Safe Mode, you need to restart your computer. Press F8 while the computer boots. (Sometimes pressing F8 helps if you're unsure.) Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt .
Once you enter Safe Mode, Control Panel > User Account > Change Account . Then select the account for which you want to change the password and follow the onscreen instructions.
Hacking Sam file
If you need to find out the old password for some purpose, for example, so that the real owner does not find out about your intervention, then, once again consulting your conscience, we extract the files sam.sav and system.reg. They are located in the “X:\Windows\System32\config” and “X:\Windows\System\config” folders, respectively. But even if the system is booted to a user with administrator rights, sam.sav cannot be found - Windows XP does not reveal its secrets. You need to boot another system and find the required file through it. Now install a program for hacking Sam, for example, SAMinside or l0phtcrack, launch it, follow the instructions, wait. It will take some time to sort through the possible keys (this is how these programs work). True, if the password is too complex, uses different registers, Russian and Latin letters, numbers and symbols, there is a chance that the search for the required key will end in failure, which will be especially disappointing if the search lasts for a couple of days.
If for some reason you cannot log into your user in Windows XP, this is not a reason to get upset and reinstall the operating system. A few simple steps will help you reset your password and regain control of your computer, all you need is a little patience. As the saying goes, prepare your sleigh in the summer, so it’s better to write down programs for resetting passwords immediately after entering the password, then you won’t have to urgently look for another computer if something happens.
Resetting Windows XP password using another account
Resetting your Windows XP password through an alternate account only works if you are using Windows XP Professional.
Start by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage .
Then select System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users . Find your account, right-click and select Set Password .
Resetting Windows XP Password via Remote User Management
If you cannot access Computer Management using your own or an alternate account, you can use remote access.
On another computer (it doesn't have to be Windows XP, but it does have to be a Windows machine), in the Computer Management window, right-click Computer Management (Local). Select Connect to another computer , then select Another Computer .
Enter the IP address of the computer you want to connect to
If you are on the same network, it will be in the form of an internal LAN address, such as 192.168.xx. Alternatively, if you know the computer name, you can use it, such as \\DesktopPC.
If you're unsure and are connected to the same network, select Browse , then Advanced . Finally, select Find Now to scan your local network for computers on your network.
Once you have remote access, you can change your password by going to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users . Then find your account, right-click and select Set Password .
Resetting the security key
If there is no other account with administrator rights, or its owner also forgot the password, then you can restore access to Windows XP through ERD Commander (emergency recovery disk).
- Download and burn the ERD Commander image to a disk or flash drive. Set the BIOS to boot from a disk (flash drive) or select the media in the menu that appears after pressing the F11 key when starting the computer.
- Select to launch the version for Windows XP to remove protection from it.
- In the list of detected systems, find the installed version of XP.
- Open the "Start" menu. Under System Tools, select Locksmith.
The Change Security Key Wizard window will appear. To restore your Windows login information, click Next.
- In the “Account” field, select the user whose profile you want to return access to.
- Write the new key twice and click “Next”.
The new code must be specified, since without it it will not be possible to restore access. After completing the recovery wizard, restart your computer. If you changed the boot priority in the BIOS, then you need to return it to the standard settings - again put the hard drive in first place to start Windows XP. You will no longer need the ERD Commander media.
Log into your administrator profile using the passcode you just set using your rescue disk. A notification will appear asking you to change your password - click OK.
In the "Old password" field, enter the key that you specified through ERD Commander. You don't have to install a new security key if you no longer need to protect your administrator account.
Windows XP password reset: full format and reinstallation
If nothing but nothing else works and you're still somehow locked out of your account, there's only one option: fire. Okay, not fire. But you will have to remove the hard drive from your host computer, connect it to another computer to complete the backup, and then format the drive.
Once the formatting is complete, you can reinstall Windows XP and enter a new password that you can actually remember
,
Use LiveCD or USB
If you still can't log in, don't worry. There are two more fixes. The first is to use a bootable CD or bootable USB flash drive with Linux.
1.
Create a bootable disk or flash drive with the Linux operating system.
2.
Restart your Windows XP computer.
Press F12, ESC or Delete to select the boot device. When prompted, select CD or USB drive. 3.
Press
CTRL+L
to edit the path.
Type computer:///
to see all your drives.
Select your Windows installation, right-click and select “ Mount
”.
4.
Open a Linux terminal by pressing
CTRL+ALT+T
.
Run the following command to install the chntpw password reset utility: sudo apt-get install chntpw
.
5.
Change the working directory using the following command
cd /mnt/Windows/System32/config 6.
Retrieve the list of Windows users using the following command
sudo chntpw -1 SAM 7.
Find the username of your account.
Then use the following command to select an account: sudo chntpw -u “Username” SAM
.
Then enter 2
to enter edit mode.
8.
Enter the new password, press
Enter
to submit and
y
to confirm.
9.
Reboot into Windows and use the new password.
Third Method:
— After the password entry window opens, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete .
— Another password entry window will open, as shown in the figure below;
Here in the user line, you need to enter the word “Administrator” , and leave the password line unchanged, that is, empty and click “OK”.
- After this, Windows should start, then you need to go to the “Control Panel”, open “User Accounts”, select an account that is password protected.
Next in the list, select “Change password”;
Enter your new password and confirm it. That's it, you've changed your Windows XP password;
If you don't want to change your password, you can remove it altogether by selecting "Remove Password";
That's all, the password on your computer has been hacked in an easy and simple way. That's all for me on the topic: How to hack a forgotten Windows XP password?
Source
