Eight Methods:Administrative Privileges MethodRestart and Reset MethodOther Username MethodWindows XP MethodWindows XP Password Manager MethodWindows 2000 MethodLinux MethodHard Drive Method
Here are multiple ways to recover or change passwords on a Windows XP computer if you have forgotten your password.
Method 1 of 8: Administrative Privileges Method
- 1Use your admin privileges.If you are logged on to an account with administrative privileges, you can change user passwords using the following steps.Ad
- 2Click on the green Start button and click Run.
- 3Type cmd into the text box and press Enter.
- 4Type net user [Username of the Account] *. (For example, net user Administrator*). Then press Enter. Make sure you spell the username correctly, and you have the "*" after the username and space between username and "*".
- 5Type in what you would like to reset the password to, then press Enter. Type it in again and press Enter.
Method 2 of 8: Restart and Reset Method
- 1If you are logged out of the computer and cannot figure out the password at the start up screen, do the following. (This typically only works on Windows XP Home Edition.)
- 2Restart the computer.
- 3Tap the F8 button repeatedly while your computer starts up. You will get a screen with a list of options.
- 4Choose Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Press Enter to confirm your selection.
- 5Select your account. After waiting a while for all the drivers to load (all the scrolling stuff), you will get the Welcome Screen, where you choose an account to log into. We know that the other accounts you can't get into, but there should be a new account calledAdministrator.
- 6Click on the Administrator account and then use the Administrative Privileges Method above to reset someone's password.
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Method 3 of 8: Other Username Method
- 1Log in with any valid account.
- 2Go to Start menu.
- 3Click on “Run” and type “cmd”. Click OK.
- 4Type the “net user” command to view the user accounts list.
- 5Choose the account for which you want to change the password. For example, if you change the password of administrator account, type the command “net user administrator *” without quotes. Type the new password for the user and retype the password to confirm and press enter. The password has been successfully changed.
- Note that this might not work on a limited account.
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Method 4 of 8: Windows XP Method
- 1Boot off your XP disk.
- 2Start an installation and 'Repair' your windows installation.
- 3When the progress bar says 'Installing Devices', press Shift-F10 to get a command window.
- 4Type NUSRMGR.CPL to get the User Accounts control panel. Change what you like.
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Method 5 of 8: Windows XP Password Manager Method
- 1Download and install Windows Password changer from www.password-changer.com on another computer.
- 2Run the software to create a password recovery disk with a CD or USB drive.
- 3Boot the Windows operating system from “Active password changer” CD and chose the “Active Password changer” option.
- 4Chose the second option of “search for MS SAM Database on all hard disk and logical drives”.
- 5Press Enter to continue.
- 6Chose the account number for changing the password.
- 7Press “Y” to save the changes and exit.
- 8Press any key to restart the system.
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Method 6 of 8: Windows 2000 Method
- 1Use a Windows 2000 recovery CD to boot the machine.
- 2Start the Windows Recovery Console.
- 3Access anything you like.
- 4Add a user with Administrator privileges.
- 5Change the Administrator password.
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Method 7 of 8: Linux Method
- 1Boot the machine with a recent version of Linux that runs off CD.
- 2Mount the Windows drive (or volume with 'Documents and Settings' in it).
- 3Access whatever files and folders you need to.
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Method 8 of 8: Hard Drive Method
- 1Pull the hard drive from the machine.
- 2Install it in a drive enclosure.
- Or plug it into another machine's IDE/SATA/SCSI/(whatever it is) port and give it power.
- 3Boot up with that second machine's normal boot drive as 'Administrator' and access or change permissions on any files on the drive you like.
- 4Put the drive back in its original case.Ad
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