How to log on to your Windows computer if you forget your password or if your password expires?

 

If you forget your Windows password or if your password expires, you must reset your password before you can log on to your computer. This article contains two methods that you can try to reset your password so that you can log on to your computer again.

This article is intended for a beginning to intermediate computer user.
You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first.

You can see our related article at : Reset Windows Administrator Password

Fix:

Reset forgotten or expired password

If you forget your password or if your password expires, there are three methods that you can use to log on to create a new password. One method is to use a password reset disk, if you have created one. By using the password reset disk, you can recover your user account and your personalized computer settings. Another method is to log on using the administrator account to delete the forgotten password and then to create a new password, The third method is to use windows password recovery tool. You only need to reset the password to “Blank” without reformatting or reinstalling your system
The instructions guide you through each step and help you verify that the problem is resolved.

Method 1: Use a password reset disk

To log on to the computer by using a password reset disk, follow these steps. If your computer is or was a member of a domain, go to the "Windows XP Professional in a domain" section and follow those steps.

Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional

1. Restart the computer. On the Windows XP logon screen, click the user name that you want to use, and then press ENTER.
   Note You receive the following error message:

Did you forget your password? You can click the "?" button to see your password hint. Or you can use your password reset disk. Please type your password again. Be sure to use the correct uppercase and lowercase letters.

1. Click Use your password reset disk. The Password Reset Wizard starts. The Password Reset Wizard enables you to create a new password for your user account.
2. In the Password Reset Wizard dialog box, click Next.
3. Insert the password reset disc into the CD drive, and then click Next.
4. Type a new password in the Type a new password box, and then type the password again in the Type the password again to confirm box.
5. In the Type a new password hint box, type a hint for the password, and then click Next.
6. Click Finish, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

If you were able to reset your password and are now able to log on successfully, you have resolved the issue, and you are finished. If you are still unable to log on, try method 2.

Windows XP Professional in a domain

To log on to a computer by using a password reset disk, when that computer is a member of a domain, or was disconnected from a domain, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer.
2. In the Welcome to Windows dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
3. In the Log On to Windows dialog box, type an incorrect password in the Password box, and then click OK.
4. In the Logon Failed dialog box, click Reset. The Password Reset Wizard starts. You can use the Password Reset Wizard to create a new password for your local account.
5. On the Welcome to the Password Reset Wizard page, click Next.
6. Insert the password reset disc into the CD drive, and then click Next.
7. Type a new password in the Type a new password box, and then type the password again in the Type the password again to confirm box.
8. In the Type a new password hint box, type a hint for the password, and then click Next.
9. Click Finish, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

If you were able to reset your password and are now able to log on successfully, you have resolved the issue, and you are finished. If you are still unable to log on, try method 2.

Method 2: Log on as an administrator to reset the password

If you did not create a password reset disk, you may be able to log on as an administrator to reset a forgotten or expired password. The steps to do this differ if the computer is a stand-alone computer or a member of a workgroup of two or more, or a member of a domain. Select the appropriate set of steps from the following to try to log on as the administrator to reset the password.

Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional

To log on to a computer as the administrator to reset a password, try the following steps.

1. Log on as an administrator.
   1. Restart the computer.
   2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE two times, and then type the name of the administrator user account.
   3. In the Password box, type the administrator password, and then click OK.
      Note If the administrator password is set to a blank password, do not type a password before you click OK.

1. Reset the password.
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. Type control userpasswords2, and then click OK.
   3. On the Users tab, click the name of the user account that you want to reset the password for, and then click Reset Password.
   4. Type a new password in the New password box, and then type the password again in the Confirm new password box, and then click OK.
   5. Restart the computer, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

If you can log on as an administrator to reset your password and you can now log on successfully, you have resolved the issue, and you are finished. If you are still unable to log on, go to the "Next Steps" section.

Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional in a workgroup

To log on to a computer as the administrator to reset a password, when that computer is in a workgroup of more than one member, follow these steps:

1. Log on as an administrator.
   1. Restart the computer, and then press the F8 key during startup until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears.
   2. On the Windows Advanced Options menu, use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
   3. Select Microsoft Windows XP edition, and then press ENTER.
      Note In this step, edition represents the correct Windows edition.
   4. On the To begin, click your user name screen, click Administrator, and then type the administrator password.
   5. Press ENTER, and then click Yes.

1. Reset the password.
   1. Click Start and then click Run.
   2. Type control userpasswords2, and then click OK.
   3. Click the name of the user account that you want to reset the password for.
   4. Click Change the Password, and then type a new password.
      Note If you do not want to use a password, click Remove password, and then continue to step "e."
   5. Click Change Password.
   6. Restart the computer, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

If you can log on as an administrator to reset your password and can now log on successfully, you have resolved the issue, and you are finished. If you are still unable to log on, go to the "Next Steps" section.

Windows XP Professional in a domain

To log on to a computer as the administrator to reset a password, when that computer is a member of a domain, follow these steps:

1. Log on as an administrator.
   1. In the Welcome to Windows dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then type the name of the administrator user account.
   2. In the Password box, type the administrator password, and then click OK.
      Note If the administrator password is set to a blank password, do not type a password before you click OK.

1. Reset the password.
   1. Click Start and then click Run.
   2. Type compmgmt.msc , and then click OK.
   3. In the Computer Management (Local) dialog box, expand Local Users and Groups.
   4. Click the Users folder, and then right-click the user account that you want to reset the password for.
   5. Click Set Password, and then click Proceed.
   6. Type a new password in the New password box, type the password again in the Confirm password box, and then click OK two times.

Restart the computer, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

Method 3: Use windows password recovery tool

If you are not a computer technician, or not familiar with computer system operations, you may feel the above methods are scary and still can’t figure out what I am saying. Then you may try to use the software programs which may suit you. I’ve found that Windows Password Recovery Tool is the most effective. The program can easily reset the password to “Blank” without reformatting or reinstalling your system. Follow these steps:

1. Download Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0
2. Burn your Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 CD.
3. Insert newly created CD in your CD drive and reboot your computer.
4. Select Windows installation to be processed:

5. Select the account to reset the password for:

6. Reset your lost password.

7. The user’s password has been successfully reset

The third method can 100% reset any windows login password . It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password.

This is a guest post by Mark from WindowsPasswordsRecovery.com. Thanks Mark for the guest article.

This content is just a summary, read the full article at ©2010 TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles. All Rights Reserved.

Forgot Windows Password or Windows Password Expired ? – Recover Windows Password is a post from TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles

Trouble 1 :

When my pc gets started the desktop shows an error message every time
-"D:/windows/eksplorasi.exe" file is missing.How to get rid of this? – Rajish

Fix:

This problem occurs due to remaining registry entries for missing executable files which are usually viruses removed by your antivirus softwares. You can remove such errors by registry cleaning. See this article for the solution : Windows Can Not Find svchost.exe

Trouble 2 :

Explorer restarts when USB hard drive accessed . – Prateek

Fix:

This kind of problem is faced when there is something wrong with the file system or there is some virus in the pen drive. To fix it, first do scan disk and after this to remove virus, see this article: Computer Restarts On Inserting Pen Drive

Trouble 3 :

I am very badly facing this issue GENERIC HOST FOR WIN32 SERVICES error,and
when i click on Don’t send the internet does not work at all. – Nasir

Fix:

See the solution in this article : Generic Host Process For Win32 Services Has Encountered A Problem And Needs To Close

 Trouble 4 :

I am running windows vista 32bit. My display settings keep changing from 1360×768
pixels to 800×600 pixels on its own . can you please help? – Rodney

Fix:

Screen resolution usually changes when you run an application that needs to change screen resolution. Typically when you play a game or run some display intensive application, the resolution changes. This is a problem with the application you are running. For solving this issue, you need to ensure that the graphics driver and DirectX version is correct.  See the below articles to files the same: Flickering Graphics While Playing Games and Display Resolution Degraded

Trouble 5 :

I am using Windows XP by mistakenly I disables Administrator account. Now i have
only guest account. Please help me to enable admin account. – Rohith

Fix:

You can upgrade your limited account to Administrator account using this article : Get Administrator Rights In Windows Limited Account and Reset Administrator Password In Windows

You can submit your problems to us at Our Submit Problem Page.

This content is just a summary, read the full article at ©2010 TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles. All Rights Reserved.

Ask TroubleFixers – Solutions To Computer Problems – #14 is a post from TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles

Trouble 1 :

I click on Internet Explorer, it goes to open then immediately closes and the only way I can surf the Internet is with Firefox. Is there a way of fixing this problem?  – Stan

Fix:

Internet Explorer crashes sometimes due to corrupt or malicious add-ons or some other file corruption problems. You can either disable the add ons or Uninstall Internet Explorer and Install it again.

See these articles for detail:

1. Internet Explorer Crashes With Message “Iexplore.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close”

2. Uninstall Internet Explorer Completely

Trouble 2 :

My laptop uses 100% CPU when I try to open any folder.And it does not show any thing. Computer almost hangs. Does not respond to any thing at all. – Gireesh

 

Fix:

This usually happens due to some virus or some other malfunctioning application. See this article to solve the problem : SVCHOST Using 100% CPU and Memory

Trouble 3 :

my pc displays a message windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>\system32\hal.dll  – Usha

Fix:

hal.dll is an important file needed for Windows. See this article to solve hal.dll problem –

Hal.dll is Missing or Corrupt in Windows

Trouble 4 :

I have dell d800 latitude laptop and that is protected with the admin password and i don’t know the admin password can you help me how can i removed the admin password ? – Adnan

Fix:

To reset the windows admin password, see our article on : Forgot Windows Password – Reset Windows Password.

Trouble 5 :

When I download a video the video plays but the screen remains dark. I can hear the video but cannot see anything. – Steve

Fix:

The problem seems like either graphics problem or codecs problem. See the two solutions below:

1. Can Not Play Video In Windows Media Player

2. Install Graphics Cards For Windows

Hope you find these solutions useful. You can submit your problems to us at Our Submit Problem Page.

This content is just a summary, read the full article at ©2010 TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles. All Rights Reserved.

Ask TroubleFixers – Solutions To Computer Problems – #11 is a post from TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles

If you forgot your Windows password you will not be able to login to windows.

So what to do in this case ? Is there a way to reset the Windows password ? Answer is yes, there is a way to reset or change the password.

Let’s see how we reset windows password.

Fix:

There is a convenient way to do it with a Windows NT password recovery CD which can used to reset the password for any account in Windows NT ,Windows 2000 ,Windows XP , Windows Vista.

Follow the below steps to rest your windows password:

1. Download the ISO image from here and burn a CD with this ISO image file.

2. Boot your computer using this bootable CD created in step 1. You may need to set your CD-ROM as first boot device in BIOS in order to boot from it.

3. Once you boot your computer with this CD, you will get a command based interface which is quite self-explanatory. On first screen, press enter key to boot in default mode.It will show screen like this:

4. After you boot, it gives option, it will show the drive partitions and will give the choice, "Please select the partition number." Press enter if windows is installed on C drive, else select the appropriate partition.

5. Now it will ask " What is path of Windows directory ?", press enter for default value.

6. Now it will show option "Select which part of registry to load" . Type 1 and press enter.

7. This will show the list of users on the windows. Type the name of the user for which you want to reset password and press enter.

8. Now it will show following choices

1. Clear the password

2. Edit password

3. Promote user

4. Unlock account

5. Quit

Press 1 and press enter.

9. It will show a message " Password cleared ! "

10. It will give options to select another user, just type "!" (Exclamation mark) without quotes and press enter.

It will show previous menu, type q and press enter to quit from this menu.

11.Now it will show message " About to write files back ! Do it ? [n] " . Type "y" without quotes and press enter. It will show message "Edit Complete.

Note: You can also try again if it somehow failed. New run [n] " Simple press enter.

12. Remove the bootable CD from the tray and restart your computer.

Password Cleared and Trouble Fixed !

This content is just a summary, read the full article at ©2010 TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles. All Rights Reserved.

Forgot Windows password ? Reset Windows password is a post from TroubleFixers - All about fixing computer troubles