How To Clear Windows Log In Password

I was just given a used Dell Optiplex 780 Mini Tower computer. It has Windows XP Pro.

The problem is that it just boots up to the Windows Log In window, prompting me for the password. The old Username is already displayed there. The computer was from a batch of computers that were replaced at where one of my sisters works. So, I asked my sister if she could find out what the password was. She got with the girl who used to use that computer and gave me the supposed password. I tried that password, but still no dice.

So, is there a way I can clear the Windows Log In password? Preferably I'd like to in the process more like reset the entire settings so that the computer now just simply boots up to the Desktop sans any Windows Log In password prompt like my current computer.

 

You will need to open the case and temporarily remove the CR2032 battery on the motherboard. That will clear the password. Download the manual HERE.

 

That will clear a BIOS password not a Windows password.

 

There are a number of methods Hiren's boot cd has a simple procedure but it has been a while...
Had a look on Youtube and found THIS

Good luck,
s.

 

ntPWedit. On many boot cd's. Probablty on Hiren's that Stephen_c16 mentions. Can be put on any thumbdrive to run from a command prompt when booted from a system rescue cd that you can make from your Windows system

https://4sysops.com/archives/free-ntpwedit-reset-windows-password/

 

Whew! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, guys. I've been up to my eyeballs helping out my dad on this bathroom modifying project.

Anyway --- @TimW: Oh yes, I did try Safe Mode within about a minute after first encountering that Windows Log In window. But, in hind sight not surprisingly ... there too the Log In window appears. It makes sense because if it was that easy to bypass the security Windows Log In window, any nefarious character could do it and wreak havoc.

@Earthling: I too thought of doing the ole removing the CMOS battery bit. But, in trying to confirm on the Net that that was the route to take, I ran across the same info that Mdonah mentions ... that that route doesn't clear the Windows password.

Stephen ... Imandy ... in just a couple of minutes after I finish this comment, I'm about to try another password possibility that my sister e-mailed today. If this alternative password doesn't work, I'll look into y'all's suggestions.

Well, I'm off to try that second password possibility.

 

This might work.
Under User name, type Administrator, ensure Password is empty, and press OK.

 

Nnnnnn NOPE! That didn't work, Eldon.

My sister said that the girl who used to use that computer was going to check in her home computer to see if maybe she had the password backed up in there somewhere. I commented to my sister that how could someone have been using that computer all this time and now suddenly not know the password. My sister said that it's that most of the employees there don't ever turn their computers off.

I'm not optimistic that that girl is going to have that password backed up.

 

Imandy Mann's method is for Windows 7. The computer has XP installed.

I've been trying to find v1 of Kon-boot; it is free and supports 32 bit versions of Windows.
If you have a dropbox account, you can grab it. I don't use dropbox and I don't want to create an account.
Link is on the right side of this page
http://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/index2.html

 

Forget my post. I thought I found an older version of the original kon-boot. It ended up being something modified by someone. That isn't what I wanted.

 

Here's a easy guide to download and install 'hiren's' on a computer you are now using to then boot the xp computer with it. From there you can change the password of the account name you know is there with ntpwedit or another tool on the cd.

http://www.thetechmentor.com/posts/how-to-reset-a-lost-or-forgotten-windows-password/

 

Alrighty, Imandy ... I bookmarked your link. At 592.5 Meg, there's no way I can download that with my Dial Up. I'll have to wait until the next time that I go over to my oldest sister's house and use her High Speed Internet and download it onto my Flash Drive.

Hmmm ... I'll first have to ask my sister if her Internet plan by any chance has a monthly bandwidth limit. That 592.5 Meg sure is a LOT-arnormous amount of bytes. Especially considering that when I go there, I'd for sure also be downloading several other Apps updates.

Thanks, Imandy.

 

Does anyone know if these methods are legit?

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-reset-recover-forgotten-windows-nt-2000-xp-2003-administrator-password/

I'm particularly interested in methods #2 and #5.

Now ... IF method #2 is legit, would I be able to create that Password Reset Disk on my current (working) Windows XP computer and then use it on that other computer that I was given?

As to method #5 ... is any of those Rescue Disks significantly better than the others? Or are they all pretty much about equal?

 

Yes they are.

First try method #1 if it's different to what I suggested in post #8, meaning it shows the Classic Login box.

Mehtod #2 is for the PC on which the Password Reset Disk was created.

They are huge downloads.

Try the following.
http://www.prime-expert.com/ebcd/
The download is at the top left, it's a 16.4 MB download and please note:

Therefor, you have to create a bootable USB flash drive.
Here are detailed instructions on how to reset the password.
http://ebcd-v1.prime-expert.com/ebcd_ntreg_passwd.pdf

 

Okay ... now the question is how do I create a bootable USB Flash Drive?
I tried using PortableApps.com's Rufus Portable using the ISO image in your link and was informed that that ISO image was either non-bootable or had a boot compression not compatible with Rufus.

So what App do I use to create my bootable USB Flash Drive with the ISO image in your link? I'm already drooling at the thought of getting to use my new more powerful computer. I thought I was ever so closing to firing it up with the Rufus route. Seemed easy enough. And then ... DENIED!

 

Why are you still using XP?

For that matter, do you have XP recovery media?

 

Burn the iso to a cd. I just tried a usb and got the same as you. It's made for a cd. It ran. You select the password tool from the screen. It listed all users on this machine. I picked one to change and it tested the change but will not write to the disk because it is a demo version. All hard drives are opened in read-only mode. Takes a few minutes between each screen s give it a wait. The full version would do fine I suspect.

 

Chim give me 30 minutes.

 

Here's another I just d/l'd and tried on the '7 here. Works good. You need to find a way to get some download time from a friend or café or somewhere to get a cd made. I'd give you a couple of my cd's if I could. I can hear the wish for in your post.

https://falconfour.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/falconfours-ultimate-boot-cd-usb-v4-6-f4ubcd/

 

Sorry Eldon - we stepped on each other. Didn't see ya.

 

No problem.

Chim, bad news. I used UNetbootin to create a USB flash drive with EBCD. It tries to boot but shows multiple errors. As Imandy Mann posted, that ISO is for a CD. And "Demo version of EBCD can only read from fixed disks, it can't write to them." refers to the PC's internal HDD, not a CD.
I then burned the ISO to a CD-RW. It booted, I followed the instructions but the password wasn't reset because the demo version doesn't write to the HDD. Again, as posted by Imandy Mann.
Sorry about that.

Do you have a Windows XP CD? If not, hopefully a member can advise where to download an ISO to burn to CD.

 

Sure, Eldon, take 30 minutes. Take an hour. I'll be watching The Hulk on MeTV in the meantime.

I burned that Emergency Boot CD ISO to a CD as you mentioned, Imandy. MAN! So close and yet so far away. I thought for sure the password changing / unlock process was going through all the way. Then Wooooosh! The rug got pulled out from under my feet at the last second. Looks like it would have worked great, but I'm not quite ready to pay the $39.95 for the full version yet.

I bookmarked that F4UBCD link as another possibility ... for once I get access to my periodic access to High Speed Internet.

Well, actually, compared to the various 500 Meg and 600 Meg download possibilities ... the AVG Rescue CD at 199 Meg and the Kaspersky Rescue Disk at 276 Meg don't sound too bad of downloads ---IF they can do the job. I'd still have to wait until I get to use my sister's High Speed Internet, but they're definitely smaller downloads.

=====

Ohhh, I see you're back, Eldon. Yeah, I did come to the conclusion during my little EBCD experiment that they were referring to the HD and not the CD as being Read Only mode.

 

As to having a Windows XP CD, Eldon? Nnnnggg, I used to have one that came with an old HP Pavilion 6735 that someone had given me some years back. After the computer finally bit the dust, the Windows XP CD lingered around for a while. But, as I understood it (right or wrong), I wasn't supposed to use it on any computer other than that HP Pavilion to which it pertained. Consequently, I finally folded it like a Taco and shattered it and threw it away. So no Windows XP CD anymore.

Out of curiosity and for future reference --- COULD that Windows XP CD have been used LEGALLY on another computer just for the purpose of unlocking and changing a password like in this case?

 

You know something - the disk in this optiplex could be put in as a secondary in a different computer and then it would be offline and ntpwedit would work on the offline system. Do you think you could do this. The ntpwedit download is small and the time involved to put in a drive is almost nothing.

 

I was going to suggest you use the Windows XP CD to repair the current installation. You can legally use a Windows XP CD to repair any XP installation. But, if you're prompted for a product key you must enter the product key of the installed Windows.
I'm trying another tool...

 

I'll be frank, Imandy. Installing a second HD is beyond the scope of my experience. It almost assuredly involves going into the Boot Setup and changing settings and stuff, right? If something went wrong and I FUBARed my current Dell GX280 computer, I'd be down to my prehistoric Gateway with Windows 98SE! If I had a spare with at least Windows XP, I wouldn't mind trying out that second HD idea.

Well, Eldon, I see now that in hindsight, it was obviously ill-advised for me to have thrown away that Windows XP CD. Doh! At least I know now for next time if the situation presents itself.

 

All is not lost.

Go here.
http://www.chntpw.com/download/
I downloaded usb140201.zip. (16.5 MB)
Then click BURN TO CD/USB and scroll down to Burn Chntpw to USB.

Then go here.
http://www.chntpw.com/guide/
If you can't print the instructions... I hope you have a good memory.

Restart the PC with the USB drive connected. Look for which key to press to select the boot drive (on my PC it's F11), use the arrow keys to highlight the USB drive and hit enter.
Follow the onscreen instructions.

 

Cool. Alright. I'll set that chntpw to download now, Eldon. That'll take around an hour or so. So, I may or may not get around to performing the nitty gritty task of hocus pocussing the password tonight. If I don't get around to it tonight, I'll for sure get around to it sometime in the morning. And I'll for sure let you know how it went.

Super Thanks to you and Imandy for all the time and work that y'all have put in into trying to help me get this issue remedied.

 

I have XP CDs (Home, Pro, Media Center) in my stash. I would need to image them. However, they are older .iso images without Service Packs.

 

I have the Windows XP SP3 update file in my Flash Drive. That's how I got this computer, which came with Windows XP SP2, up to Sp3 status.

 

@#$% WHY is it that every time that it appears that I am about to cross the finish line ... BAMM! A friggin' unforeseen obstacle appears?

Okay, Eldon ... after I extracted the contents of the usb140201 Zip file, there is no ISO image file in there ... no file in there with the .iso extension. So, consequently, the ISO2Disc supposed easy and automatic method mentioned in there for creating the bootable USB Flash Drive naturally cannot recognize any ISO image file and thus cannot proceed. Where is the extracted ISO image? Shouldn't there be a file in there with the .iso extension? What am I missing?

When that didn't work, I even got somewhat bold and thought I'd try the original way of doing things. I put all the extracted contents into my Flash Drive's Root Directory. I then attempted to perform that bit mentioned in there about executing that command in the elevated DOS prompt. I brought up the DOS prompt from Start>All Programs>Accessories. Well ... then I realized I last used MSDOS back in 1999! I tried this and that, but got absolutely nowhere what with that brick wall in front of me.

 

The above is from post #28...

That is Command Prompt, not MSDOS.

The above is from post #28.

Read post #28 again, including the info from the links.

 

Instead of going through all this, you could just get a Windows 7 key for as little as $25.

I have images on a OneDrive for download:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Aus47WpmlzFPgSpTAMgwUz11pB1y

 

Whew! I'm finally back. I would have been back way sooner to update y'all, but I'll have to put the blame squarely on McAfee. I'll explain later.

Anyway ... after my last comment and before y'all's comments ... after the bootable USB idea failed, I decided to give the bootable CD idea a shot. It WORKED! YES! Yep, that chntpw did the trick! I finally now got past that formerly relentless Windows Log In window.

I already started my maintenance, files & apps cleaning up, setting up, configuring, Etc. I don't know what was up with the McAfee that this computer had --- maybe because it was a business version or something, but I kid y'all not ... it took around a little over THREE HOURS to uninstall!!! And I haven't even tried MCPR again. I had tried it way in the beginning and it immediately quit and informed me that the uninstall was not complete because the computer had "Enterprise software" or something. Hopefully the subsequent run of MCPR doesn't eat up another hour.

Eldon ... yes, I did remember and was aware of that bit about copying the extracted files to the root directory of my USB. But, then the additional info on the chntpw website threw me off with the additional stuff about setting the boot order with the elevated prompt thing. I figured if I didn't take care of that, the USB wouldn't be bootable. I somewhat deduced later after the fact that maybe the USB might boot just fine without that step. Sorry, I don't know these things like y'all do.

That said --- THANKS again, Eldon! You came through big time on this one. You are a Terminator ... a Problem Terminator. You Schwarzeneggerized that problem into submission.

 

Mekanic ... IMO, if you think about it, my inquiry about my issue in this thread had nothing to do with Windows XP being the problem here. As far as I can see, my issue had nothing to do with ANY Windows version in particular. Having had Windows 7 wouldn't have prevented anything here. Simply put, a security measure --- the Windows Log In window was set up by the IT department of the previous owners of this computer and the security measure was doing its job. No need to malign, throw Windows XP under the bus or whatever when it didn't do anything wrong regardless of its age.

 

It was a simple suggestion that a cheap upgrade to a supported operating system would be less of a headache.

If you want an XP image, such can be supplied and enjoy the images available for download should you ever need one.

And there will be no bashing. The fact is still running XP is a more than significant security risk. Google Chrome no longer supports XP. You need to "play tricks" to install the latest version of Firefox, if you can. IE 8 is no longer supported by a multitude of websites.

Bottom line, it's an XP user's own funeral.

 

For now I don't have any trouble accessing any site that I want. I'm using Maxthon Cloud ... and Opera still works fine although I can't go any higher than Opera 36. Once it gets problematic to navigate on the Net and do much of anything, I won't have a choice but to upgrade.

Anyway, we'll consider this issue of the Windows Log In window RESOLVED.