How to Reset (Admin) Password on a Windows 7 Computer

I failed to access my Windows 7 Ultimate because I completely forgot the password for my account. I'm the administrator and have never created a password reset disk. How do I reset my admin account password without wiping any of data? Help...

When you first set up the computer, you may create an account with administrative privileges so you have full control over other users. However, this is easily done: you forgot the password of the admin account and thus lose access to the system. All is not lost, and here are a few things you can try to recover or reset admin password on Windows 7 and make your life easier again.

Method 1: Use Password Reset Disk on Windows 7

If you're proactive, you're supposed to keep a Windows 7 password reset disk in case of forgetting the administrator password and being locked out of the computer. If you don't have one, skip to Method 2 or Method 3.

Now grab the password reset disk to reset Windows 7 admin password instead of wiping the computer completely:

• On the locked logon screen, click "Reset password" link beneath the password box.
• When Windows Password Wizard window opens, insert the password reset disk to machine.
• Choose the reset disk from the drop-down menu.
• Click Next to type a new password and password hint.
• Click Finish button and you've recovered a forgotten admin password for Windows 7 PC & laptop, without involving the existing login credential.

Method 2: Use a Windows 7 Admin Password Reset Tool

The second option is to download a utility which focus on resetting a lost Windows 7 admin password. Admittedly, Spower Windows Password Reset is reliable and robust among many reputable password recovery services for Windows on the market.

• Download Now

Whether you've forgot or lost administrator password on a Windows 7 desktop & laptop, or you do not have a password reset disc beforehand, this tool can help you unlock or reset it in a fast and effective manner to regain access to the account. It also supports for all editions of Windows 7 (Home, Premium, Professional, etc.) and other major Windows-based systems: 10, 8, Vista, XP.

Download, install and run the desktop application on an available computer. By implementing following steps, you're able to immediately reset a forgotten Windows 7 admin password and bypass the login screen.

Tutorial: Recover Administrator Password on Windows 7

Step 1: Burn admin password reset USB drive (or CD/DVD)

To begin, you'll have to create a password reset disk. To do this, pop in the USB drive into an accessible PC, select it from pull-down menu, and then press USB device button.

Wait until the reset disk has been finished burning.

Step 2: Start the locked PC and boot it from password reset USB drive

After it's done, insert password reset USB drive or CD/DVD you've created in Step 1 to the locked Windows 7 machine, and reboot. You may need to change the boot order if the computer doesn't boot from the password reset disk automatically. Follow these documents to achieve this.

• How to Boot from USB on a Windows Computer
• How to Boot from CD/DVD-ROM on a Windows computer
• The Keys to Enter BIOS Setup

Step 3: Reset an administrator password in Windows 7

Once the computer boots up, you'll see the software list all the users in the system. Click on the password-locked admin account and click Reset button.

The program will do the reset and blank the forgotten Windows 7 administrator password instantly.

Now unplug USB flash drive and hit the Reboot button, you'll then jump right to the Windows 7 desktop without logging in.

Tip: In Step 3, instead of totally removing the admin password in Windows 7 computer, you can use the Add User function to add another administrator account to get into the machine, and then change the lost admin account password. This is only applied in Ultimate version of the software.

• Click Add User button, a dialog window opens.
• Type in a user name and password for the new admin account, and then click OK.
• Press Reboot button to restart the machine. Unlock Windows 7 with the newly created admin account password.
• Go to Control Panel, click on User Accounts, and then click "Manage another account" link. This will then list all Windows accounts.
• Select the locked administrative account you want to recover password for, and then click "Change the password" link.
• Type in new password and password hint, and click OK so the password change takes effect.

Method 3: Recover Admin Password for Windows 7 Using Command Prompt

In this method, you'll need a Windows 7 system repair disc or an installation CD/DVD, and a command line trick.

• Boot up computer, then insert system repair disc or installation disc to optical drive.
• When prompted, press any key. You may need to navigate to change boot order of the computer. We've explained in Step 2 of Method 2 above.
• When you've done that, click "Repair your computer" link in the lower-left side of the screen, and you'll eventually get to System Recovery Options screen.
• Note the location of operating system, and it might be C:, D:, or whatever. Click Next.
• On the next window, choose Command Prompt option.
• Once there, type these codes, and after each press Enter key. Replace x: in the first line with the actual location of operating system you've noted above.

d:

cd windows\system32

ren utilman.exe utilhold.exe

copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

exit



• After that, remove the disk and reboot.
• At the log-in screen, click the Ease of access icon at the lower-left corner to bring up a command prompt window.
• Run the net user command: net user username newpassword. Replace username and newpassword to whatever you prefer.
• Exit command prompt and you now log in Windows 7 with the new password.

That's all there's to it on resetting administrator password on a Windows 7 computer.