How to Reset Windows 2012 Server Administrator Password [2 Options]

How do I reset administrator password on Windows Server 2012 R2 that's running on VMware Workstation without deleting any files? A long time away from using the machine, now I can't access it since I forgot the login password.

It comes the time that for some reason you may forget Windows Server 2012 administrator password and locked yourself out of computer. Before going further, if your Server 2012 (R2) machine is a DC in the domain, the first thing you should do is check if there is any other user that has admin privileges. If so, you can use that user to reset Windows server 2012 admin password.

If you have no other administrator account, there is no need to worry, a lot of Windows Server 2012 password reset or recovery tools out there have made it easy for you to recover or reset password in Windows Server 2012 R2 and get you back in to system again.

Option 1: Reset Server 2012 password with installation CD

Losing password in Windows Server 2012 R2 seems scary at first, but luckily there's a quick fix that will solve your problem. If you have a server 2012 Installation disk, you can easily reset administrator password on server computer.

• Insert the Windows Server 2012 installation CD/DVD and boot from it.
• From the Install Windows menu, click Next > Repair your computer.
• On the Choose and option interface, click on Troubleshoot.
• On the Advanced options interface, click Command Prompt.
• When command prompt pops up, type the following commands:

d:

cd windows\system32

ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.old

copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

• Close the command prompt and then click Continue.
• The server should now boot and present the logon screen. Here click Windows Key + U.
• Command prompt will pop up, run the following command:

net user administrator NewPassword

Make sure you replace NewPassword with your own password. You should now be able to regain access to the server 2012 using the password you set in the last step.

For those who are running into system errors, you should get benefits from this article.

If this solution doesn't help reset Windows Server 2012 Admin password you lost or you don't have that disc, here is another efficient solution.

Option 2: Use Windows Server 2012 Password Reset Tool

Spower Windows Password Reset is, as the name implies, a great tool when it comes to resetting Windows Server 2012 administrator password without installation CD. It can crack the lost password quickly and log back onto system, no matter which type of account you're using, domain admin account or a local account. It also works for other versions of Windows. What's more, it allows you to add a new account that has admin rights on your computer.

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In this article I will show you how to reset administrator password on a Windows Server 2012 (R2) Essentials, but it also applies to a server running Server 2012 R2 Foundation, Standard or R2 Datacenter. The whole process is remarkably easy and quite quick.

Step 1: Run the software and create a password reset disc

Run this Windows Server 2012 R2 password reset software on any accessible computer, and plug in a blank USB flash drive or CD/DVD media to machine.

On the main interface, click on the USB device or CD/DVD button, in the next screen click the Start burning button. The tool begins creating a password reset disk for Server 2012 (R2).

Once done, pull the disk out of the machine and insert it into your locked PC that you need to reset the admin password in Windows Server 2012 (R2).

Step 2: Set locked PC to boot from the disk

Due to your computer boots from hard drive where has Windows Server 2012 installation normally, here you will have to change the boot order and set the Server 2012 password rest disk you just made as first boot device.

• How to boot from a USB drive in Windows
• How to boot from CD/DVD-ROM in Windows

Step 3: Reset forgotten Windows Server 2012 Admin password

The computer will restart and boot from the password reset disk first. You have to wait here (a minute or so) until it presents the program's screen, as shown below.

Now select your Windows Server 2012 system, and select the account that you need to reset the forgotten password from the list, and click Reset.

The tool begins doing its work and resetting the password for you. A few seconds later, the password will be reset to be Spower@2011 by default.

In additional to resetting Windows Server 2012 (R2) password, this program also comes with an Add User feature that allows user to create a new administrator account on the computer.

Related Article: How to Reset Windows 7 Password on HP

As the password is reset you can restart your computer by pressing Reboot button at the bottom of the screen, and remove the disk from the machine (!).

Now you can log on to your computer with new password. Make sure to configure a new password to replace the default password that the tool made for you.

That's it!