Introduction

If you have ever visited my blog before, you may noticed that I had written an article similar to this one already but I was using different software tool to reset administrator’s password. You can view the older post at How to reset administrator password on Windows using EBCD. Currently, the tool “EBCD” is already deprecated which means that the author doesn’t maintain this tool anymore. Hence, there will be no support, no new version of this tool.
Note: I have strike-through the old link above to indicate that it’s an old tool and I don’t recommend to use it anymore. But I want to keep it as an alternative and for reference.

Fortunately, I have found a new tool few months ago. But I haven’t time to write it until now.
The tool is PC Login Now. And again, it’s FREE. The Official website is PC Login Now. Let’s see some of its main features are:

  • Reset, unlock local Windows account’s passwords.
  • Support all version of Windows. Including Windows Vista, Windows XP/XP with SP2, Windows 2003 server , Windows 2000/NT.
  • Support wide ranges of hardware
  • Easy to use. It provides with user-friendly interface.

Note: As the same in the old post, I won’t responsible in any damage or failure of the system if you’re using this tool. So use at your own risk.

I want to recommend you to use this tool than the EBCD because it is more user-friendly rather than EBCD which is no longer support anymore. Also, PC Login Now clearly stated that it supports all version of Windows, Windows file system and many hardware.

Step-by-step

  1. Download PC Login Now from pcloginnow.com or you can download at Download page.
  2. The file is .iso format. You need to burn it to CD. You can use Nero, ImgBurn or any CD burning software.
  3. Once, you have burn the image on CD. It’s an bootable disc. Insert the CD and reboot the target system. When booting up the system, you must select to boot from the CD which you’ve just created.
  4. If you see the screen like the figure below, the system is loading from CD. But if the Windows is booting up, you may need to restart and configure your BIOS to make the system boot from CD.
    ISOLinux
  5. Waiting for the CD is finishes loading up the system.
    Booting the system
  6. You’ll see this screen once it has finished loading up. Click next to continue.
    PC Login Now 2.0
  7. It shows all available system. But normally, you should has only one system. Select it and click next.
    Select System
  8. Next, it lists all local Windows accounts in the system. Select the account you want to reset the password. Then, check on “password is empty” and click next.
    Note: You can select more than one account by hold CTRL button and select the accounts. Also, you can change other account’s attributes (enable/disabled, lock/unlock and password expire) by check/uncheck the boxes.
    Select Users
  9. It asks you if you want to reset another user. Select No.
    Reset Another User?
  10. Click OK to reboot the system. Don’t forget to remove your CD before reboot the system.
    Reboot the system
  11. Now test with the account that I’ve just reset to empty.
    Test with new blank password
  12. That’s it!. I have reset my administrator’s password to blank and it works. Easy and fast!.
    The Administrator's Password is reset!

Summary

This article doesn’t intend for hacking or cracking purpose. The purpose of this tutorial is for user who has forget their password and unable to access their files.

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