Resetting Windows Password

Tested on: NT 3.51, NT 4 (all versions and SPs), Windows 2000 (all versions & SPs),
Windows XP (all versions, also SP2 and SP3), Windows Server 2003 (all SPs),
Windows Vista 32 and 64 bit (SP1 also), Window 7 (all variants). Some also say that it
works on Windows Server 2008 too.
If used on users that have EFS encrypted files, and the system is XP or Vista, all
encrypted files for that user will be UNREADABLE! and cannot be recovered unless
you remember the old password again. If you dont know if you have encrypted files
or not, you most likely dont have them (except maybe on corporate systems).

Boot your computer with Hirens BootCD and follow the steps below for resetting
your password:
1. Enter Offline NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer
With Up & Down keys select Offline NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer and
press Enter.

2. Wait for Offline NT Password & Registry Editor to

Load
On the screen below, youll see is several lines of text that quickly run down the
screen. You dont need to do anything here. Wait for Offline NT Password & Registry
Editor to load.

1. Select "NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer"

2. Linux files are loading...

3. Choose the Correct Hard Drive Partition

This step in the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor process is to select the
partition that contains the Windows installation that you want to delete a password
from.
Many computers have a single operating system installed on a single partition on a
single hard drive, making this a very easy choice.
If thats the case for you, just press ENTER to accept the default partition. Otherwise,
type the number corresponding to the correct partition from the Candidate Windows
partitions found list and then press ENTER.
If more than one partition is listed and youre not sure which one to pick, chances are
the larger partition is the one with Windows installed.

Every Windows 7 PC will have more than one partition listed.

4. Confirm the Windows Registry Path

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know the exact location of the
Windows Registry. Except in the rarest of occasions, the default location will be the
correct one.
Just Press ENTER to accept the default Windows Registry path without writing
anything else.

3. Choose the Correct Hard Drive Partition

4. Confirm the Windows Registry Path

5. Choose the Password Reset Option

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is now asking which part of the registry it
should load.
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of Password reset.
The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor tool can perform various functions aside
from resetting passwords but since thats the focus of this particular walkthrough,
thats all well discuss.

6. Choose the Edit User Data and Passwords Option

Now that the registry is loaded and available to the program, Offline NT Password &
Registry Editor needs to know exactly what you want to do.
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of Edit user data and passwords.
This will load the necessary options for the actual password reset.
 5. Choose the Password Reset Option

6. Choose the Edit User Data and Passwords Option

7. Enter the Username to Edit

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know which users password
youd like to delete (erase, clear, blank, remove, call it what you like).
A default user is listed between the brackets at the prompt. In the above example,
you can see that its the Administrator user.
If the default user is the user youd like to remove the password from, simply press
ENTER. Otherwise, enter the username and then press ENTER.

8. Type 1 to Clear (blank) user password and then press

ENTER
At the bottom of the screen youll see the User Edit Menu with several options to
choose from.
Type 1 for Clear (blank) user password and then press ENTER.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor shows some interesting information about the
username you entered in the last step the full name, what groups the user belongs
to, how many failed login attempts have taken place, how many total logins have
been completed, and more.

If you see a check in the Passwd not req. box, this means that a password is not a
requirement for this particular user. It does not mean that a password is not required
to access the account in Windows. In other words, its saying that it is possible to
erase this users password.
 7. Enter the Username to Edit

8. Type 1 to Clear (blank) user password and then press ENTER

9. Type ! to quit the User Edit Tool

Assuming there werent any problems, you should see a Password cleared! message
after entering 1 in the previous step.
Type ! to quit editing user and then press ENTER.
You must confirm these changes in a later step before they are actually complete. If
you quit Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now then the password reset will not
take place!

10. Type q to Quit Offline NT Password & Registry Editor

Enter q and then press ENTER to quit the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
registry editing tool.
Important: Youre still not done! You need to confirm your password reset change in
the next step before it will take effect.

9. Type ! to quit the User Edit Tool

10. Type q to Quit Offline NT Password & Registry Editor

11. Type y and then press ENTER to confirm Password

Reset Changes
At the Step FOUR: Writing back changes menu, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
asks if you want to write file(s) back.
Type y and then press ENTER.
You should see an EDIT COMPLETE message appear on screen. If you do, it means
that Offline NT Password & Registry Editor has written the password changes to your
computer!

12. Confirm That Youre Finished Using Offline NT

Password & Registry Editor
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor gives you an option here to rerun the program.
If youve been following along with this guide and everything seems to have worked
properly then theres little reason to repeat anything.
Press ENTER to confirm the default option of not rerunning the password reset.

11. Type y and then press ENTER to confirm Password Reset Changes

12. Press ENTER to Confirm That You're Finished Using Offline NT Password & Registry Editor

13. Remove Hirens BootCD and Restart the Computer

Thats it! Youve just completed the entire Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
password removal process.

13. Remove Hiren's BootCD and Restart the Computer

Note: If you receive a job control turned off or a cant access tty error, dont
worry. As long as the EDIT COMPLETE confirmation message was posted to the
screen after you confirmed the password reset changes then your password was
successfully reset. You should still be able to see the confirmation on the screen at
this point.
Remove Hirens BootCD from your CD/DVD drive and then manually reset your
computer.
In the next step, youll finally get to logon to Windows without entering a password!
Now that your password has been removed using Offline NT Password & Registry
Editor, no password is required to log on to Windows.
If you are the only user on your computer, Windows will boot all the way to the
desktop on the next reboot and will skip the logon screen altogether.
If youre on a multi-user computer (as many families are), the logon screen will still
appear after starting Windows but when you click on the user that had the password
removed, you will not be prompted for a password and will instead enter Windows
automatically.
Having a secure password is important so please dont continue to use Windows
without one. As soon as youve gained access to your computer again, configure a
new password one you can remember a little easier!