Disabled auto-login in windows 7 and now I can not log in

Question

I bought an old Toshiba from craigslist which was set up with Windows 7 Ultimate and an administrator account. I didn't want to bother logging in anymore, so after some Googling, I unchecked "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" in the User Accounts window (you access it by entering "control userpasswords2" in the Run menu).

Now when the machine starts up, I am asked to log in, but the username and password do not work. I tried entering in blank values, I tried entering in a blank password, and I tried restarting in safe mode, but I get the same results.

I don't have password recovery media, and I am pretty sure the key on the bottom of this computer is older than Windows 7, so I can't just reinstall it.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

The answer to the problem is to reset the password using a Linux tool of some kind. There are several suggested in How can reset Windows administrator password? and I used Offline NT password and registry editor

Answer 2

TRK for the win! Provided you don't have any encrypted files you need to save on the Administrator account, this should work like a charm. Just make sure you do your due diligence while reading how to use it, otherwise I'm sure you could find a way to do some serious damage with that disc.

It's pretty simple. There's a Windows Password Reset option on the menu (or something similar). Set it to a blank password and voila. If there were encrypted files on the Administrator account (note that you CAN set all your Libraries to be encrypted, not just individual files) you WILL lose access to them.