Unable to change password - Access is denied

Question

I installed Windows 7 on a computer in a workgroup a few weeks ago. Yesterday while logging, the user (administrator account) was prompted to change its password Your password has expired and must be changed.
It is not possible to change the password, the error is Access is denied.

There is a second administrator account on the computer, but it is hidden on the welcome screen. Normally, by clicking Ctrl-Alt-Del it should be possible to log in using that account, but for some reason, Ctrl-Alt-Del does not have any effect.

I could boot the PC on a CD and reset the password that way, but the computer is situated in a secondary office a two hours drive away.

Is there something else I could do ?

Answer 1

Thanks to @Nikolay's link, I was able to solve the problem :

1. Boot into Bios
2. Change the system date to a day before the event
3. Log into Windows
4. Correct the problem

In the user account settings, I had checked Password never expires and User cannot change password. I was sure there would not be problems. I did not know that the computer's Password Policy - Maximum password age overrides the local user's settings in a Workgroup environment.

To change this Policy, type secpol.msc at the command prompt, and set Account Policies - Password Policy - Maximum password age to 0.

Answer 2

Normally if the password is expired, we should be able to change the password without any problem. Make sure uncheck the User cannot change password option, which will prevent you from changing an expired password on the login screen.

Answer 3

Getting ready

You can restart the computer, press F8 and choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Then type in "net user" and press enter. Next, type "net user Administrator /active:yes" and press enter. It will have now created a Admin account. Then to shut down type in "shutdown /s". Or to restart type "shutdown /r".

Changing the password

Log on as "Administrator" and open Control Panel. Click on "User Accounts and Family Safety". Click on the User Accounts link. Toward the bottom of the Make changes to your user account area of the User Accounts window, click the Manage another account link. Click on the account that you want to change the password for. Under the Make changes to [username]'s account heading, click the Change the password link. Enter a new password for the user in the first and second text boxes. In the third and final text box, you're asked to Type a password hint. Then click the Change password button to confirm the password change.

Hope that answered your question. Jason