Reset windows 8.1 administrator password

Question

I own a machine that is running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. It has an user account with limited rights - where I can login and the Administrator account for which i forgot the password. Both accounts are local and the computer doesn't belong to a domain.

Is there any possible way of resetting or removing the Administrator password?

Answer 1

Option 1

There is, but you need to have the Windows (7|8|8.1) install media available.

1. Start your PC off the (Disk|USB|HDD) that contains the install media
2. Once loaded, press Shift+F10. This will open a command prompt

3. Run the following commands in order:

   diskpart
   list vol
   

4. Once you find the right volume (your C: drive (it may have a different drive letter)), run exit

5. Now, run D: where D is your drive letter.
6. Run cd \Windows\System32
7. Run ren Utilman.exe Utilman_old.exe
8. Run copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe
9. Reboot

Once you get to the logon screen, click the Accessibility Options icon. Once the Command Prompt opens, run these commands, replacing user_to_change with the user you want to reset the password of:

net user user_to_change *

Enter a new password, enter it again (you won't see it) and log in. You can now go back to C:\Windows\System32 and delete the Utilman.exe that we made, and rename Utilman_old.exe to Utilman.exe

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Option 2

Boot your PC off Kon-Boot and it will allow you to log in without any password, and change your password (just don't do it through Security Options (the Ctrl+Alt+Delete menu)

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Option 3

You can reset your password using another tool called Hiren's BootCD.

Download Hiren's Boot from http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/, unzip it and use BurnCDCC.exe to burn the ISO to a DVD.

Boot using Hiren's Boot on your locked PC and in the menu shown select Offline NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 Password Changer and click Enter twice (for confirmation and to continue for the list of Linux Kernel Boot).

In the following prompt select the correct drive where the Windows is installed. Press Enter to confirm that your registry directory is Windows/system32/config.

On the chntpw Main Interactive Menu select 1 for Edit user data and passwords

Select the user you want to reset the password by typing the username and hitting Enter

There you have a list of options for this user. 1 should be for Clear the password. After successfully resetting your forgotten Windows password, type “!” to close the User Editor Tool.

Now type “q” and hit Enter to close the Offline Password Editor and Registry tool.

Now type “y” and hit Enter to confirm the password change.

Now it will ask you whether you want to use it again or not. Just type “n” and hit Enter.

Remove your CD and restart the PC and your user shouldn't have a password anymore. Source

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Option 4

Download and boot Offline NT Password Editor and follow the instructions to wipe out the password.

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You can use any one of these methods, they all work the same, and you'll end up with access to the Administrator account again.

Answer 2

Boot up any other system which gives you access to your files. now rename the file on c:\system32\Utilman.exe to eg Utilman.exe.bak and then copy c:\system32\cmd.exe to Utilman.exe

now boot up the windows system and before you log in, hit win+u (should be) and you have got a cmd with root access. now you can reset the password with

net user

Answer 3

Commander ERD64 Disc can reset the admin password...boot with the disc and access locksmith option.