Forgot Administrator Password on Windows 7/Vista/XP?

Forgot administrator password on your Windows 7 laptop? Image worst case scenario when you try to login to your computer after many days (months may be) and you forgot the administrator password. Even the password hint doesn't seem to help. Now what? Oh, and the administrator was the only admin account.

There are lots of ways you can lose access to your Windows administrator account. To reset administrator password on Windows 7/Vista/XP, we are going to use the Reset Windows Password utility, which can be used to reset Windows administrator password from a boot CD or USB drive. This can be very useful if you forgot administrator password and can't log on your computer.

Part 1: Burn a bootable CD/DVD or USB flash drive

1. Download and save the Reset Windows Password self-extracting Zip file to a folder on your hard drive, then extract the ISO image file: ResetWindowsPwd.iso from it.
2. Insert a blank CD/DVD or USB flash drive into the computer.
3. Download and install the ISO2Disc utility, launch the program.
4. Click the Browse button to locate your ISO image file, then click the Start Burn button to burn the ISO image to your CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

Part 2: Change BIOS Settings

1. Boot your locked computer. When it is powered on, check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
2. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab, then change the Boot Device Priority: Set 1st Boot Device to CD/DVD so you can boot from CD and perform password resetting, or set 1st Boot Device to Removable Device if you want to boot from USB flash drive.
3. Press F10 to save your changes. Now your computer is able to boot from CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

Part 3: Reset Forgotten Windows Administrator Password

1. Insert the newly burned CD/DVD or USB flash drive to your locked computer, then reboot your computer.
2. Then you will see Reset Windows Password is initializing.
3. Simply select your Windows SAM registry hive if multiple operating systems have been installed on the computer, the program will list all Windows user accounts. Select the administrator account from the list, then click on the Reset Password button. It will remove your forgotten administrator password instantly.
4. Click the Restart button to reboot the computer and remove the CD or USB flash drive, you are able to log into the administrator account without a password.

If you've managed to recover access to your administrator account, try to set a good password hint for your new password. In the case you forget the administrator password, you can see the hint to get the clue of your password. Also, there are some other precautionary measures you can take before you forgot the administrator password on Windows 7/Vista/XP.