How to Reset Lost Active Directory Administrator Password

PCUnlocker is a rescue bootdisk that can help you reset forgotten Active Directory administrator password instantly. Unlike John the Ripper and other password cracking tools, PCUnlocker changes the password in no time instead of taking a very long time to recover it. After the password has been changed, we can login to domain administrator account with a new password.

Part 1: Create a PCUnlocker Live CD/USB Drive

PCUnlocker needs to be booted from a CD or USB stick to work. Before resetting Active Directory password, you need to use a spare PC to make a PCUnlocker Live CD/USB drive.

1. Download and save the PCUnlocker self-extracting ZIP file to your desktop. Once downloaded, extract the ISO file (pcunlocker.iso) from the ZIP file.
2. Download and install ISO2Disc, a free ISO burning software.
3. Launch the ISO2Disc program. Click the Browse button to locate the pcunlocker.iso file, then click the Start Burn button to create a bootable CD or USB drive.
   
   If you're going to use a USB drive to reset password for a UEFI-based computer, make sure you choose the GPT partition style which is required for UEFI boot.
   

Part 2: Reset Active Directory Administrator Password

1. Boot your domain controller from your newly created CD or USB drive.
2. Upon boot, Windows PE will load, the PCUnlocker program will start and locate the Windows SAM registry file and Active Directory database (ntds.dit).
   
3. You will be presented with the following two options:
    
   Reset Local Admin/User Password
   
   This option allows you to reset Windows local account password that is stored in the SAM registry file. After the local administrator password is reset, you can then log into Safe Mode or Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) without entering a password!
    
   Reset Active Directory Password
   
   Simply select the Active Directory database file (ntds.dit), the program will list the Active Directory user accounts available on your domain controller. Select the administrator account and click Reset Password button, the password will be changed to Password123.
   Note: While resetting the local or domain password, the program will also unlock/enable your selected account in the background if it is locked out or disabled.
   
4. Click the Restart button to reboot the computer and remove the CD or USB drive, you can then log into domain controller successfully.

Additionally, PCUnlocker allows you to load any IDE/SCSI/SATA/RAID driver on the fly and mount a VHD/VHDX virtual hard disk, by clicking the Options button.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows Azure VM Password

Did you forgot your Windows password of your Virtual Machine in Windows Azure? How can I bypass or reset the password? The virtual hard disks are .vhd files stored as page blobs in a storage account in Azure. PCUnlocker allows you to mount the .vhd or .vhdx files and then reset your forgotten Windows Azure VM password offline. Here are detailed instructions:

Part 1: Create A PCUnlocker Live CD/USB

1. Click here to download and save the PCUnlocker self-extracting Zip file to any computer that you have access to, then extract the ISO image file (pcunlocker.iso) from it.
2. Download and install the ISO2Disc utility, launch the program.
3. Click the Browse button to locate the PCUnlocker ISO image file, then click the Start Burn button to make a PCUnlocker Live CD or USB drive.
   

Part 2: Boot from PCUnlocker Live CD/USB

1. Insert your burned CD (or USB drive) into the physical computer that your VHD file is stored on.
2. Turn on the computer and check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab, then change the Boot Device Priority: Set 1st Boot Device to CDROM if you've created a Live CD, or set 1st Boot Device to Removable Device if a USB drive was created.
   
4. Press F10 to save your changes. Now your computer should boot from PCUnlocker Live CD/USB.

Part 3: Reset Windows Azure VM Password

1. If everything goes as expected, the computer will load the WinPE OS from the Live CD/USB drive, and eventually take you to the PCUnlocker program.
2. Click on the Options button, and then select Mount Virtual Drive from the drop-down menu. When the file open dialog appears, locate your VHD file and click Open.
   
3. After mounting the VHD file, click on the Browse button to choose the SAM registry file for the Windows system installed on your virtual drive. The program will list all your Windows accounts.
   
   
4. Choose the administrator account and click on Reset Password button. It will unlock / remove your forgotten password immediately.
5. Click Restart and remove the CD or USB drive, your computer will dismount the virtual hard disk and restart. Now you've successfully reset lost Windows Azure VM password!

Microsoft Surface Pro 3: Lost Windows 8.1 Administrator Password

 Can't log in with your administrator account because you can't remember the password? How to recover or reset Surface Pro password if you don't have a reset disk? Surface Pro 3 uses the latest UEFI firmware instead of legacy BIOS. To reset the lost password, we need to use an UEFI bootable utility - PCUnlocker, which supports both UEFI booting and password resetting for local/Microsoft account. Here's how to reset lost Windows 8.1 admin password on Surface Pro 3.

How to Reset Windows 8.1 Admin Password on Surface Pro 3?

To get PCUnlocker to work, you need to use a spare PC to download the Enterprise edition of PCUnlocker which comes as a self-extracting ZIP file. Unzip the downloaded file and you'll get a CD image called pcunlocker.iso.

Burn the ISO image to your USB flash drive using the freeware ISO2Disc. Remember to choose the GPT partition style, because MBR-based bootdisk is unable to boot with UEFI mode.



Once you've create a PCUnlocker Live USB drive, insert it into the USB port of your Surface Pro 3 tablet. Make sure your tablet is powered off at this point. Press and hold the volume-down button (on the left side of your tablet), then press and release the Power button (on the top). When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button. Surface will boot from your USB drive.

After loading the Windows 8 PE from the USB drive, you'll be taken to the PCUnlocker program. It shows you a list of local accounts that is extracted from your Windows 8.1 SAM registry hive. If you use an email account for signing into your tablet, you can see your email address in the "Description" column of the associated local account.



Select the administrator account and click on Reset Password button. It will bypass / reset your forgotten login password in no time. If you've chosen the local account associated with your email address, the program will assign a new password for your Microsoft account login (Note: this new password can be used to log on your tablet locally).

Now you've successfully bypassed Surface Pro 3 password. Restart the computer and disconnect the USB drive, you can then log on your Surface without a password!

HP Envy Windows 8 Laptop Password Recovery

Forgot Windows 8 user password for your HP Envy laptop? Is there a way to recover or reset the password without losing any file? This article explains how you can easily reset forgotten Windows 8 password on HP Envy laptop.

How to Reset Windows 8 Password on HP Envy Laptop?

PCUnlocker comes as an ISO image that needs to be burned on to a CD, or you can put the ISO on to USB stick using a utility. Then simply boot to the CD or USB to run the utility for recovering Windows 8 password. Here are step-by-step instructions:

1. Use a spare computer to download the PCUnlocker program. Unzip the downloaded file and you'll get a pcunlocker.iso image. Burn the ISO image to a blank CD using the freeware ISO2Disc. If you don't have an optical drive, you can burn the ISO image to a USB flash drive.
2. Next, you have to boot your locked HP Envy laptop from the CD/USB drive. Because this Windows 8 laptop comes with UEFI BIOS, you need to firstly enable the Legacy support in the BIOS. Turn on the computer and immediately press the Esc key repeatedly until the Startup Menu opens.
   
3. Use the arrow keys to select BIOS Setup and press Enter. Navigate to the System Configuration menu, use the down arrow key to select Boot Options, then press Enter.
4. Set "Secure Boot" to "Disabled" and set "Legacy Support" to "Enabled". Press F10 to save your changes and exit BIOS.
   
5. When the computer has restarted, quickly press the Esc key to access the Startup Menu again. This time select Boot Device Options and press Enter.
6. When the Boot Option Menu screen appears, use the up or down arrow key to select your boot media (Internal CD/DVD ROM or USB Hard Drive). Then press Enter to boot into that device.
7. The computer will load the Windows PE operating system from your boot media and take you directly to the PCUnlocker program. Choose the user account where you want to bypass the password, and click on Reset Password button. If you use a Microsoft account as your login method, make sure you choose the local account with the "Description" column shown as your Live account ID.
   
8. The program will remove your local account password immediately. As Windows 8 can't accept blank password for Microsoft account, the program will assign a temporary password Password123 to your Microsoft account.
9. The last step is to reboot your computer and take out the CD or USB drive. When you come to the Windows 8 login screen, you can log on as your desired account and regain access to all files on your HP Envy dv6 notebook. That's it!

How to Reset Forgotten Windows 2000 Admin Password

Lost admin password on Windows 2000? How to bypass Windows 2000 password on an older server if you've forgotten what is is and want the files off the computer? You can use a PCUnlocker Live CD (or USB drive) to reset the lost password. This tutorial will show you how to do that, step by step.

Create A PCUnlocker Live CD/USB Drive

We'll be using PCUnlocker. PCUnlocker is a bootable rescue CD that can reset local / domain administrator password on any Windows computer. It exists of a bootable CD ISO image. To get the software to work, you need to burn the PCUnlocker ISO image to a CD or USB flash drive using a burning software such as ISO2Disc.

Boot from PCUnlocker

Once you've completed the above step, put the CD in the optical drive or plug the USB drive into the Windows 2000 computer you want to reset admin password for. Now you need to restart the PC and boot into the CD/USB.

You can do so by changing the boot order. See how you can change the boot order here.

Reset Lost Admin Password

Once you've set the boot order correctly, the computer will load the WinPE OS from the CD/USB drive and take you directly to the PCUnlocker program. This program automatically finds your Windows SAM registry file and extracts all your user accounts from it.



Select the administrator account and click on Reset Password. It will unlock / reset your lost Windows 2000 admin password immediately. Remove the CD/USB and restart your computer, and now you can enjoy log on to your Windows 2000 without entering any password.

How to Recover Forgotten Password from IMVU Messenger

IMVU is an original instant messaging tool that lets you chat with people from all over the globe in a 3D environment, instead of the plain, text-only chat room we're all used to.



Like any other messenger, IMVU stores the password locally so that user don't have to enter the password every time. If you've forgotten the saved password, you can recover IMVU password instantly with Password Recovery Bundle.

How to Recover Forgotten Password from IMVU Messenger?

1. Download and install Password Recovery Bundle.
2. Run Password Recovery Bundle, then click the Start Recovery button. It will bring up a drop-down menu that shows all supported password types.
3. Select the IMVU Password option.
4. The program will automatically find and crack the stored IMVU login credentials on the local computer, and display your IMVU username (Email or Avatar name) and password in seconds.

How to Reset Lost Windows Password of Xen HVM

Have you come across a situation when you need to reset the admin password of a Xen virtual machine? If you face the login issue with Xen HVM, you can reset lost Xen Windows password with PCUnlocker. Today I'm going to show how does reset Windows administrator password in XEN HVM.

How to Reset Lost Windows Password of Xen HVM?

1. Download the self-extracting Zip archive of PCUnlocker and save it to your host OS. Extract the CD image (pcunlocker.iso) from the downloaded file. If you've enabled EFI/UEFI in your Xen VM, you need to use PCUnlocker Enterprise which supports UEFI booting.
2. Start virt-manager (also known as Virtual Machine Manager). Select your Windows VM that need a password reset, click on EDIT menu at the top and then select Virtual Machine Details.
3. In the Details window, click on IDE CDROM 1 tab. Click Connect to mount the PCUnlocker ISO image (pcunlocker.iso) to the virtual CD drive.
4. Click on the Boot Options tab. Tick Enable boot menu. Check the CDROM item and put the CDROM item on top of the boot device list. Click Apply to save your changes.
   
5. Power on your Windows virtual machine and Xen will now boot from the PCUnlocker CD image, loading the WinPE OS and taking you directly into the tool. This program automatically finds your Windows SAM file and show you a list of local accounts.
   
6. Select one of your user accounts and click on Reset Password button. It will reset your Windows VM password quickly, as well as unlock the account in the event it is locked out, disabled or expired.
7. Disconnect your CD drive and restart the VM. Now you can enjoy log on to your Windows virtual machine without entering any password.