How to Reset a Windows 7 Password Without a Password Reset Disk or Windows Installation CD

This video from Tutorial Techie will show you how to reset a Windows 7 password without a Password Reset Disk or a Windows 7 Installation Disk. This will be particularly helpful if you ever find yourself locked out of your Windows 7 machine, want to access a Windows machine that you don't have the password for, or just want to demonstrate the low level of security that Windows passwords offer. To complete this process however, you will need access to an unlocked PC and physical access to the PC that you want to reset the password for.

For step-by-step instructions, check out the complete tutorial here: http://tutorialtechie.com/featured/re...

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Closed Caption:

Hello and thanks for watching this video from
Tutorial Techie. Today I am going to show
you how to reset a Windows password. I am
going to reset the password of a Windows 7
machine, however this method will work on
any version of Windows. In order to start
this process I need to download the Offline
Windows Password and Register Editor. I am
going to do this on a PC that is not currently
locked, that I am able to log in to. I am
going to be required to either burn the software
to a CD or to install it to a USB drive. I
prefer to install this software to a CD, so
I am going to download the CD version. The
software will be downloaded as a compressed
ZIP file. I will need to extract this in order
to burn it to a CD. In order to do this, I
open up the ZIP file and drag the ISO file
onto my desktop. An ISO file is a file that
contains the entire contents of a CD or DVD.
In order to get the ISO file onto a CD, I
right click on the file and click Burn Disk
Image. This will bring up the Windows Disk
Image Burner. I already have a blank CD in
my CD/DVD drive, so all I need to do is click
Burn. Once I have properly installed the software
to a blank CD I am going to return to the
Windows 7 machine that I don't know the password
for, insert the CD and restart the machine.
Rather then booting into Windows, you will
be required to boot from the CD. This process
is different for every computer and it may
require you to hit F8 or F12 while the computer
is starting up. Once the software has been
loaded, press Enter to boot. Although this
software appears intimating, its fairly easy
to use to reset a Windows password. There
is only one Possible windows installation
found, which is correct for my current system.
This windows installation has been selected
by default so rather then typing in 1, all
I need to do is hit Enter. In this next step
I need to tell the software I would like to
reset the password. I can do this by typing
1 and then hitting the Enter key. In this
new menu I would like to edit the user data
and passwords so again I am going to type
1 and then hit the Enter key. Just like in
the first menu we saw, 1 is selected by default
so I could just hit the Enter key and that
would work as well. Next I need to select
the user for which I would like to reset the
password. Jsterling is the user, so I am going
to type in the key right next to his name
and hit Enter. Once inside the user edit menu
I would like to clear or blank the user password.
In order to do this I am going to type 1,
and then hit the Enter key. I can see from
above that the password has been properly
cleared. By clearing the password I have probably
locked the jsterling user account. In order
to unlock and enable this account the I need
to type 2 and then hit the Enter key. Again
I can see the from highlighted area that the
account has been properly unlocked. All I
need to do now is quit and save changes. In
order to do this I am going to type Q and
then hit the Enter key. I do not want to modify
any other users so I need to quit out of this
menu as well by typing Q and hitting the Enter
key. I will now be asked if I want to save
changes. It is very important that I type
Y and then Enter. If I hit N or just hit Enter
all of the changes that I just made will be
lost. I can see from above that the edit is
complete. I do not want to run this program
again so I am going to type N and then hit
the Enter key. I am going to eject the CD,
restart my computer and boot back into Windows.
Windows should boot normally with no issues.
As you may have seen, this software can be
used to modify user accounts in may different
ways, not just clearing and resetting user
passwords. Because the password has been cleared
no password is required so Windows will automatically
log into the user jsterling. Well that's it,
I have successfully reset a Windows password.
Hopefully you have found this tutorial helpful,
thanks for watching!