How to Sign into Window XP if the Password is Lost




by Stacy Craig

 
What happens when you lose your Windows XP password? When you install Windows XP, a default Administrator account is made. This account is not protected by a password. So if you have recently installed Windows XP, or bought a new computer, you can sign into your system using the unprotected Admin account.

Things get a little trickier when you have given a password to the account and you forgot it.

Here are a few ways you can take under such a situation:



Restarting Windows in Safe Mode



1^st Way

Here is one way in which you can log into your system after losing the password:

1. Restart your system

2. As the computer restarts, press F8. Though older systems required pressing F5, but with Windows XP, it is F8. Do this before the Windows booting screen shows up.

3. From the given options, select the one to start Windows in safe mode.

4. There will be some options that would be self explanatory and really easy to understand. When you select the given options, you will be led to another screen. As you will follow the instructions, your system will start working in the safe mode. As you will see, the options in safe mode are limited, and the screen resolution is decreased.

5. Now look for the Administrator account. Go to the control panel. It will be present in User Accounts. In case the default settings have not been altered, then it will not be password protected.

6. Log into the system as the administrator.

7. You will get a prompt that will ask you if you want to continue working in the safe mode. Press yes.

8. Open the control panel and go to User Settings. Now you can change the passwords of users working on the system.

9. Restart your computer. This time do not press the F8 key.

10. Now sign into the system as the user whose password you changed.

11. This should work fine. But if it doesn’t, you can use some professional support. There are many programs that can crack Windows passwords for you. Some of them are available for free, while some might require a little fee if you want to use them.

2^nd Way

If the first one doesn’t work, here is the second method:

1. Sign into the system that has an internet connection. Download Windows Password Unlocker and decompress it on that system. There will be an ISO file. You have to burn it on a CD.

2. You will now have a CD with an ISO file. Insert that CD in the drive of the locked computer.

3. Now restart the computer and follow the displayed instructions. There will be just a few steps and the password will be gone without any loss of data.

Setting up the new password



Windows Control Panel



Once you have removed the old password, it is time you set up a new one. Here is how you can set up a new password for your user account:

1. Go to the Control Panel.

2. Click on the icon for user accounts.

3. There will be some user accounts there. Select the one whose password you want to set up.

4. Click on Set up Password. There will be a small form. Fill it up and click on Create Password.

5. Now you have a login ID and password for your account. Now nobody can login into your system without the password.

Tips

• You can use the Admin account via the login prompt. You don’t have to go into the safe mode for that.
• If you are trying to log into someone else’s system, then the above methods will work only if you know their password. If they have password protected their admin accounts, then you need to have that password before you carry on.
• If you want to crack the Windows Security Accounts Manager (SAM), you would need a special program, like LC5. This utility should be installed on your system, and the SAM file should be in the system32\config folder. If you haven’t already installed LC5 on the system, then you have to install it using DOS prompt
• The tool SysInternals ERD Commander that is used to modify the administrator’s password does not work anymore. But there are many other options that help you reset the password if you can shell out a little money.
• You can also try booting from the CD and selecting the locksmith choice to alter the password you want.
• An easier way is to delete or rename the SAM file- it is safe to rename it rather than deleting it. You will have to boot the box for this, using a CD of operating system. Otherwise Windows will lock the SAM file and you wouldn’t be allowed to touch it. Another good tool for this purpose will be NTFSDOS. You can look for SAM file and change its first character. Once you restart, all user accounts will be there, but without passwords. But do not try this method on Windows XP SP2, because it fails to initialize when you reboot after renaming the SAM file. And then even if you boot in safe mode, you will get the same message.

Warnings

• These techniques might work with systems running on XP SP2, but there are chances of failure too. You might have to use safe mode with networking. It will be present as an option when you reboot your system and press F8.
• You must be the owner of the computer and must have a genuine Windows license. You should also have the admin rights to the information stored on the disk. Accessing Windows and changing password is illegal if you do not have all the necessary rights. Illegal activity can land you behind bars.
• If you know the admin password already, then there is no need to follow the above mentioned techniques. So the above methods are useful only if you don’t have the user account password.