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First of all, I would like to say that this article is written for home use only. I'm not in any way encouraging you to try to "hack" into your buddy's computer. This is not a hacking tutorial; far from it in fact. It is the solution to the dilemma all of us have faced:

I LOSE MY WINDOWS PASSWORD! THE WORLD WILL COME TO AN END!

No, not quite.

Most people see two options at this point:

1) Take ginkgo and stand on your head trying to remember the password
2) Start over. Ouch.

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There are actually several EASIER options. This first option is conditional: it will only work if you have another ADMINISTRATOR's account on the computer, that you DO have the password to.

To reset an account (admin/regular user/etc) password:

1) log in as the other administrator account.

2) Go Start -> Run

3) Type cmd. Press enter.

4)If this works, and a black box pops up with no errors, skip to step 8. If it didn't work, and displays a message such as "The command prompt has been disabled", read on.

5) Open Notepad. (Start->Run->type "notepad"->OK)

6) type "command.com", and save as "launch.bat" to your desktop
*This means there should be NO ".txt" You are changing the file extension to ".bat"

7) Doubleclick on "launch.bat" on your desktop; you should NOW see a black box.

8) type "cd \"

9) type "net users"

10) You should now see a list of the users on the computer; find the account you are going to reset the password for, and write down its name EXACTLY.

11) now type "net user [username] [new password]

-So if my account name is John, and I want to change the password to "steelers", then i would type "net user John steelers".

You should now see the message "The command completed successfully". Congratulations! You have now changed the password!

If it says something like Access Denied, I'm sorry; this method won't work for you. But don't be discouraged. There is an alternative:

- A password auditing program; These DO cost money, but here is one of the best:

www.elcomsoft.com

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