Performing Windows 7 Password Reset - Step by Step Guide (With Pictures)

What are we going to need:

• Reset Password Pro software
• DVD or CD or USB key
• Full access Windows computer for preparing our resetting tools

Time required: 

• About 20 minutes

This method works for:

• Windows 2000 / NT, Windows XP, Windows vista, Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit), Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit)

Are you ready to reset your password? Here we go.

1. If you have already installed Reset Password Pro, you can skip this step. Otherwise, follow along. After signing up and downloading the software from the website, launch the program, fill in the required data and install it on your windows computer. This has to be a computer to which you have full administrator access. The software will download certain data, so make sure you are connected to the internet. This will take you 5 – 10 minutes, depending on your connection speed.

2. We are going to use the same computer as in step 1 to create our resetting tools for resetting our windows 7 password. We can choose from three media devices – a DVD, CD or USB key. Every type of device has its pros and cons. If you don’t want to waste DVD for a few hundreds megabytes of data, then use USB key. On the other hand, if you plan to reset your windows 7 password more than once (possibly in the future), we strongly advise you to choose DVD. It will be ready for you whenever you need it. If you choose USB key you may run into some issues later. Please note, that all media should be empty and never used before. If you decide to use USB key, deleting all files won't be enough, you will have to format it. (Read this great tutorial on formatting your USB key HERE and HERE).

When you have chosen your media for resetting windows password, insert it into the computer and launch Reset Password Pro. In few simple steps, you will select the media and program will start burning/writing the data. This took us 4 minutes. Now your resetting software is ready and remember – you can use it more then one time to reset password for really all versions of windows out there.

3. In this part we will move from full access computer to locked computer to which we have no access and therefore we need to recover its password. Turn on the computer, or if it is already on, restart it. When the manufacturer logo appears, hit F4 or Dele key to enter BIOS setup. Navigate using arrows, go to boot and set the booting devices as follows: DVD rom as number one priority and disable number two so that the system has no choice to speculate and bypass our resetting tool. If you chose USB key, you may not have the option to use it as booting device. Usually there are only two choices - DVD rom and hard drive, so you have to create one. Save changes and exit BIOS.

Here comes the final step in which we finally perform a windows 7 password reset. Insert your CD/DVD/USB key and restart the computer again. Instead of windows icon, you will see different screen. In the new window, select the windows account and click reset. Done! You have recovered your windows 7 password. We also recommend you to restart your computer and change BIOS settings to original.

This tutorial taught you all necessary steps to reset your windows password. After following this guide, you are no more locked out on your windows computer, but instead enjoying your lost-and-regained windows account!

Password Resetting Software Comparison

In general, we can divide techniques for resetting windows 7 password into 2 categories. First group relies on using command prompt and second category uses special software designed especially for windows password reset. Now, because you may not be familiar with typing commands into a command prompt and this method doesn’t guarantee successful reset, we will focus on the second group. We will examine the most popular software used for resetting windows 7 password. Very important thing to notice – these programs do not try to guess the correct password by trying all possible combinations (like you see in James Bond movies), therefore it doesn’t mater how long or how sophisticated your windows 7 password is.

First program that got our attention was Ophcrack, mostly because of a very favorable price – FREE. We thought this sound too good for a password resetting software to be true and it was. The whole resetting process was lengthy and complicated. We managed to reset our windows 7 password, but after logging in, programs crashed and reminded us that old feeling, when you know a long sleepless night is coming, because you have to install your windows again from scratch – something we hadn’t had to for ages. Thankfully we created special account for testing this “FREE” software, so we just moved along. But let this be a lesson for you too – when trying FREE software for resetting your windows 7 password, always test it on virtual machine first. Use for example VMware and create a special virtual machine for resetting your windows password. If something goes wrong, you can always revert to original state (if you took a snapshot first).

We were interested why did our windows crash, so we googled some reviews from other folks who used Ophcrack as a resetting software. One word could describe these comments as mixed – for someone it did work, for someone it did not. In addition, the success of this program seems to depend on windows version. Windows XP seems to be OK, but trying Ophcrack on newer versions results in windows crash. We recommend this software only if you have plenty of time to reset your windows 7 password and also you are passionate geeky guy (or girl).

Final Rating: 5/10
 
 Reset Password Pro is in our humble opinion the best choice available for resetting your windows 7 password. If you are operating on Windows 8, or older versions, you can use Reset Password Pro as well. This software has the best price/features ratio and is very user friendly. We asked even non-tech people to reset windows 7 password using this software and they described it as very intuitive. Once they bypassed the password and logged into the system, everything was alright, data were available and programs worked as they should have. Reset Password Pro has our thumbs up! If you decide to use this resetting software, we will post a detailed step by step guide, so don't forget to check it out.

Final Rating: 8/10

 We finished our test with program called Reset Windows Password created by Passcape. The resetting process is very similar to the previous program that we tested (Reset Password Pro). You have to download program, create booting device, insert booting device into the computer and reset windows 7 password. However, unlike Reset Password Pro, we find the program’s setup and resetting process to be more complicated and you may find yourself stuck during the whole process. We also consider the price to be quite high. Basic version costs $ 45, but to enjoy full abilities of the resetting software, you will have to purchase standard edition for $ 145. We believe this exceeds the resetting budget of most people. 

Final Rating: 7/10

About This Site

Did you forget your Windows 7 password and now you are locked out on your Windows computer and cannot access your documents?  Are you desperately googling a solution for this problem? This happens all the time - we can assure you. Our research reveals that one of four people needs to reset his or her windows 7 password at least once at lifetime. A situation like this can be very uncomfortable and needs a quick solution. Luckily, it is not difficult to recover your forgotten windows password.

By performing a windows 7 password reset, we are basically making the password blank. There are countless ways to perform windows 7 password reset – some of them are more efficient, some are waste of time. Some of them are safe and proven, some will result in a system crash and data loss. Choosing the proper way is therefore critical. We are small independent group of techie guys, who are here to help you, so that you don’t more time than necessary on resetting your Windows password. To keep this blog useful, we are constantly gathering information regarding Windows 7 password reset and everything related to this problem.

Of course we understand that not everyone possess great computer knowledge so we will try to write things as simple as possible, so that everyone – even school kid – can understand it and reset password on his Windows 7 or any other version of windows. If the information on this blog did help you, please spread the word, we are sure that anyone who needs to perform windows 7 password reset will benefit from this.