Reset Lost Windows XP Administrator Password Using ERD Commander

There are plenty of ways to reset or change a lost Administrator password in Windows XP. Methods include using offline password reset tools with live CDs, using the SHIFT + F10 keystroke from Windows XP Setup screen to gain access to the Command Prompt (with full rights) and changing the password. Here is another way to reset or change the lost administrator password in your Windows XP installation.

Note: If you forget the password to a secondary administrator account, you can reset it by logging in to the built-in "Administrator" account easily. This article assumes the following:

You have only one working administrator account in the system for which you’ve lost the password.
You don’t have a Password Reset Disk
You don’t have a Windows XP CD (which will be the case if you have a PC from OEM), or lost your retail Windows XP CD.

Resetting the Windows XP Administrator Password Using Locksmith

ERD Commander is part of the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) whose 30 day evaluation is available here (MSDaRT50Eval.msi – 64.2 MB). We’ve covered MS DaRT earlier in article Perform a System Restore rollback on a non-bootable Windows XP computer. Follow steps 1-7 in that article to create a ERD Commander Boot CD.

Warning: In Windows XP, the changing of a local user password by an administrator, or through a method other than by the user, will block all access to previously encrypted files (using EFS) by the user.

1. Insert the ERD Commander Boot CD into the drive and restart the system

2. Boot the computer using ERD Commander Boot CD. You may have to set the boot order in the BIOS first.

3. Select your Windows XP installation from the list

4. From the ERD Commander menu (Start menu), click System Tools and click Locksmith

5. Click Next

6. Select the administrator account from the list for which you want to reset the password.

7. Type the new password in both the boxes, click Next and click Finish

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11 Responses to “Reset Lost Windows XP Administrator Password Using ERD Commander”

Michael Armstrong

said this on Tuesday, October 20th 2009 9:17 am

If you forget the administrator’s password but still can log on Windows with other user names that have administrative privileges, you may follow the instructions below:

Right click the computer icon on your desktop, select Manage, find Local Users and Groups, unfold Users folder, right click Administrator, click Set password… in the menu comes up. Click Proceed in the dialog, in the pop-up, enter a New Password and confirm it. Your administrator’s password is successfully reset.

Guest account may help to log onto Windows, but it has no privilege for you to do the above to reset the administrator’s password.

If you forgot all user passwords and failed to log onto Windows, there is no other way but to format the OS and reinstall Windows, or resort to sort of software tools to remove the password and log onto Windows. These programs cost some bucks, but are worthy and better than to reinstall the OS causing consequences. The most popular programs are Windows Password Reset 6.0 etc. Generally, these programs are easy to use though turn out to be a scary command prompt to newbie. But do relax and you can fully manipulate. Let’s take Windows Password Reset 6.0 for example. You prepare a blank CD, burn the program onto the CD, boot the locked computer from the CD, come to initiate the program, locate the user name, and proceed to remove its password – all are at ease.

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