Reset Lost Windows XP Administrator Password Using ERD Commander

© Ramesh Srinivasan | Windows XP | 17th October 2008

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:

  1. You have only one working administrator account in the system for which you’ve lost the password.
  2. You don’t have a Password Reset Disk
  3. 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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10 Comments

  1. MILDA
    said this on Thursday, June 30th 2011 2:18 pm

    Thank you much for your contribution!!!password resetting can be done by using free NTPWEdit method!!try this

  2. Nandkishore soni
    said this on Tuesday, June 7th 2011 11:17 am

    ERD is not available to download, why?

  3. David
    said this on Sunday, November 28th 2010 5:54 pm

    If you are looking for a working link to download ERD Commander for Wix XP try http://calmit.org/free-erd-commander-2007/. There’s a link to the download of the 30 day trial version, and instructions for unlocking the trial version with a tool included in the trial version download package. There is also some good info about ERD Commander 2010

  4. krishna
    said this on Sunday, May 16th 2010 10:39 am

    ERD for Wix XP is not available for download at the link you provided. Please check this out yourself

  5. Jason
    said this on Tuesday, March 30th 2010 4:10 pm

    @Ganesh:
    ERD for Wix XP is not available fo download at the link you provided. Please check this out yourself.
    Jason

  6. Jason
    said this on Tuesday, March 30th 2010 3:47 pm

    @Ganesh:
    Your explanation here is about password in the local Mashine. Can you provide an explanation of how to retrieve or reset Active Directory password of a domain?

  7. Ganesh Thakur
    said this on Tuesday, March 30th 2010 11:44 am

    AWSOME

  8. Jason
    said this on Wednesday, March 17th 2010 2:04 pm

    @Michael Armstrong

    Thank you for your recent explantion. There is absolutely no sofware
    in this world that can view or change the Active directory Usernme / password. If you know of one please provide a link.

    Yes, it is easy to reset the PC Adminstrator’s password. But onece you get in, you see would be able to view or edit the ACTIVE DIRECTORY PASSWORD. The ERD cannot even do that.

    Do you have any objection to this?

  9. SUsan
    said this on Wednesday, March 17th 2010 9:20 am

    The fact is that you want to regain access to your computer without formatting or re-installing the operating system. What you need is getting out of this situation, maybe you could use Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 and have a try. Follow my steps:

    Step 1 – Download Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0
    Step 2 -Burn your Windows Password Recovery Tool CD
    To burn your CD, you’ll need a blank CD-R and the .ISO file of Password recovery

    Step 3 – Put in your newly created CD and remove your Windows password.

    Hope it can help.

  10. Jason
    said this on Thursday, March 4th 2010 3:30 pm

    (1). Can ERD Commander reset domain Administrator password?
    (2). If you reset a domain Admin password. Is it possible to
    undo to old password?

    (1). Can ERD Commander reset domain Administrator password?
    (2). If you reset a domain Admin password. Is it possible to
    undo to old password?

    I did not see any comments on this particular topic here – the reaon I am asking?

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