The sticky keys trick, with a Linux twist.
If you need to recover your windows 7 administrator password, this is one method that works.
- install Linux dual boot on the Win 7 machine . (Or just pop in a Linux Live CD or USB key and set your system to boot off of that. These options allow you to just run linux without installing it . ) Either of these options should give you unrestricted access to all files of the computer, including the Windows partition.
- Boot into Linux.
- Find the drive partition where Windows is installed. Make a backup of /windows/system32/sethc.exe
- copy /windows/system32/cmd.exe to /windows/system32/sethc.exe
Then reboot your computer and start the Windows installation:
- At the login screen, press the SHIFT key five times.
- You will see a command prompt where you can enter the following command to reset the Windows password:
net user you_user_name new_password- If you don’t know your user name, just type net user to list the available user names.
- You can now log on with the new password.
source for an all Windows version of this :
http://4sysops.com/archives/forgot-the-administrator-password-the-sticky-keys-trick/
keywords: reset Windows 7 password