How to Override Username & Password in Windows Vista
Some people choose to password-protect their computers, especially if they have confidential information stored on the system. While password-protection is a good security device that prevents others from being able to access your system, if you forget your username and password, it also locks you out of the system. If you have forgotten you username and password for a Vista system, you can override the username and password prompt in a couple of different ways.
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Instructions
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Using the Administrator Account to Change a Password
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1
Turn on the computer and wait until the normal login screen appears if you know the password for another user's account on the system. Select the user's name from the list of usernames, or type the username into the username box.
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2
Enter the password for the username that you have entered in the login screen. Click "OK" and allow the computer to boot under the other username.
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3
Make the administrator log-on active. To activate the administrator logon, open the "Start" Menu, go to "All Programs, "Accessories" and choose "Run." Return to the "Accessories" folder, right-click on the "Command Prompt" selection and pick "Run as administrator" from the menu that comes up. Type "net user administrator /active: yes" into the "Run" box you have already pulled up and press "Enter."
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4
Reboot the computer. Enter "Administrator" into the username box when the log-in screen comes up and press "Enter" without a password. This should work on the system if you did not set an administrator password when you installed the software. If the computer requires an administrator password and you do not know that password either, you will be unable to get in this way.
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5
Click the "Start" orb to open the "Start" menu and select "Control Panel." Select "User Accounts" from the main menu and select "Change your password" to update to a new password or "Remove your password" to remove the account password.
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6
Pick the user account for which you would like to change or remove the password, then click the "Change password for your account" option. Enter a new password if you are changing the password and click "OK."
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7
Log off of the computer and switch to the username on which you made the changes. The account should now open with the new password or with no password at all.
Booting in Safe Mode
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8
Start up or restart the computer and keep continuously pushing "F8." This causes the menu for your operating system to appear on the screen.
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Choose "Safe Mode" from the list of menu options. Click "Administrator" on the "Safe Mode" screen and the computer boots up in safe mode.
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10
Go to the "Start" menu and to "Control Panel." Choose "User Accounts" to open the "User Accounts" screen and either "Change your password" or "Remove your password."
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11
Type in a new password for the username and confirm, or simply confirm the password removal. Click "OK" to make the change take effect.
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12
Reboot the computer and select the username you made changes to from the list of usernames. Press "Enter" to login without a password or enter the new password and press "Enter."
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