Forgotten Administrator Password Windows XP? 5 Ways to Reset It

Forgotten Admin Password Windows XP

To protect their computer, many users build a strong and unique admin password when they need to sign in to the system. Sometimes, however, some of them forgotten administrator password Windows XP especially if they didn’t log in it for a long time. Here’s a true example from the answer.microsoft forum.

In Windows XP, is there a way to into it, if I forgot the administrator password Windows XP? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/forgotten-password-to-sign-into-windows-xp

How to Reset Windows XP Passwords

It’s so frustrating that you can’t use the computer normally since you forgotten administrator password Windows XP. Don’t worry. Here we explore 6 effective ways to crack Windows XP password. Let’s start trying.

# 1. Windows XP Password Reset via Ctrl + Alt + Del

The first and simple way to reset Windows XP password is to use the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combinations. If you set the Windows XP system to log in via the Welcome screen, then this method fits you. Unfortunately, this only works when there is no existing password for the Admin Windows XP account.

Step 1. Boot your computer to load the Welcome screen, and press Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys altogether twice to load the user Login screen.

Step 2. Click on OK to try logging in without a username or password. If it doesn’t work, try typing Administrator into the User name and Password fields, and click on OK.

Step 3. Once signed in, navigate to Control Panel > User Account > Change Account, then you can select the account and change its password.

# 2. Windows XP Password Reset via Safe Mode with CMD

You can reset the forgotten admin password Windows XP using the Command Prompt in Safe Mode. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1. Restart your computer and press F8 while the computer is booting, and select Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Step 2. When you enter the Safe Mode, navigate to Control Panel > User Account > Change Account, and then select the account that you forgot password Windows XP and change its password.

Step 3. If it still doesn’t work, press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box, type cmd in it, and press Enter.

Step 4. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and hit Enter. For example, the command is net user Ariel 123456 in my case. This command will select your account and set a new password.

net user [account name] [new password]

# 3. Windows XP Password Reset via Another Account

As you might know, there is a built-in and default account named Administrator in Windows XP. This account has no password by default. If you have set up another user account and can log in to it, you can reset the forgotten password Windows XP with this account. For that:

Step 1. Right-click the My Computer and select Manage to open the Computer Management window.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, locate the following path via the left navigation bar. Then right click your user account and select Set Password, and follow the on-screen instructions to reset the admin Windows XP password.

System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users

Step 3. If you can’t open the Computer Management window via the account, you can try using remote access instead. Here you need to use a different computer (it doesn’t have to be Windows XP, but must be a Windows system). Make sure to connect to the same network.

1. In the Computer Management window, right-click Computer Management (Local) and select Connect to another computer > Another Computer.

2. In the Another computer field, enter the IP address of the computer that you want to connect to or enter the computer name (such as \DesktopPC). If you don’t know how to find the IP address, read this post.

3. Click on Browse and then on Advanced, select Find Now to scan your local network for computers.

4. Once you get the remote access, go to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users again in the Computer Management window.

5. Right-click the user account that you forget administrator password Windows XP and select Set Password. Then the password should be reset.

# 4. Windows XP Password Reset via a Boot CD

If you are still locked on the login screen, you may consider using a bootable CD to crack Windows XP password. To do so, follow the steps below carefully.

Step 1. Make a bootable Windows USB/CD drive by referring to this post.

Step 2. Insert the boot drive into your Windows XP computer and reboot your computer from the bootable disc. Then press any key when you’re prompted with a message saying “Press any key to boot from CD”.

Step 3. Follow the Setup screen and accept the license agreement by pressing F8.

Step 4. Select the Windows XP installation via the arrow keys and press R to start the repair process. Once done, Windows XP will restart and display “Press any key to boot from CD”, just do nothing, and it will automatically boot.

Step 5. When you see Installing Device bar at the bottom left corner, press Shift + F10 keys to open the Command Prompt window. Then type nusrmgr.cpl in the CMD window and hit Enter.

Step 6. In the pop-up window, select Change an account and select the account you want to change its password, select Create a password and follow the on-screen prompts to complete this procedure.

Alternatively, you can use a third-party utility like PCUnlocker that can directly run from a boot drive and bypass or reset the forgotten administrator password Windows XP.

# 5. Windows XP Password Reset via Reinstallation

If you still can’t crack Windows XP password after trying all the above methods, you may have to consider reinstalling Windows XP. How to reinstall Windows without data loss? MiniTool Partition Wizard can help you do that easily.

It’s a professional disk manager that can migrate OS, copy disk, format hard drive, convert MBR to GPT, and recover lost data. Once reinstalled, you can create a new password for the Windows XP administrator account.

MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe