How to Change Password on Windows XP / 7 without knowing the Original Password

This is useful for many occasions such as if you forget the password to your primary account on your computer but still have access to another 0ne or if you simply want to prank your brother.

This has been tested on both Windows XP and Windows 7.

For this to work you must have access to another account because you have to use Command Prompt or CMD to change the password.

Here is how to do it:
  • Open Command Prompt (CMD) by going to Start -> Run -> cmd.exe
  • Type in ‘net users’. This will show you a list of all the accounts on the computer. This is just to check and make sure you know the EXACT username of the account you want to change the password for.
  • Next, you need to type in ‘net user (whatevertheusernameis) 


  • Next you shall get a prompt asking you for the new password:


Finally it shall ask you to repeat the new password, click enter and BAM, you have now changed the password without knowing the original one.

Comments

Great Post, that will come in handy for the release of Windows 7. I'm sure that many people will be forgetting there passwords on their new computer. Is it still possible to use the way of getting into a Windows XP account through Safe mode in the new Windows 7?
Prafull said…
I have forgotton my password on windows 7. Can you please tell me how to do it ?
Anonymous said…
I just tried it on windows 7 and that does not work.
"system error 5 has occurred"
"Access is denied"
Anonymous said…
Thank you so much! It works fine with Windows 7 Prof. Might i add, the correct syntax is:

net user whateveryourusernameis *

The * at the end is importent. Just like in the picture.

Your a lifesaver!
Anonymous said…
Me again, i can explain why i didn't get the "system error 5 has occurred" "Access is denied" error.

DON'T DO THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT SYSPREP MEANS!"

I forgot to mention, that i was about to sysprep my Win 7 image and was in "System Audit Mode". You get there if you start C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe and choose "Enter System Audit Mode", check "Generalize" and "Reboot". After the reboot (don't close the sysprep window!) this command works.

Maybe the command could also work if you would run the cmd as admin and type:

net user administrator /active:yes

(/active:no) to disable it again.

But it's just a wild guess.
Davi said…
It's not possible to view the password but you can reset it:

Firstly be aware - if you've encrypted any files with EFS encryption on the administrator account then these files will not be recoverable without the original password. This will ONLY effect the administrator account - it will not effect your personal EFS encrypted files (if you have any) so in most cases resetting the password is perfectly safe.

1st method: If your account has administrator privileges you can simply reset the password
Click start > right click my computer > manage > click local users and groups > users > right click administrator > set password and enter the new password twice.

2nd method: If you don't have access to an account with administrator privileges then you'll need to do an offline reset http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com/ I believe is the tool i've used to do it in the past on XP.

PS: there is a better method than both of these - if you've created a password reset disk when you set the password or after - but i don't think i've ever met anyone who has done this. The reset disk has the advantage of keeping your EFS keys in tact whilst resetting the password.
Anonymous said…
I have windows home premium. I was using the finger print reader to logon and forgot the password. Logged into my account (admin) here's how I did it.

click start
in search box type cmd
right click on cmd and choose run as admin

the command prompt should read
C:\Windows\system32>

Now you type
net user Administrator *

and viola!

before, I was getting a system error 5, access denied.
Anonymous said…
Ooops! I just left the comment above but I forgot to mention, once you get into cmd, type

net user administrator /active:yes

then you can type

net user administrator *
Anonymous said…
Thx allot for this.
It works O.o cant believe my eyes lol.
m4iler said…
I love you. I hacked in my teacher's PC and now I can change the user pass without knowing his!
m4iler said…
I LOVE you. My teacher and I betted that I can't hack his server. Now it is on.
Anonymous said…
Still works on Win7 ultimate and helped me :)
Georginaaa said…
Mine doesn't say new password and i cant run as admin because all changes to the computer are password locked... which is why im trying to change it! It wont let me install games D:
Eria said…
I love this lesson thank a lots.

Eric
Anonymous said…
i got the command that change password but i could not write anything in that line please help me......
Anonymous said…
You can enter the password even though you won't see what is typed. That is the function of the '*' (asterisk) in the

net user Administrator *

line of the command prompt entries.
NeelSu Sharma said…
it doesn't work in windows 7
can u help me by new trick
thanks
NeelSu Sharma said…
it doesn't work for windows 7............need new tricks.
thanks
Xlee said…
The command prompt says


'net' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

What does that mean.
I am an XP user!
Hackelis said…
Am using Windows Home Premium,all tricks don't work!
Luke said…
None of the tricks work, how do you avoid system error 5, access denied and i tried about 3 times!
Anonymous said…
just use run as administrator who are having problems it works
Anonymous said…
If you start the command window with 'Run as Administrator' and the user you are logged into has Admin privs, then this works. When you don't start the command window with 'Run as Administrator' then you get the access denied error.
Unknown said…
Nice tip! However, I couldn't login at all, eventually I managed to reset my lost admin password using PCUnlocker Live CD.

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