Forgot all Windows 10 passwords

Forgot all Windows 10 passwords

A friend of mine logged into her laptop using her Hotmail account. She told me that she had forgotten her password and could no longer log into her laptop.

Obviously I told her to try "forgot my password" but ... you know.

It has been a while since I had to change a password on Windows. In the past I would use Lophtcrk but it now looks like a different product.

Luckily I found a nice website (AusLogics.com) that explained how to use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to get around the problem.

Things that you will need:

  1. An 8GB USB stick that can be wiped
  2. A copy of the Microsoft Windows Media Creation Tool
  3. Machine 1: A Windows 10 machine that has about 15GB free hard disk space
  4. Machine 2: The machine that needs the password reset

Instructions:

  1. On Machine 1, download the Windows Media Creation Tool
  2. Insert the USB Stick
  3. Run the Windows Media Creation Tool 3.1. Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC
  4. Remove the USB stick from Machine 1
  5. Insert the USB stick into Machine 2
  6. Shutdown Machine 2
  7. Turn on Machine 2 and bring up the Boot menu (if you do not know how to do this then you will need to refer the models manual)
  8. Select to boot off of the USB stick
  9. When you see the initial Windows 10 setup screen, press the Shift + F10 key combo on your keyboard to launch Command Prompt
  10. Type the following
    C:
cd \windows\system32
ren utilman.exe utilman.exe.bak
ren cmd.exe utilman.exe
net user Administrator /active:yes
shutdown -t 0 -r
  11. Once you are back on the sign-in screen, select the Administrator account located in the bottom-left corner
  12. Press the Windows key + R
  13. Type:
    utilman.exe
  14. When the Command Prompt appears, type:
    net user
  15. Hopefully you have found the username that needs their password changed, type:
    net user USERNAME *
  16. You will now be prompted to change their password

Note: If the user account (like my friends) is an online account you will not be able to change their password. You can at least get at most of their data using the Administrator account.