Reset lost Windows passwords with PCUnlocker
Passwords have been a way of life for a long time now. Maybe not as much as before computers when they were something everyone had but definitely now. We use them for our PCs, smartphones, tablets, ATMs and even sometimes even in our cars.
And when need to remember something of course there will always be a time when you forget the something you needed to remember! Plus having multiple passwords that are increasingly complex makes it easier to forget these passwords. So what happens when you forget the password to your computer and are the only one who logs into it? For most people they panic but if you have some specialized password recovery software handy you don’t have to really worry about it.
The SAM file is not accessible while Windows is booting up so PCUnlocker uses a lightweight OS to boot to in order to access the SAM file. If you are doing this process on a computer that is part of an Active Directory Domain you will have a choice to select the Active Directory database rather than the SAM file. Just download and install the freeware ISO2Disc. Launch ISO2Disc and burn the PCUnlocker ISO file to a blank CD or USB flash drive. Next, use the CD/USB to boot off the Windows PC you want to crack forgotten password on. When booting to the PCUnlocker screen, choose the local administrator account and click on the Reset Password button to. Generally, PCUnlocker is a bootable software tool that can be used to reset your Windows computer’s password which was set for an administrator or other user accounts. When your PC is locked and you forget the password, PCUnlocker can work like a life saver for you.
PCUnlocker offers support for machines with UEFI Secure Boot. The program supports SATA, SCSI and RAID drives as well. Several file systems are included, including FAT32, NTFS, FAT16, and NTFS5. Moreover, you have the possibility to mount virtual discs, such as ISO, VHDX and VHD files. The program supports machines with UEFI Secure Boot. Ideal DVD Copy 4.3.1. DVD copier program: DVD backup software that overcomes copy protection and burns copies to writable DVD discs or ISO images. Full version Free Trial. 10 / 8 / 7 / V / XP. Very Good (3.9 / 5.0) Dec 5, 2013.
This is where PCUlocker comes into play. It’s a user password resetting utility that can reset the password on any Windows user account. It’s really easy to use and gets the job done in only a few minutes. All you need to do is have it handy on a CD or USB drive and boot your computer to the media and you are ready to get your forgotten password reset.
Here is how it works:
Once you download the software which will be in a .iso format you simply burn it to a CD or copy it to a USB flash drive. If you use a USB flash drive just make sure that that your computer can boot to a USB device or you can use something like Rufus to make a bootable flash drive. Then you will need to either go into the BIOS of your computer and change the boot order or if your computer gives you an option to press a certain key to choose boot device during startup then you can just do that and choose the CDROM or USB drive to boot from first.
After your computer boots to the PCUnlocker software you will be presented with 3 choices you will have to make. The first is whether you will be unlocking an admin or local user password or if you will be resetting an Active Directory password. For most cases it will be the adminlocal user option unless you are on a Windows domain in which case you would most likely have your system administrator reset your password for you.
Next will be to select the SAM registry file and this should be automatically chosen for you and you shouldn't need to change it. The SAM (Security Accounts Manager) registry file is used in Windows to store users passwords in a hashed format. The SAM file is not accessible while Windows is booting up so PCUnlocker uses a lightweight OS to boot to in order to access the SAM file. If you are doing this process on a computer that is part of an Active Directory Domain you will have a choice to select the Active Directory database rather than the SAM file.
Finally in step 3 you will need to choose which user account you want to reset the password for. If you have more than one they will be listed here. You might also notice the Administrator account as well which is usually disabled by default. You will also be able to see which accounts are locked out, disabled or have a blank password. If you change your mind and don't want to reset any passwords simply click on the Restart button to reboot your computer and make sure it's not set to boot from your CD or USB drive anymore.
Clicking on the options button will give you choices that include Loading IDE,SCSI,SATA or RAID drivers, the ability to mount a virtual drive, launch a command prompt or bypass the Windows password.
Once you select the user you want to reset the password for simply click on the Reset Password button and enter the new password for that user and click OK.
You will see a message saying that the password for that user has been successfully reset and you will click OK to that. Then click the Restart button and boot into Windows normally with your new password and you will be ready to go.
PCUnlocker comes in 3 versions and they are Standard, Professional and Enterprise and here is a listing of what each version has along with their pricing. You can check out PCUnlocker for yourself on their website.
Forgot Windows password on a computer with UEFI Secure Boot enabled? If you’ve bought a Surface Pro tablet from Microsoft, you’ll find that the tablet can only run in native UEFI without CSM. It means most of password reset Live CDs such as Ophcrack, Offline NT Password & Register Editor won’t work on your computer any more. The only bootdisk that works is PCUnlocker. It can run from a USB flash drive on any UEFI-based computer, even without disabling the Secure Boot option. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create a GPT bootable USB drive and use it to reset lost Windows password on any computers with UEFI Secure Boot.
How to Reset Windows Password on Any Computers with UEFI Secure Boot?
First, download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker Enterprise on an alternate PC you have access to. After unzipping the download file you’ll find a bootable ISO image file: pcunlocker.iso, which needs to be burned on a CD or USB flash drive.
Download and install the free ISO burning software ISO2Disc on your computer, and then launch ISO2Disc program. Click on Browse button to select the ISO image file you’ve gotten, then choose your USB drive and select GPT from the partition style drop-down box. Click on Burn. The program will format your USB drive with a GPT partition table and copy the contents of the ISO image to the partition.
After creating a PCUnlocker recovery USB drive, you can use it to boot up your locked computer which runs in UEFI Secure Boot. No need to disable the Secure Boot option. Just turn on the machine and press a key like F12 to bring up the Boot Menu. The exact key depends on your computer.
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Choose your USB drive from the Boot Menu and press Enter. The computer will load the operating system from the USB drive so the password reset utility can access your Windows SAM registry file offline. After a while, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program open up, which shows you a list of user accounts existing in your Windows system.
Select a user account and then click on Reset Password button. It will remove/reset your lost Windows password and also unlock/enable your user account in no time. Unplug the USB drive and restart the machine, you can then log back into your Windows system without a password!
Conclusion
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So that is how can you reset lost Windows password on any computers with UEFI Secure Boot. The PCUnlocker recovery USB drive supports booting in both UEFI Secure Boot or Legacy BIOS mode.