Losing your Windows password is the most catastrophic tech problem I can imagine, second only, perhaps, to losing my iPhone with Halle Berry’s phone number on it. Windows itself makes no allowances for forgotten passwords, except to warn you that it’s a bad idea. But there are many ways you can find yourself locked out of a Windows account. Personally, I’ve needed to access a “forgotten” machine that I hadn’t logged into through at least two mandatory password changes. Oops. Thankfully, I’ve found a super-secret procedure for unlocking an account without needing the password at all.
Geeks are Sexy has the complete skinny on how to unlock an account without a password. I suppose I should mention that I feel a little conflicted sharing these instructions. Obviously, this is a last resort for folks who are genuinely stuck. It’s not intended to be a skeleton key to break into other people’s machines. So you’re on the honor system.
The process relies on downloading a copy of the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and burning it to a bootable media, such as a CD or floppy. Geeks are Sexy then provides step by step instructions, complete with screen shots, to walk you through the entire process.
This should work on most versions of Windows, including Vista, XP, 2003, and NT. Consider these steps to be a little insurance policy; I’ve already downloaded the Editor and printed a set of instructions for my real-world files.
