http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ss/...tm#step-headingCopy D:\Windows\System32\Utilman.ехе D:\
Copy D:\Windows\System32\Cmd.ехе D:\Windows\System32\Utilman.ехе
Overwrite D:\Windows\System32\Utilman.ехе? (Yes/No/All):
Type Y or Yes at the flashing prompt and then press Enter. As with the last command, you should see the 1 file(s) copied. Confirmation.
You should now be at your Windows 7 logon screen. No, your password is not reset yet, but we're about to do just that.
See that little icon on the bottom-left of the screen? Click it!
Typically, the Ease of Access menu appears after pressing this button. However, because we replaced the file representing that tool, Utilman.ехе, with Cmd.ехе, Command Prompt appears instead!
Now that Command Prompt is open, you can reset your Windows 7 password to anything you'd like using the net user command.
The net user command is a really easy command to use. Just execute it like this:
net user username password
...replacing username with your Windows 7 account name, and password with your desired new password.
For example, I might change my password to n3verE@Tsn0W by executing the net user command this way:
net user Tim n3verE@Tsn0W
Assuming everything was executed properly, you should have been greeted with a The command completed successfully. message after pressing Enter.
Tip: There are spaces between net, user, the username, and the password. If your username has a space, like Tim Fisher, use quotes. Reusing my example above but with my full name as my username, I would have executed net user "Tim Fisher" n3verE@Tsn0W.
Not Sure What Your Username Is?
If you were the last person to logon to Windows 7 before forgetting your password, your username should be listed right there on the logon screen. You can see Tim in big, bold letters in the screenshot above.
However, if you're resetting the password to another user on the computer and aren't sure exactly what the username is, you can generate a list by executing the ne user command without options, for example:
net user
A list of all of the users on the computer will be generated right in the Command Prompt window, which you can then reference for proper spelling when changing the password as described above.
Finally we're at the exciting part!
Close or click away from the open Command Prompt window and then click in the Password field.
Enter your new Windows 7 password you set in Step 11 and then press Enter or click the little arrow button.
Welcome back to your computer!
Tip: If you're again prompted with a The user name or password is incorrect message, click OK and repeat Steps 10 & 11 again.
YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!
While it may be very tempting to call it quits right now, it's important that you now take the necessary steps to:
1. Prepare for the future event of forgetting your password again so you don't have to go to all this trouble next time.
2. Undo the couple of things that made this password reset trick work.
That's what we'll do over the next several steps.
The Windows 7 password reset procedure I just walked you through is perfectly safe but it isn't exactly "Microsoft approved." The only Microsoft sanctioned password reset procedure for Windows 7 involves using a password reset disk.
This unfortunately wasn't an option in your original situation because you have to have access to Windows 7 under your account to create one of these disks. In other words, it's a proactive step. Now that you can access Windows 7 normally, you can create one and never be caught in a situation like this again.
See How to Create a Windows 7 Password Reset Disk for a complete tutorial.
Open that link up in a new window or bookmark it for later but please remember to do it! You only have to make a password reset disk once. It'll still be good no matter how many times you change your Windows 7 password and trust me, it's much easier to use than the procedure you just followed to reset your password this time.
In the next several steps of this walkthrough we'll undo the hack that allowed you to reset your Windows 7 password. Undoing the changes we made will not undo the password change.
To reverse the changes you've made, you'll need to again access Command Prompt via your Windows 7 media.
Here's a quick summary in case you forgot:
1. Insert your bootable Windows 7 media.
2. Click the Next button.
3. Click the Repair your computer link.
4. Wait while Windows is found on your hard drive.
5. Select Windows 7 and then click Next.
6. Click on Command Prompt.
Tip: If you need more detailed help, my summary is referring to Steps 1 through 6 in this walkthrough, which you can reference again.
Do I Really HAVE to Undo These Changes?
No, no one says you have to. However, I strongly suggest that you do, for two reasons:
- Having access to Command Prompt from the logon screen is a major security concern. If anyone finds out that Command Prompt is accessible this way, he or she could very easily change your password to access your account, delete your most important files, among other serious things. Reversing the changes you made removes this easy access.
- The Ease of Access tools that are supposed to show up when you click that button on the login screen are there for good reason. You never know when you, or another person using your computer, might need to take advantage of them.
Hopefully you decide to take a few extra minutes and complete the next steps.
With Command Prompt now open, type the following command exactly as shown and then press Enter:
Copy D:\Utilman.ехе D:\Windows\System32\Utilman.ехе
As with the previous commands, there are only two spaces here, between Copy and D:\ and between exe and D:\ Remember to change the D: to whatever drive Windows 7 is installed on if you need to, just like you may have done in Step 7.
After pressing Enter, you're presented with the following question:
Overwrite D:\Windows\System32\Utilman.ехе? (Yes/No/All):
Type Y or Yes to confirm the overwrite and then press Enter. Assuming things went as planned, you should see the 1 file(s) copied. confirmation.
What Did I Just Do?
What you just did was copy the Utilman.ехе backup that you created using the first command in Step 7 back to its original location. In other words, you took things back to the way they were before you started this tutorial.
Now that you've restored the Utilman.ехе file to its rightful place, remove the Windows 7 disc or Flash Drive you booted from in Step 14.
Next, close the Command Prompt window and then click on the Restart button at the bottom of the System Recovery Options window.
Wait while your computer restarts.
As I mentioned the last time you restarted after using your Windows 7 bootable media, you want your computer to start normally so make sure the Flash Drive or disc has been removed.
Remember that little icon you clicked on back in Step 10? Click on it again.
This time, however, instead of seeing Command Prompt, you should see the Ease of Access screen. This is the normal behavior of this button and seeing it confirms that you successfully reversed the changes you made to make this Windows 7 password reset hack work.
Congratulations! You're done!
You can now close the Ease of Access window and login to Windows 7.
Important: Please remember to create that password reset disk I talked about a few times. It's really easy to do and then makes it really easy to reset your Windows 7 password in the future.
Did This Trick Not Work for You?
While this is one of the more successful password reset strategies for Windows 7, it's still possible that it didn't work out for your for some reason.
This post has been edited by ჰეისან on 5 Jan 2016, 00:17