Q: I have an old Windows computer that I need to get files from, but I forgot the user and administrator passwords or the ones I have are just not working.  Do I have to take it to someone to recover the data?

A: Well, the first solution that may be easiest is to just remove the drives from the old computer and plug them into a Windows computer that you have full access to so you can get the files.

If that is not technically possible or isn't as easy as booting from a CD, Windows passwords are surprisingly easy to reset using open source (free) tools on a bootable CD.

The tools I'm talking about are on Hiren's BootCD, which is easy to download, unzip, burn to a CD, and use to boot that old computer.  The utilities on the CD that would help reset or change Windows passwords from XP up to Windows Vista and 7 are called NTPWD and NTPWEdit.

After you start the old computer using this CD, the easiest way is to start using the mini Windows XP.  After you get to the mini Windows XP desktop, you can open HBCD Menu, which has a Menu menu showing all of the many categories and programs on the CD.  When you go into Menu, then the Passwords sub-menu, Windows Login sub-menu, there you can launch the NTPWEdit program.

However, if you have a problem with Hiren's BootCD working on your computer, as we have before, an alternative is the Trinity Rescue Kit, whose download page has several links to download the ISO you can burn to a CD.  After you boot from the CD, you should see the main text menu, which you can navigate with your arrow and Enter keys.  The windows password reset utilities are under the "Windows password resetting" menu.

Contact us with more specific questions about your Windows problems.