Using the Command Prompt (CMD) to reset user passwords in Microsoft Windows can be quicker than going through the graphical user interface. Changing Windows passwords requires administrative privileges, however, which means you must log on as an administrator with the appropriate password. Microsoft recommends that users run their computers without administrative privileges most of the time to protect against viruses. The Command Prompt, which requires older operating system commands, is used most often by advanced users and repair technicians.
Then, how to reset your forgotten Windows password with CMD?
Step 1: Click "Start" and "Run" in Windows XP/7 or the round Windows symbol in Windows Vista on the bottom left of your screen. A search box will appear. Type "cmd" in the search box.
Step 2: Click the "Control," "Shift" and "Enter" keys simultaneously. A window will appear with an option to run the program as an administrator. Click this option and enter the administrator password if prompted. The Command Prompt will appear in a small box on the screen. The first line may read C:\WINDOWS\system32> on most computers.
Step 3: Type the words "net user" without quote marks after the > symbol. Leave a space before this command. A list of users of the computer will appear.
Step 4: Type "net user User Name New Password," substituting the user's name for User Name and the new password for New Password. It may be necessary to type an asterisk between User Name and New Password in some versions of Windows. For example, to change the password of a user named Bill to football, type "net user Bill * football" A message will appear that the password change command was executed successfully.
Warnings:
1. You must log on with an available account with admin privilege.
2. Administrator access to the Command Prompt also can be achieved directly from the command line by using the "run as" command. Type "runas /profile /env /user:COMPUTER NAME\administrator cmd" and enter the administrator password when prompted. Without the administrator password, it may be impossible to change Windows password on any users.
Of course ,if you are the only administrator and forgot the password, you can not reset it with CMD, then you can also reset Windows password with a third party software, like Windows Password Unlocker, an efficient and powerful tool to reset both admin and user passwords.
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