Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? - Part 3: Setting a new password as an administrator (894902)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

SUMMARY

This article is Part 3 of the Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? guide. This part explains how to set a new password as an administrator.

Note To view the other topics of the Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? guide, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that are listed in the "References" section.

The Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? guide includes the following topics: 
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Using a password reset disk
Part 3: Setting a new password as an administrator
If you did not create a password reset disk, there is still a way to access your system. The administrator account is the last option for solving this problem.

The administrator account is hidden and is not displayed on the Welcome screen. To access the administrator account, follow the steps in this section.

How to log on as administrator

  1. Start the computer in Safe Mode. After the Power On Self Test is finished, press and hold the F8 key until the Start menu appears. Use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER to confirm the selection. Now you can see the administrator account next to your user account on the Welcome screen.

    Administrator account displayed

  2. Log on as administrator. If this is the first time that you have logged by using the administrator account, there is no password assigned to the account. You can just click Administrator.

    Note If you have logged on as Administrator in the past, you may have assigned a password to the account. If this is the case, type the password.
  3. After you log on, Windows notifies you that it is running in Safe Mode. Click Yes.

    Windows is running in Safe Mode alert

How to reset the password

You can now reset the password for your user account. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click User Accounts.
  2. Click your user account, and then click Change the password.

    Safe Mode: User Accounts/tasks window (with Administrator account)

    Safe Mode: List of account options/Change password selected

  3. Enter a new password, enter it again to confirm the password, and then set a password hint. Click Change Password.

    Change JohnM's password window

    Note You can also use this opportunity to set a password for the administrator account, if you have not already done this. If you do not assign a password to the administrator account, your computer can be accessed by anyone. To set a password for the administrator account, follow the same steps as for your own user account. You can also create a password reset disk.
  4. Your password has now been reset. Restart your computer, and then log on by using your new password.

REFERENCES

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

894900 Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? - Part 1: Introduction

894901 Forgotten your Windows XP Home password? - Part 2: Using a password reset disk

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/10/2006
Keywords:kbGraphxLink kbhowto KB894902
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