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General discussion

Need help! I lost my Windows vista admin password

by satdrbe Jun 22, 2009 9:21PM PDT

Need help! I lost my Windows vista admin password

I have lost my Windows vista administrative password and can't find it to save my life! Am I stuck having to wipe and reload my computer? Or is there a method I can use to reset it or bypass the log-in screen. I do not want to lose everything! Thanks for your time!

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6 Posts
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You won't lose anything ...
by Kees Bakker Jun 22, 2009 9:25PM PDT

if you reinstall Vista to a new hard disk.

By the way, it's bad practice to have only one administrative account on a machine. It's a lot of work if it gets corrupted or you forget the password.

But I'm sure there are ways to circumvent this. Look at http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/ for example.

Kees

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HELP
by satdrbe Jun 26, 2009 9:46PM PDT

why dont somebody help me with this F8 key for SP3

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I do not understand...
by John.Wilkinson Jun 27, 2009 2:41AM PDT

Do you want help finding the F8 key on your keyboard, understanding what the F8 keys does (under specific circumstances), or...?

Let us know.
John

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F8 key
by satdrbe Jun 27, 2009 4:11AM PDT

Thnx Wilkinson for answering me. Like in XP when you enter F8 you can enter safe mode while booting and then reset the password after entering into the control panel. I tried the same thing with Vista but when it enter into the safe mode it still asks for the password, how can this be helped in Vista. Thnx in advance

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Yep, safe mode doesn't circumvent logon.
by Kees Bakker Jun 27, 2009 4:29AM PDT

And that's good. Otherwise anybody knowing how to use f8 having physical access to the machine could be able to take it over. Not a nice idea.

In XP, by the way, it's the same. Please try for yourself if you don't believe me.

Kees

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Gosh!
by PsychGen Jun 29, 2009 12:51PM PDT

There is a post in practically every windows forum here at CNET where someone is asking how to reset their admin password as they seem to have 'forgotten' it.

I see lots of good advice but, no one is asking the most important question: "How do I know you are the legitimate owner of that machine?"

That password is there for a reason, security, that it can be circumvented at all is appalling.

A person that forgets a password should pay the price, reformat-reinstall, lesson learned, I have. Don't forget the password.

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