How to get into laptop when forgotten password

Is there any way to retrieve the data before it's lost for good?

A few years ago a reader sent me an urgent request for help. His ancient Windows laptop (about 8 or 9 years old) had been sitting on his office shelf gathering dust for a few years but was still usable. In fact, it contained the only copy of some crucial work files. Unfortunately, my correspondent had forgotten the password for his local account and everything he tried was incorrect. To make things worse, those "login failed" messages also included a warning that the system had detected signs of an imminent hard drive failure.

Is there any way to get past that pesky password prompt and retrieve that data before it's irretrievably lost?

As with most tech support questions, the answer is "Maybe."

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That data might be recoverable, but there's no guarantee. If the data wasn't encrypted, the task is simple. Use a boot disk to bypass Windows and then simply copy the data to an external USB drive from the command line (you'll need some mastery of DOS commands to pull that off). As an alternative, you can try disassembling the laptop, removing the hard drive, and using a USB-to-SATA adapter kit that can convert the internal drive to one that connects to a USB port. (This StarTech adapter will probably work, but you'll need to check compatibility with your drive to be sure.)

Your job is considerably more difficult if the drive is encrypted using BitLocker or the Windows Encrypted File System. Had you signed in with a Microsoft account, you could find the recovery key for that system drive by simply going to https://onedrive.com/recoverykey and copying the recovery key for that drive. But that option isn't available for a local account, and if you didn't back up the recovery key after encrypting the drive you're out of luck.

You might be able to use an old trick that involves booting from a recovery drive and fooling Windows into opening an administrative Command Prompt window where you can reset your password.

Lowell Heddings at the excellent How-To Geek website has a full set of instructions here: "How to Reset Your Forgotten Windows Password the Easy Way."

For those following along at home, this might be a good place to remind everyone that backing your important data files up to the cloud (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) is always a smart idea. And signing into your Windows PC with a Microsoft account also enables you to encrypt your data while still making it easy to recover from a lost password.

Good luck!  

Related

If you forgot Windows 10 admin password, you'll be unable to install any software. Sometimes you won't even be able to use your computer. Microsoft doesn't make it easy to reset your password, but you have some options. In this tutorial we'll show you 6 simple ways to reset forgotten Windows 10 password for administrator and Microsoft account. Rest assured, at least one way will help you out.

Method 1: Use Password Reset Disk

Using a password reset disk is Microsoft's official method to reset a lost Windows password. The only downside of this method is that you need to create a Windows 10 password reset disk before your password is lost.

If you have created a password reset disk, you can easily set a new password for signing in to your Windows 10 computer. Check out this tutorial: How to Use a Password Reset Disk in Windows 10.

Method 2: Login with Other Sign-in Option

If you can still log into Windows 10 with PIN, picture password or another administrator account, there is a good chance you can open an elevated Command Prompt and reset Windows 10 password easily.

Simply press Windows logo key + X on your keyboard to open the Quick Access menu and click Command Prompt (Admin). To reset your forgotten password, type the following command and press Enter. Replace account_name and new_password with your username and desired password respectively.

net user account_name new_password

Method 3: Reset Microsoft Account Password Online

Since Windows 8, most people are now using a Microsoft account for logging into Windows. When you forgot your Microsoft account password, just use another computer to visit the Windows Live password reset page on the Microsoft website, and you can reset the password online. It's relatively easier than resetting local account password.

This method requires you to have access to the alternate email account or phone number you provided when signing up the Microsoft account. If you don't have access to those anymore, Microsoft will be unable to verify your identity. In that case, you can convert Windows 10 Microsoft account to a local account from a boot media, so you can log back into Windows 10 without losing files.

Method 4: Reset Windows 10 Password with MSDaRT

DaRT (Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset) is a toolset from Microsoft that helps IT professionals recover the computers that have become unusable. Boot your computer with DaRT Recovery CD and then launch the built-in Locksmith Wizard tool, it allows you to reset Windows 10 password of any local account.

Unfortunately, DaRT is not free. This tool is only available for Microsoft volume customers, TechNet Plus subscribers, and MSDN subscribers. Before performing a Windows 10 password reset, check out this video tutorial on Microsoft website: Reset passwords with the DaRT

Method 5: Reset Windows 10 Password with PCUnlocker

PCUnlocker allows you to unlock any Windows computer that you were locked out by a forgotten password. It is a bootable image that can be written to a CD or a USB stick using the freeware ISO2Disc. After booting from PCUnlocker Live CD (or USB), you can view all local accounts for your Windows 10 installation.

Simply select one of your local accounts and click on Reset Password button, the program will check the status of your selected account and perform the following tasks to fix your password problem:

• Remove the password if your Windows account is password protected
• Switch associated Microsoft account to local account
• Promote your selected standard/limited user to administrator
• Activate the account if it's disabled
• Unlock your locked account
• And much more...

Once you've reset Windows 10 password and get back into your system, make sure you set a new password that you won't forget next time. It's also good practice to create a Windows 10 password reset disk if you use quite complicated password for security reason.

Method 6: Restore Windows 10 to Previous State

If you don't want to use any Windows 10 password reset software or your hard drive is encrypted with BitLocker, you can restore your computer to the most recent restore point includes an old password that you do remember. However, programs that have been installed since the restore point have to be installed again.