The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc you just burned is "bootable" meaning it contains a small operating system and software and can be ran independent of the operating system on your hard drive. This is exactly what we need in this situation because you can't access the operating system on your hard drive right now because you don't know the password.
Insert the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc into your CD/DVD/BD drive and then restart your computer.
The initial screen you see after restarting should be the same one you always see immediately after starting your computer. There may be computer information as pictured above or there may be a computer manufacturer logo.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor begins to load after this point in the boot process, as shown in the next step.
After the initial startup of your computer is complete, as shown in the previous step, the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor menu shown above should display on screen.
Press ENTER at the boot: prompt, shown above.
The next thing you'll see is several lines of text that quickly run down the screen. You don't need to do anything here.
These lines of text are detailing the many individual tasks that the Linux operating system is taking in preparation for loading the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor software program which will remove the Windows passwords encrypted on your hard drive (don't worry - only the ones you choose later in this process).
The next step in the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor process is to select the partition that contains the Windows installation that you want to delete a password from.
Some computers, especially those with Windows XP or earlier, have a single operating system installed on a single partition on a single hard drive, making this a very easy choice.
If that's the case for you, just press ENTER to accept the default partition. Otherwise, type the number corresponding to the correct partition from the Candidate Windows partitions found list and then press ENTER.
Tip: If more than one partition is listed and you're not sure which one to pick, chances are the larger partition is the one with Windows installed.
Windows 7 Note: Every Windows 7 PC will have more than one partition listed. In many cases, the right partition to choose will be number 2. The 100 MB partition labeled BOOT is never the right choice.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know the exact location of the Windows Registry. Except in the rarest of occasions, the default location will be the correct one.
Press ENTER to accept the default Windows Registry path of Windows/System32/config.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is now asking which part of the registry it should load. We're interested in resetting the Windows password so we'll do that.
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of 1, which is Password reset [sam system security].
Note: The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor tool can perform various functions aside from resetting Windows passwords but since that's the focus of this particular tutorial, that's all we'll discuss.
Tip: Are you seeing lines of computer code with a --More-- at the bottom of the screen? Some of you will and that's okay, just hit any key and the program will continue on.
Now that the registry is loaded and available to the program, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor needs to know exactly what you want to do.
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of Edit user data and passwords.
This will load the necessary options for the actual password reset
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now needs to know which Windows user's password you'd like to delete (erase, clear, blank, remove, call it what you like).
A default user is listed between the brackets at the prompt. In the above example, you can see that it's the Administrator user.
If the default user is the user you'd like to remove the password from, simply press ENTER. Otherwise, enter the username (I entered Tim) and then press ENTER.
At the bottom of the screen you'll see the User Edit Menu with several options to choose from.
Type 1 for Clear (blank) user password and then press ENTER.
Note: Offline NT Password & Registry Editor shows some interesting information about the username you entered in the last step - the full name, what groups the user belongs to, how many failed login attempts have taken place, how many total logins have been completed, and more.
Important: If you see a check in the Passwd not req. box, this means that a password is not a requirement for this particular user. It does not mean that a password is not required to access the account in Windows. In other words, it's saying that it is possible to erase this user's password.
Assuming there weren't any problems, you should see a Password cleared! message after entering 1 in the previous step.
Type ! to quit editing user and then press ENTER.
Important: You must confirm these changes in a later step before they are actually complete. If you quit Offline NT Password & Registry Editor now then the password reset will not take place!
Enter q and then press ENTER to quit the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor registry editing tool.
Important: You're still not done! You need to confirm your password reset change in the next step before it will take effect.
At the Step FOUR: Writing back changes menu, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor asks if you want to write file(s) back.
Type y and then press ENTER.
You should see an EDIT COMPLETE message appear on screen. If you do, it means that Offline NT Password & Registry Editor has written the password changes to your computer!
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor gives you an option here to rerun the program. If you've been following along with this tutorial and everything seems to have worked properly then there's little reason to repeat anything.
Press ENTER to confirm the default option of not rerunning the password reset.
That's it... you've just completed the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor password removal process.
In the next step, you'll finally get to logon to Windows without entering a password!
Note: If you receive a "job control turned off" or a "can't access tty" error, don't worry. As long as the EDIT COMPLETE confirmation message was posted to the screen after you confirmed the password reset changes then your Windows password was successfully reset. You should still be able to see the confirmation on the screen at this point.
Remove the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor disc from your optical drive and then manually restart your computer.
IN A NUTSHELL!
Press ENTER to accept the default choice of Edit user data and password
Type 1 for Clear (blank) user password and then press ENTER.
Type ! to quit editing user and then press ENTER.
Enter q and then press ENTER to quit the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor registry editing tool.
Type y and then press ENTER.
Press ENTER to confirm the default option of not rerunning the password reset
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