Resetting windows password, with Windows ISO

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If you have restored a server, or somehow lost the password for your windows installation, you can reset the password with only a Windows installation ISO or USB. It doesn’t need to be the right version, just a newer one (later that than 2012R2).

All you need to do is boot you computer/server with the ISO file.

After your have started it, set the “Keyboard or input method”, to the correct language and click Next
Click on “Repair your computer”
Click on “Troubleshoot”
Click on “Command Prompt”
Change to the OS drive, in this example it’s d: it could also be c:
then change directory to windows\system32

And then rename the file utilman.exe to utilman.bak
And last copy cmd.exe to utilman.exe

Then you should close the windows, and reboot your computer

Click on the “easy access tab” and a command prompt will start
Type “net user administrator NEWPASSWORD”

After the password have been changed, please close the command prompt, and login with “Administrator” and the new password you just have changed it to.

When you are login, you need to clean up, so that utilman.exe, is the correct utilman.exe file. so change to directory c:\windows\system32, and del tuilman.exe and rename utilman.bak back to utilman.exe

Now you are finish, and you have recovered your password.

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