Get Into Windows Without Password

_{Note: This works on computers with only one active user. If this is the case, you will need to boot from a USB stick to copy the cmd.exe file. The instructions are roughly the same except the method by which you get there. You can boot from a live Linux environment or from a Windows installation drive. In the case of the latter, you can pull up a terminal by pressing Shift+F10 on the first screen.}

At the Windows Login screen, click the power symbol in the lower right corner. Hold shift and select “Restart.” Keep holding Shift through the reboot until the Windows boot screen says “Please wait.”

Select “Advanced” under Recovery Options and then open the Command Prompt.

Enter this command and press Enter

cd C:\Windows\System32

fsutil fsinfo drives

wmic logicaldisk get caption

C: dir

Enter these commands and hit the Enter key after each.

rename utilman.exe utilman.exebak

copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

Close the terminal and select the option to continue booting into Windows. This time, when you get to the login screen, click the Accessibility button. This will open a command prompt with Administrator privileges.

Enter this command and hit Enter:

net user administrator /active:yes

Then, enter this command and edit the password for the Administrator account.

control userpasswords2

Now reboot one more time. This time, when you get to the login screen, you will be able to select the Administrator user in the lower left corner. Enter the password you set in the last step, and you’re in!