How to Access Your Computer When You've Lost Your Password

Sometimes people forget their passwords. I get a lot of mail regarding how to recover passwords, so here is a rundown of what to do. Here's a little known fact: if you have physical access to a device, you can always get into it somehow.

Windows

Go into Safe Mode first.

Windows 95
As the computer boots, as you hear a beep or see the message "Starting Windows 95", press the F8 key on the top of the keyboard. In the menu choose option 3 by pressing the 3 key and press enter. Then login to the 'Administrator' account, where you can change your passwords.

Windows 98 and ME

As the computer is booting press and hold F8 or the left or right CTRL key. In this menu choose option 3 by pressing the 3 key and then pressing enter. With some computers you will get a stuck key message if you hold F8. If this occurs, tap the "F8 key" continuously until you get the startup menu instead. Then login to the 'Administrator' account, where you can change your passwords.

Windows 2000, XP and Vista

As the computer is booting press and hold F8 which should bring up the 'Windows Advanced Options Menu'. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key. With some computers you will get a stuck key message if you hold F8. If this occurs, tap the "F8 key" continuously until you get the startup menu instead. If you are having trouble getting into the WAOM, turn your PC off as Windows boots. It should come up when you boot again. Then login to the 'Administrator' account, where you can change your passwords.

Linux

Boot using a LiveCD, then via a root terminal, you can then chroot into your system after mounting it as so:-

sudo su
mkdir /mnt/hd
mount /dev/hda2 -t ext3 /mnt/hd
chroot /mnt/hd
passwd