I understand that sometimes it is a nightmare when you
cannot access your Windows 7 computer. Now there are a couple of things you
need to understand and need. This method will only work if:
-
You didn’t have any disk encryption program installed
like McAfee or Symantec or others and,- You have a Windows 7 boot CD
While on your log in screen, you will notice that if you hit
the “Shift” key 5 times, you will get this
Here we go with the reset process:
1.
Insert the Windows disk and boot your computer
off the disk. Go through the options until you get to the installation screen.
2.
Click on the “Repair your computer” option as
shown below
3.
Proceed to the repair option screen and
select “Command Prompt” Please also take note of the drive letter where your Operating
System in installed
4.
Once the command prompt page loads, proceed with
backing up the sticky keys files by running the command
copy
Z:\windows\system32\sethc.exe Z:\where Z is the drive letter of the OS location.
5.
Now copy the cmd.exe executable to replace the
sticky key file. Here’s the command
copy
Z:\windows\system32\cmd.exe Z:\windows\system32\sethc.exeagain where Z is the drive letter of the OS location.
6.
You can now reboot your computer from the hard
drive.
7.
When you get to the login prompt, hit the “Shift”
key five time and the command prompt screen will pop up.8. The password reset command is in the format
net user username password
so if we wanted to reset the password for
user John Doe with username jdoe and a new password of P@55word, it will be
net user jdoe P@55word
With your new password set, you should be
able to now log in. It is advisable you remember to boot again from your
Windows 7 disk and copy the sticky key file back to its original location. The command
will be
copy
Z:\sethc.exe Z:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
where Z is drive letter where the OS is
installed
