How to reset Windows XP password for free

[syonxu]

If you do not have a reset disk or cannot log on as an administrator, unfortunately, you may have to reinstall Windows OS and all other programs that were installed on the computer before you can use the computer again. This is for security. Without these safeguards, anyone could reset a password to anyone else's computer and gain access to private information.（from Microsoft official info)     
Because of this, a lot of people think that after having lost their Windows administrator password, they absolutely have to reinstall their OS. Despite of this, now let me tell you something: They are wrong! Here some methods / utilities which can be used to recover Windows password:

Method-1

NOTE: If you never created any administrator or user accounts, this method may be unuseful, because your current account is the default administrator account.
The first thing you check if you forget login password. When we install Windows, it automatically creates an account "Administrator" and sets its password to blank. So if you have forget your user account password then try this:
1. Start system and when you see Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press Ctr+Alt+Del keys twice and it will show Classic Login box.
   
2.Type "Administrator" (Without quotes, Note: Do this If you do not know any other administrator user account,) in Username box and leave Password box field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.
 
3. Now you can reset your account password from "Control Panel -> User Accounts".
 
4. Pick an account you want to change.
 
5. Select Change the password or you can remove the password.
 
6. Type the appropriate information and click Change Password.
 
Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.

Method-2

Use windows password reset disk to reset your lost password, before this you have to create a password reset disk in CD or USB Flash Drive. More details please refer to: How to create Windows password reset disk and reset your lost administrator password.

Method-3

Delete SAM files

In Windows NT / 2000 / XP, system uses SAM(Security Account Manager) to manage the safety of user account.SAM uses Security Identifier to perform Account management. The Security Identifier was create with the user account, and once you delete the user account, the SID also be deleted at the same time. One SID with only one account even if the same user name created in different time will with different SID. Therefore, once an account is reconstructed, it will be given a different SID, and won't keep the original jurisdiction. SAM perform with %System Root % system32configsam file. This file is a Windows NT / 2000 / XP user account database, all user  name and password and related information can be stored in this file.

Now a solution appears: We can delete SAM file, then start system, it will rebuild a clean SAM file with no password inside.However,even if you delete the SAM, some systems will start to go wrong.

If you cannot access system as administrator or have not created a password reset disk, you can use the third method. But this method is complicated that you have to boot DOS and it will make the system in risk.

Is there another simple and efficient solution to recover the password?Answer is affirmative. Recently there are lots of windows password recovery tools on the network, but it is not every tool can solve the problem quickly. I know one of the most popular tools is Windows Password Rescuer. This program can reset the password within several minutes, and the operation is simple. It can reset password of all Windows versions, such as Windows 7,Windows XP, Windows server 2008/2003/2000 and Windows vista etc. You only need a blank CD or USB Flash Drive to complete the task. If you want to know how to use Window Password Rescuer,you can see this article: How to use Windows Password Rescuer.