Top 6 Free Windows Password Recovery Solutions

When you forgot your Windows login password, what would you do? Take your computer to a PC repair shop or buy an expensive Windows password recovery tool? Well, sometimes it costs you no penny to get back or reset your lost Windows password actually. Don't believe it? Here are the top 6 free programs available for you to recover or reset password on Windows 8/7/XP/Vista.

1. Ophcrack LiveCD

Many free Windows password recovery tools are supposed to help you get back in computer if you forgot Windows password, such as Ophcrack, which is a completely self-contained and bootable version. Ophcrack is by far the best free program for Windows password recovery. It's fast and easy enough for a first time Windows password cracker with a basic knowledge of Windows.

Since you can't login your Windows PC with the password lost, so firstly, you'll need to visit its official website to download Ophcrack LiveCD. Please make sure that whether you've forgotten Windows 7 password or Vista password, click on Ophcrack Vista LiveCD. If you've forgotten XP password, click on Ophcrack XP LiveCD.

Visit its Offcial site

2. Cain & Abel

Unlike Ophcrack and other popular Windows password recovery programs,Cain & Abel requires access to Windows with an administrator account. In fact, Cain & Abel is a bit more complicated to use than other password recovery tools which is usually unavailable for Windows Vista as is said.

If you have no way of getting in to your Windows PC, you will not be able to use Cain & Abel to recover your password. Moreover, before you can use Cain & Abel, you'll need to download a rainbow table. These large databases of passwords are required so Cain & Abel can reset the forgotten windows password.

Visit its Official site here

3. Available Admin Account

It's well known that Windows administrator users have rights to change password of other user account on the same computer. So if you forgot password of the user account, just enter your administrator account and do as follows:

• 1. Press F8 to enter the Advanced Boot Options when booting your PC
• 2. Select Safe Mode and enter your computer with an Administrator password
• 3. In Safe Mode, click Start -> Run -> Type control userpasswords2 ->click OK
• 4. On the coming up Users screen, click the name of the user account that you want to reset the password for, and then click Reset Password to process.

As a Windows 8 user, you can reset your lost Windows 8 password with another available admin account if you can not login.

4. A Windows Password Reset Disk

Windows has the default feature that you can create a password reset disk yourself. It is considered the easiest way to reset Windows password when you are forbiddened to access your laptop with protected password. However, many of us haven't enough consciousness on creating a Windows password reset disk before they lost the password.

If you have create a passdword reset disk, follow the guide to reset computer password on Windows 8/7/XP/Vista.

• 1. Type a wrong password on the Windows logon screen.
• 2. Click OK when Windows displays a message that the password is incorrect and "Reset password" link will appear.
• 3. Click Reset password to pop up Password Reset Wizard screen, and then click Next.
• 4. Follow the steps in the Password Reset Wizard to create a new password.

Note:This solution takes effect provided you have created a Windows password reset disk for your Windows account in advance.

5. Typing Ctrl + Alt + Del

This option is only for Windows XP. Furthermore, the default administrator account on Windows XP is enabled and not password protected by default, which is disabled by default on Windows 7/Vista.

• 1. Turn on your Windows XP machine and go to its logon screen.
• 2. Press Ctrl+ Alt +Del twice to pop up the classic logon box.
• 3. Enter Administrator in the User name box and then click OK to log on your Windows XP machine.
• 4. Click Start button to pop up the Run box, and then type control userpasswords2 and click OK.
• 5. On the coming screen, click the name of the user account that you want to reset the password for, and then click Reset Password for password recovery.

6. System Recovery Option

You can use system recovery options to reset lost Windows password by using Windows installation disc or access to the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer. Also you can create a system repair disc as below:

• 1. Click the Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore.
• 2. Click Create a system repair disc on the left pane.
• 3. Insert a blank CD/ DVD into your CD/DVD drive and click on the Create disc button. It will start creating the System Repair Disc.
• 4. When it's finished, click the Close button, and then click OK to finish.

If you still cannot resolve your problem with these free Windows password recovery solutions, try to create a password reset disk with a Windows password recovery shareware instead, like Windows Password Unlocker, which allows to burn a password reset CD/DVD or USB flash drive to bypass lost password on Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000/2003/2008 in a short time.

Importance: If you have updated your laptop to Windows 8 and forgot Windows 8 password, except the above methods, the following options can help you to login the computer and reset local password in a quick way.

• A Windows live account
• A picture password if you have created
• A PIN code that is only available in Windows 8 till now