James E. O'Brien

It is nearly impossible to recover a lost Windows 7 password. If, for whatever reason, you have forgotten your windows 7 password, you are going to be in pretty big trouble. Without that password, you are not going to be able to log into your profile and access your files or data.

Fortunately, Windows 7 provides a simple tool to help you recover your password by way of a password reset disk. The catch is that you must create the password recovery disk BEFORE you need it.

Creating the Password Recovery disk

You can use a floppy disk, if your computer has a floppy drive, or if it does not, you can use a USB flash drive. To start, insert the floppy disk or USB flash drive into your computer, and then follow the steps below:

1) Click on the windows button on your task bar, and type “reset” (without quotes) into the Search box. Select “Create a password reset disk”

(Click on image for larger view)

2) When the Forgotten Password Wizard appears, click “Next.”

3) Select your USB flash drive or your floppy drive, and click “Next.”

4) When the wizard finishes creating the reset disk, click “Next” and then “Finish.”

Using the Reset Password Disk

1)  Insert the password reset disk into your computer.

2)  At the Windows 7 Welcome screen, click on the link labeled, “Reset password.” It will appear just below the password field after a failed log-on attempt.

3)  Click “Next” when the Password Reset Wizard appears.

4)  Select the drive where the password reset disk is located.

5)  Type in your new password and password hint then click “Next.”

6)  If successful, you’ll receive a confirmation window saying, “You’ve successfully reset the password for this user account.”

Note:

Store your password recovery disk or flash drive in a safe location, preferably with your Windows 7 Operating System DVD, and hardware drivers.

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