How to recover your Laptop or PC's Password if you accidentally lost your Windows Password

If you’d read my blog article entitled How to remove Rootkit Virus or Hidden Folder Virus using Bootable Rescue Discs, you’ld have realized that the very same Rescue discs and Bootable Linux OS can be used to recover Data and back it up on an External Hard-Drive. I do this all the time as a routine in my job as a On-Call Computer Repair Technician, especially Thumb Drives accidentally erased by persons thinking it’s infected with a Virus as stated in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to recover Data from your Damaged Thumb Drive or ZIP Archive”.

But from time to time I encounter cases where the Hard-Drive is password protected or the Customer forgot their Windows Password. If your Hard-Drive or computer is locked with a Password or you’re locked out of Windows, chances are you’re having a really bad day. But fret not dear reader; there’s a way around it. After all, it’s manmade!

Hard-Drives with Password Protection – Password Hacks and Mounting is the thing

In the case of a Hard-Drive that’s locked with a BIOS (Basic Input Output System) password, you have to know the password. If you forgot it, then you need to use a backdoor password or reset the CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) by removing the battery.

Since removing the battery means you have to go inside of your computer or Laptop, it’s a Good idea to power it down. This is usually done for a period of 24 hours to guarantee that it works as some CMOS have a backup capacitor. Worse some CMOS are soldered on to the Motherboard.

Thus for my business as an on-call Computer Repair Technician, this isn’t the way to go. I need something that works faster!

From experience, the fastest thing I know is to simply figure out the name of the BIOS manufacturer by reading it off the Motherboard of which there are three (3) main manufacturers:

1.      Award BIOS

2.      AMI BIOS

3.      PHOENIX BIOS

Then I go ahead and reset using my standard list of BIOS Backdoor passwords as listed in the article “How to Bypass BIOS Passwords”, viewed January 2 2014, written by Rajiv Priyadarshi, The Instructables and “How to Bypass BIOS Passwords”, viewed January 2 2014, UK T Support.

Good idea to take the time to either write or Print off this list (preferably print!):

Hint: Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot. Interestingly too, IBM Aptiva BIOS can also be bypassed by pressing both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot.

Alternately, when I’m Pressed for Time, I usually tell the customer I’ll backup their Data onto my External Hard-Drive. I then either booth their computer using my copy of Fedora or Ubuntu Linux or if that doesn’t work, I’ll stick into my 2.5” or 3.5” External Hard-Drive enclosure and connect it to another computer in the house or my Laptop if I happen to have it handy and just TeraCopy everything across!

Simple solution

Windows Password Recovery – Bootable Password Reset in lieu of Recovery of Data

This is a common problem that’s easier to fix. Just like the situation with a locked piece of proprietary Software, such as Microsoft Word as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to Legally Activate installed Microsoft Products – Office 2010’s in the Lost and Found” you need a software to unlock or Reset the Windows Password. More importantly, it has to boot form a CD/DVD ROM Drive; hence the reason why I always travel with a Bootable External CD/DVD Writer in my toolbag!

Dear reader, I’d like to introduce you to a few friends of mine. Here’s a list of some great software that can recover passwords for every version of Windows up to Windows 8:

1.      Ophcrack

2.      Offline NT Password & Registry Editor

3.      John the Ripper

Download and burn the *.ISO using the instructions in my blog article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn - How to Author Professional DVD Copies of your Animation Project or any Downloaded Video or Audio Files”. Then go ahead and rescue your Laptop or PC.