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Reset Windows 7 password with command prompt on login screen
If Windows 7 computer is locked, whether command prompt cannot be run to reset Windows 7 forgotten password? Surely not, but the operations would be a little complicated. Now this way will walk you through how to reset forgotten password with command prompt on locked Windows 7 computer step by step. If you feel it difficult, take Windows 7 Password Genius instead to recover Windows 7 password easier.
Step 1: Force power off your computer.
Start your computer and when you see it saying Starting Windows. Hold down the Power button for at least 5 seconds to force power off your computer.
Step 2: Restart computer and choose "Launch Startup Repair (Recommended)".
Next time, when you power on your computer, two options will be available, launch startup repair and start normally. If you have no admin password to access computer, please choose the recommended option.
launch startup repair in windows 7
Note: Startup Repair will boot up and when it asks if you want to restore computer, click "Cancel" button.
Step 3: Click on "View problem details" while Startup Repair cannot repair computer automatically.
Startup Repair tool automatically checks the system problems and tries to fix them. After a long time, you will get a dialog saying that Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically. Click on View problem details.
view problem details after failed computer repair
Step 4: Pop up "File Open" dialog by opening Microsoft's offline privacy statement in notepad.
1. Click the last link to read Microsoft’s offline privacy statement in notepad.
read offline privacy statement in notepad
2. Click on the File menu and Open in notepad. Then File Open dialog box would pop up.
open file open dialog with notepad
Step 5: Run command prompt instead of Sticky Keys application on login screen.
1. Change the File of type option to All Files and browse to C:\windows\system32\sethc.exe. Rename this file as a backup, just like "sethc-copy".
2. Find the cmd.exe file in the same folder and rename it to sethc.exe.
rename cmd to sethc
3. Close all the dialogs, click Finish button and computer restarts.
finish startup repair
4. Once go to Windows 7 login screen, hit the Shift key 5 times and Command Prompt will be opened instead of Sticky Keys application.
reset windows 7 password with command prompt on locked computer
Step 6: Reset Windows 7 password with command prompt.
After Windows 7 password reset with command line, you can follow step 1-5 again to restore sethc.exe and cmd.exe.
Tips:
Command Prompt used above applies to all Windows 7 user password reset, because there is only local user available in Windows 7 computer. But if you have upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 8/10, and Microsoft account is used on computer, the command prompt would still only work for local account, but not Microsoft account.
If Windows 7 computer is locked, whether command prompt cannot be run to reset Windows 7 forgotten password? Surely not, but the operations would be a little complicated. Now this way will walk you through how to reset forgotten password with command prompt on locked Windows 7 computer step by step. If you feel it difficult, take Windows 7 Password Genius instead to recover Windows 7 password easier.
Step 1: Force power off your computer.
Start your computer and when you see it saying Starting Windows. Hold down the Power button for at least 5 seconds to force power off your computer.
Step 2: Restart computer and choose "Launch Startup Repair (Recommended)".
Next time, when you power on your computer, two options will be available, launch startup repair and start normally. If you have no admin password to access computer, please choose the recommended option.
launch startup repair in windows 7
Note: Startup Repair will boot up and when it asks if you want to restore computer, click "Cancel" button.
Step 3: Click on "View problem details" while Startup Repair cannot repair computer automatically.
Startup Repair tool automatically checks the system problems and tries to fix them. After a long time, you will get a dialog saying that Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically. Click on View problem details.
view problem details after failed computer repair
Step 4: Pop up "File Open" dialog by opening Microsoft's offline privacy statement in notepad.
1. Click the last link to read Microsoft’s offline privacy statement in notepad.
read offline privacy statement in notepad
2. Click on the File menu and Open in notepad. Then File Open dialog box would pop up.
open file open dialog with notepad
Step 5: Run command prompt instead of Sticky Keys application on login screen.
1. Change the File of type option to All Files and browse to C:\windows\system32\sethc.exe. Rename this file as a backup, just like "sethc-copy".
2. Find the cmd.exe file in the same folder and rename it to sethc.exe.
rename cmd to sethc
3. Close all the dialogs, click Finish button and computer restarts.
finish startup repair
4. Once go to Windows 7 login screen, hit the Shift key 5 times and Command Prompt will be opened instead of Sticky Keys application.
reset windows 7 password with command prompt on locked computer
Step 6: Reset Windows 7 password with command prompt.
After Windows 7 password reset with command line, you can follow step 1-5 again to restore sethc.exe and cmd.exe.
Tips:
Command Prompt used above applies to all Windows 7 user password reset, because there is only local user available in Windows 7 computer. But if you have upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 8/10, and Microsoft account is used on computer, the command prompt would still only work for local account, but not Microsoft account.