How to: Make a Windows password recovery disc
Applies to: Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server editions
If you have forgotten the password to get into Windows then you will need to reset the password. Because you can't get into Windows to do it, you will need to use a password recovery disc.
Tech-Pro.net recommends Recover My Password which is a very easy to use Windows password recovery tool. It is available as a download, but you need to create a recovery disc using a CD burner before you can use it.
Downloading Recover My Password
First you must download Recover My Password on a computer with a CD burner.
Download Recover My Password now!
The download link above is for home users running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP or Windows 2000. If you need to reset the administrator password on a business computer or a Windows server then see the product review page and select the appropriate download.
The software comes as a CD image (iso file) contained in a zip archive. Open the zip file, then drag and drop the iso file to a suitable location such as your desktop, ready for burning.
Most PCs that have a CD or DVD burner have suitable software already. If you do, then use that.
Note that creating a CD from an iso image file is not exactly the same as burning files (such as music or photo image files) to disc. If your CD burning software doesn't have a special option for iso images then we advise that you use a free program called ImgBurn. Download ImgBurn from the Official ImgBurn Website and install it in the usual way.
Creating a password recovery CD using ImgBurn
Start ImgBurn and select Write Image file to disc.
Now you must select the source file (the iso image file you extracted from the zip file you downloaded.)
Click the open file icon and then locate the iso file on your desktop (or wherever you extracted it.)
ImgBurn should now show the name of the image iso file in the Source file box.
Select the Destination CD / DVD burner (if you gave more than one) and then put a writeable CD in the drive. The Write Image file to disc button should become active. Click the button to start the burn process.
After a minute or two ImgBurn will display Operation Successfully Completed! Your Recover My Password disc is now ready to use.
