Reset account password in Vista

After installing Windows Vista or changing the user account password, you should create a room password recovery disk when you forget your account login password. In this article, we will show you how to create and use a password recovery disk to reset your computer account password when needed.

Create a password recovery disk

In the search dialog Start menu the search box enter the keyword ' user '. After entering the keyword you will see User Accounts appear. Click it and the User Accounts Panel will open.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 1

Click Create a password reset disk .

Reset account password in Vista Picture 2

The Forgotten Password Wizard section will be opened. Insert a storage device that you want to use to store password recovery information into the device.

Note : You can use a floppy disk or USB memory stick, but some other types of storage devices work equally well. In this article we only use floppy disk and USB devices.

After selecting and inserting the storage device into the machine, click the Next button.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 3

Select the drive you want to use to create the password reset disk and click Next .

Reset account password in Vista Picture 4

Enter the current user account password and click Next .

Reset account password in Vista Picture 5

And the password recovery disk will be created.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 6

Wait until the creation process finishes and click Finish after the recovery disk has successfully created.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 7

Use password recovery disk

On the initial windows login screen, if you enter an incorrect password, you will receive the following error message:

Reset account password in Vista Picture 8

Click OK and you will see the Reset password link appear just below the Password box. Click on the link and the Password Reset Wizard will appear.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 9

Insert the password reset disk and click Next .

Reset account password in Vista Picture 10

Select the password reset disk drive and click Next

Reset account password in Vista Picture 11

Now you can enter the new password and its suggestion. When finished, click on Next .

Reset account password in Vista Picture 12

The program will issue a message confirming that your account password has been successfully restored.

Reset account password in Vista Picture 13

Click the Finish button and then log in to Windows with the new password. If you want to use the recovery disk again in case you forget the password, you should format the disk and recreate a recovery disk other than the new password information.

Note : if you forget your password and don't have a recovery disk, you'll need a third-party tool like Active Password Changer to crack your password and change it again.