To clear how to reset a Dell laptop without password, you can learn what is PC reset and how to reset the target PC. If you want to reset the password loss, you can try the bonus method.
Is there a way for me to reset my Dell Latitude E5540 to factory settings without a disk? I also do not remember my password to log in. I have tried CRTL and F8, but it says windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. I cannot contact a system administrator.
- Question from forums.tomshardware.com
Factory reset refers to turning your Dell laptop to its original condition, all current data will be deleted and the settings will be returned to the default one. When you are troubled by computer freezing, PC crashing randomly, and other problems, you can try to factory reset to deal with it.
Besides, if you want to abandon or sell out your Dell laptop, to protect the data on it, you can reset this PC. In the next part, we’ll show you how to reset a Dell laptop without password.
Regardless of the reasons, you need to know the detailed steps to reset a Dell laptop. Since the differences between Windows versions, you need to choose the specific operation to reset your Dell laptop.
When you forget the password of the Windows 8/10/11 Dell laptop, you can directly reset this PC without password on Windows PE. The steps are as follows.
Tip: Before the PC resetting operation, don’t forget to remove all the external hard drives.
Step 1. Restart your Dell laptop, in the logging-in interface, press “Shift” and click “Restart” at the same time.
Step 2. In the new interface, choose “Troubleshoot” and “Reset this PC” in turn.
Step 3. Then choose "Keep my files" or "Remove everything".
Step 4. Read the sentence carefully, follow the wizard to reset your Dell laptop. The PC resetting task will take about 2 hours.
If the system of your Dell laptop is Windows 7 or the earlier version, you need to remove the password before resetting the PC. Here, we’ll divide the process into two stages.
★ Stage 1. Delete the PC password
Since Windows 7 and the earlier version will be asked you to input the password, it can be difficult for you to reset your Dell laptop without password. So you need to delete the forgotten password with a bootable USB in advance. There’re two methods to remove the Windows 7 Dell laptop password.
✿ Method 1. Create bootable USB with CMD
Step 1. Connect an empty USB drive larger than 4GB with another PC. Press “Windows+ R” to open the Run program, input “cmd” and press “Enter”.
Step 2. In the CMD window, type "Diskpart" to open the Diskpart. Then input the following commands and press “Enter” each time. • list disk • select disk 1 • clean • create partition primary • select partition 1 • active • format fs=ntfs • assign • exit (You’ll exit Diskpart.)
Step 3. Put the Windows installation disc in the optical drive to mount the ISO, or extract its contents to a folder.
Step 4. Make the USB drive bootable with the BOOTSECT command.
• D: CD BOOT (Replace D with your install media drive letter.) • CD BOOT • BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 F: ( Replace F with your USB flash drive letter.)
Step 5. Input “robocopyDE:F: /s /v /mt: 16” and press “Enter” to copy all data of the Windows 7 installation media to the USB drive. Then you can type “Exit” to leave the CMD.
Step 6. Then insert the bootable USB into your Dell laptop, boot your PC from the USB, then you can remove the forgotten password.
✿ Method 2. Remove Windows 7 Dell laptop with a powerful tool
If the first method is too complex for you to operate, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, it is a much easier password manager. This tool can be accessed on Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP.
In a bright GUI, the “Reset Password” function can create a password reset USB, then you can use it to remove or reset your computer password. Besides, the created USB can not only be used in the current PC, but also used in other PC installed the same system.
Besides, if your PC is in poor condition, you can use other functions to optimize it, such as Allocate Free Space, Disk Clone Wizard, App Mover, Migrate OS to SSD, etc.
Step 1. Insert the new USB into another PC, download and open the practical utility, click "Tools" and "Reset Windows Password".
Step 2. You need to create a bootable USB, click “Next”.
Step 3. Click “General USB Flash Disk” and “Proceed” in order. All data on the USB will be deleted, so please back up them before operate.
Step 4. Read the sentences carefully, click “Yes”.
Step 5. Wait for a while, when the operation is completed, click “Finish”.
Step 6. Insert the USB into the Dell laptop, restart it. Then change the boot drive, boot the PC from the created USB, choose the Windows system and click “Next”.
Step 7. All accounts will be shown, click the target account, and tick “Remove Account Password” or “Reset Account Password”, click “Next”.
Step 8. When you select “Reset Account Password”, you can set the new password and then click “Yes”. When you tick “Reset Account Password”, you can also easily delete the missing password.
Tip: If you want to reset the Windows Server Dell laptop, please turn to the Server Version.
★ Stage 2. Reset your Dell laptop without password
After deleting the password, please follow the steps below to reset your Dell laptop.
Step 1. Restart the Dell laptop, press “F8” when you see the Dell logo, then “advanced boot options” will appear.
Step 2. Choose “repair your computer” and press “Enter”. You can see “system recovery options”. Then find the keyboard layout and click “Next”.
Step 3. You’ll be asked to input the user name and password, since you have removed it, you can leap this step.
Step 4. Choose “Dell datasafe restore and emergency backup” or “Dell factory image restore”.
Step 5. Then follow the wizard to factory set your Dell laptop, click “next” each time.
Step 6. Tick “yes, format hard drive and restore system software to factory condition”, then click “Next”.
Step 7. Wait for some minutes, then click “Finish”.
How to reset a Dell laptop without password? In this post, we have provided detailed steps in different Windows versions. If your system is Windows 7 and the older version, you need to remove the password before.