If I forgot my laptop password Windows 7, what should I do? The best and easiest way is to reset the password. Here you will be shared four trusted ways to have your forgotten password reset quickly and securely.
I bought a laptop computer with Windows 7. Now I can't remember the password and MS is no help (as usual). So how can I bypass the password or reset it? Thanks.
- Question from Tom's Guide
Windows 7 requires you to set a login password to protect your computer data from unauthorized users. But sometimes, you can't remember the complicated password or you forgot your laptop password for Windows 7 after a long period of inactivity.
Once you forgot the password, you will lose access to your laptop, which must bring much inconvenience to you especially when you need to work on the computer urgently.
When you search for the answers to "What should I do I forgot my laptop password Windows 7" on Google, you will be told to reinstall Windows 7 or send it to its factory settings. Obviously, these two methods can absolutely cause data loss.
Therefore, in the following content, we'll show you how to reset the password when you forgot computer password Windows 7 and secure your data at the same time.
Since it is easy to go to the Microsoft password reset page on another PC to have a Microsoft password recovery, the following four ways are applicable for resetting Windows 7 local password. All of them have been proven to be reliable and effective, so feel free to start putting into use.
If you have already created a password reset USB before you forgot computer password Widnows 7, this disk should be your first choice once you lost your keys; if not, you can jump to the second way.
Step 1. Insert the pre-made password reset disk, then click "Reset password" on the sign-in screen when you fail to log in to the Windows 7 laptop.
Step 2. Click "Next" when "Password Reset Wizard" window appears.
Step 3. In the new window, choose the target password reset disk and click "Next".
Step 4. Then type a new password and confirm it, and click "Next" to proceed. And you will succeed in resetting the password for your Windows 7 laptop.
Not all users will prepare a Windows password reset USB in case they will forget the password one day. So is there any way for those who don’t have created a password reset disk in advance? Of course, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a well-known application, which you can use to reset or remove Windows 7 password with ease.
With the same function as the Windows password reset disk, the bootable USB created by AOMEI software is more applicable than the Windows disk:
๑ It can be created even after you forgot the password for Windows 7. ๑ You can use this USB to reset Windows password for another PC. ๑ It works on Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, so "I forgot my laptop password Windows 10" is no longer an issue.
Below is the guide on how to use this tool. Before starting, you can download the demo version of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional on a working computer to have a free trial.
Step 1. Prepare a USB and connect it to a running Windows computer. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. Select “Tools” in the top pane, then hit “Reset Windows Password” from the menu.
Step 2. In the pop-up window, click "Next" to begin to create a WinPE bootable media.
Step 3. Here we choose "USB Boot Device", select the prepared USB and click "Proceed".
Step 4. If you have no questions about the note, click "OK" to continue.
Step 5. When the password reset USB is created successfully, connect it to the Windows 7 computer that you forgot the password. Boot the PC from this USB, and you will see the interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant directly. Click "Reset Password", select the Windows system you would like to operate, and click "Next".
Step 6. Then, select the account you would like to operate and select the feature you want to use: "Remove Account Password" or "Reset Account Password". Here we choose "Reset Account Password" and click "Next".
Step 7. Type the new password and confirm it, then click "Yes". After that, you are successful in resetting the password after you forgot computer password Windows 7. Try using the new password to get access to your Windows 7 password.
Advanced computer users often prefer to use Windows installation disk to reset the forgotten password for Windows 7. If you have a Windows 7 installation USB, you can use it to get into Command Prompt from the login screen. Then, executing the command lines to reset the password would be much easier. You can do as follows:
Step 1. Boot Windows 7 from this installation disk. Select your language or keep everything as default on the first pop-out window and click "Next".
Step 2. When you see "Install Now" window, click "Repair your computer" link on the bottom left of the screen. Click on it.
Step 3. On the System Recovery Options screen, choose Windows 7 and remember its location. Click "Next", and then choose the "Command Prompt" option to open command prompt.
Step 4. Then, type the following commands and hit "Enter":
copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\
copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
Step 5. Disconnect the disk and reboot the Windows 7 laptop. When you see the login screen, hit Shift key 5 times.
Step 6. A command prompt box will pop up again, input the command below to reset the password you’ve forgotten for Windows 7.
net user username new_password
Step 7. Once this is done, exit the window, and then log in to Windows 7 laptop with the new password you just set up.
This method is suitable for those who don't want to use any disks or software to complete the password reset. Windows 7 creates a built-in administrator account during installing the system. If you have enabled it and don't set any password for it, you can boot your Windows 7 computer from Safe Mode so that you can get the administrator privilege to reset any other accounts' passwords; if not, you have to return to the above ways.
Step 1. Start or restart your computer. Repeatly press F8 while booting to enter the Advanced Boot Options screen and select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" from the list.
Step 2. When you get into the built-in administrator and the Command Prompt window, type the commmand: net user username new password (eg. net user Tom 123456") and hit "Enter".
Step 3. When it shows "The command completed successfully", it means you can start to use the new password to access your Windows 7 computer.
The question of "I forgot my laptop password Windows 7" must have bothered you for a long time, luckily, you can get four reliable ways in this article to reset the password so that you can get rid of the dilemma.
Among all the methods, the most effective one is using AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It can save you from various situations where you forgot the password. Moreover, it can protect your Windows 7 data by cloning the hard drive/operating system/partition or recover your lost data with ease.