How to Do Password Reset on Windows Vista PC

Forgotten password on Windows Vista computer

As the immediate successor to Windows XP, Windows Vista is a key update of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. This OS introduced many new features to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network via peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices including an updated graphical user interface, a new search component called "Windows Search", new multimedia tools, and redesigned networking, audio, print, etc.

It’s a nice OS but now, it’s the time of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Some users may happen to find that there’s a Windows Vista PC at home, or someone may get a computer with Windows Vista installed, but they forget or don’t know the password.

If you also need a Windows Vista password reset because you forget the password like in the scenario, next, we’ll show how to do a password reset on Windows Vista.

How to reset password on Windows Vista

In this part, we’ll show you 3 ways to do a password reset on Windows Vista. You can learn how to reset passwords via second account, and how to reset passwords by creating password-reset USB flash drive.

Option 1. Reset password via the default admin account

When you install the Windows Vista operating system on your computer, a built-in administrator account with a blank password is generated. This account has full administrative capabilities and was initially deactivated for security reasons.

This account is deactivated by default in Vista, but we may now utilize it to reset your account.

Step 1. Power on your computer, and press F8 or Fn+F8 key immediately to open Windows Vista Advanced Boot Options.

Step 2. Use the down key to select Safe Mode with Command Prompt and press Enter key to boot Windows Vista.

Step 3. When the welcome screen appears, the built-in administrator and your local accounts will be displayed on the screen. Click Administrator to log in without password.

Step 4. Only the Command Prompt screen will be opened. Type “net user” and hit Enter, all local accounts of Windows Vista will be shown in the list.

Step 5. Type “net user [username] [password] “and hit Enter. For example, if you want to reset xxx’s password to 123456, you just need to replace the username and password with xxx and 123456.

Step 6. Now you can log in to Windows Vista as your username with the new password 123456. Simply press ctrl+alt+del, click the shutdown button, and restart your computer to log in with the new password.

But, this approach will not work if you have generated a password to protect the built-in administrator account. In this case, you’ll need a System Installation Disk.

Option 2. Reset Windows Vista password by System Installation Disk

If you can’t successfully open CMD or the first option is not available, you can find a Windows Vista installation disc to reset password in CMD.

Step 1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disk into CD/DVD ROM in your computer and reboot the system.

Step 2. Press any key when it asks for it. If it requires you to set the computer to boot from CD/DVD, just start your computer and then press F12 as soon as possible to open the boot menu options, select CD-DVD Rom and press Enter to boot.

Step3. Select your language and keyboard preferences there and click “Next” to continue to the next window.

Step 4. Click the “Repair your computer” link at the bottom of the screen.

Step 5. The “System recovery options” window appears next to it and it will show you where your Windows Vista was installed, commonly a Windows system would be installed in C drive.

Step 6. Click on the “Command prompt” option. Type C: and press Enter key to run the command.

Step 7. Type cd C:\windows\system32 and press Enter.

Step 8. Type REN sethc.exe c:\ (copy the sethc.exe file to C:\)

Step 9. Execute this net command also: copy cmd.exe sethc.exe (replace sethc.exe with cmd.exe and no confirmation is required for it)

Step 10. Now type exit and press Enter to close the Command Prompt window.

Step 11. Click the Restart button to reboot your PC and wait until the log-on screen appears. Press the “Shift” key five times to open the command prompt window with administrative privilege.

Step 12. Run the following command: net user [username] [newpassword] and press Enter key. The user account’s password will be reset to new. For example, reset user account TONY’s password to 123456 by using the "net user TONY 123456” command line.

Step 13. Close the CMD window and log in to your Windows Vista as TONY with password 123456.

Option 3. Reset Windows Vista password via password reset USB flash drive

Honestly, the first 2 options are both quite complex. You need to deal with many rear commands and find a Vista installation media when all PCs around you are Windows 10 or Windows 11. Of course, there is another easy way to reset your Windows Vista password.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can give you the best plan to reset PC password. This tool is easy to use due to the graphical interface and detailed instructions, you don’t need to type any commands. The “Reset Password” will help you create a USB on any working PC, then you plug this USB into your Windows Vista computer, boot from it, and the software will guide you reset your password in 3 steps.

If you have a USB and another working PC, let’s start!

Stage 1. Create Windows Vista password reset USB

Step 1. Prepare a USB and connect it to a running computer. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. In the taskbar, click "Tools" and "Reset Windows Password".

Step 2. In the pop-up window, you’ll be noted to create a WinPE bootable media. Click "Next" to move on.

Step 3. Here we tick "USB Boot Device" and choose your prepared USB to create a bootable USB. Click "Proceed".

Step 4. Note that the USB flash drive needs to be formatted so you will lose all data on it. If there is important data on it, please make a backup and redo it.

Stage 2. Reset forgotten password on Windows Vista

Step 1. Boot the computer from this USB (you may need to go to BIOS to change the boot order), and you will see AOMEI Partition Assistant on the screen. Click "Reset Password", select the Windows system you would like to operate and click "Next".

Step 2. Then, select the account you would like to operate and select the feature you want to use: "Remove Account Password" or "Reset Account Password", and click "Next".

Step 3. Next, a pop-out window lets you set a new password. After you confirm the new password, please click "Yes" to start resetting the forgotten password.

Now you can restart your Windows Vista with the new password.

Verdict

How to do a password reset on Windows Vista PC? This post gives you a clear answer. AOMEI Partition Assistant is better for most users to reset passwords. The operation is very simple.

This versatile software can clone disk, convert a disk to MBR/GPT without deleting data, move installed apps, recover lost files, etc. Moreover, it has the Server Edition to help Windows Server users to manage Server PCs.