July 4th, 2012, 7:17 AM PDT...Good Morning Freddy and Happy Independence Day.I pulled a real bonehead move (really it my A.D.D.), and forgot my password XXXXX my work laptop running Windows 7, SP 1. No...I did not make a Reset Password XXXXX unfortunately and absolutely have to get to my work information. I did save all of the file information on another drive so at least I'm safe in that respect. What are the steps for logging on to my laptop given I forgot the password XXXXX have no Reset Password XXXXX? Murray Bromley XXX@XXXXXX.XXX
Already Tried: I have tried using quite a few password XXXXXXXXXXXX with no luck. I tried using the Guest account but it has no Admin priviliges.
Hi Murray,Unfortunately on windows 7 this is tough and is why they prompt you to create a reset disk when first starting the machine after buying it. Does the machine happen to have any other administrator user accounts on it other than your own?
It only has the Guest and Administrator account
Ok do you have a model with or without a CD drive? Is it possible for you to burn a disc on the computer you are on now?
July 4, 2012, 8:56 AM PDT
My Apologies Freddy! My 98 year old mother is staying with me this week and I'm preparing her breakfast in between working with you.
I do have another Gateway laptop running the same operating system. I did burn a recovery disk set for the other system also as well as a backup disk last month. Both laptops have DVD/CD burners.
I'm going to have to be on and off for the next two hours and hope we may work together in finding a solution. I really do appreciate your expertise and patience :-) Murray
No problem you can take all the time you need, can you please burn a copy of this and let me know once you have: http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
7/4/12, 9:27 AM PDT
Ready to go
Ok put it in the laptop's disc drive and restart the computer. Boot from the CD when it asks you to. If it does not ask you to, restart and look at the bottom for options like setup, bios, boot order, and things like that associated with F keys. As soon as you see it press that F key and change the boot order so that the CD drive is first and not the hard drive or HDD. Press the F key it shows to save and exit once you do it should ask you to boot from the CD. Once the CD is loaded please let me know.
7/4/2012, 10:11 AM PDT
The system is rebooting so fast I can't see which "F" key to press during bootup?
What model laptop is it? The most common is F2 but some manufacturers use a different key.
Gateway NV57H20u
Thank you gateway uses F2 and sometimes F1, restart and continuously tap one of those two until it bring you into the Bios setup utility. There should be able to change the boot order.
7/4/2012, 10:33 AM PDT
OK, I'll give it a try
Ok, let me know what you find.
#2 selection is to boot from CD/DVD
Please change it so that is #1
done
Ok now press the F key it shows to save and exit which will restart the machine. It will say press any key to boot from CD. When it does press the space bar and let me know once the CD has loaded.
OK READY
Ok enter in this command without the quotes and then let me know what you see "winpass -u (user_name of the account you forgot the password XXXXX)"
Done
Ok what do you see now on the screen? It should ask you to set a new password.
When it asks you to change the password XXXXX't enter anything so it will be set to blank. Then restart the computer and do not boot from the CD. Once done your user account should no longer have a password. If you need any clarification on this or have any questions about it please let me know, if not please don't forget to leave a positive rating as that is how this site credits me for my time. Also please note you are rating my service only and not this site or your Gateway computer.
Experience: Years of experience