Reset Windows XP Login Password

Password resetting was not built into Windows prior to Vista. Use Windows XP's Setup to reset your password:

  1.  Insert your retail Windows XP CD in your CD drive
  2.  Start or restart the computer
  3.  When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press Enter
  4.  Setup offers to repair a damaged installation. Select your Windows XP installation from the list 
      and press R to begin the Repair process. Pay close attention, you will soon interrupt this process!
  5.  You will be required to reboot after the "copying files" stage; select "reboot" or wait for it to happen
      automatically in 15 seconds. Put your fingers on the Shift and F10 keys and be ready!
  6.  When you see "Installing Devices" progress bar in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, press 
      Shift-F10 together.
  7.  A command console window will open. Enter NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter.
  8.  The User Accounts Manager console will appear. Pick the account you need to change and enter a 
      new password. Ta-da!

Windows Vista and Windows 7 have password reset features built into them. But you will have to exercise 
foresight and create a password reset disk before you need it. Here is the general procedure; to find 
instructions in your version of Windows Help, search Help for "password reset".

  1.  Click Start and then Control Panel
  2.  Open the User Accounts console
  3.  Look for the "create password reset disk" link and click it
  4.  A wizard will pop up to prompt you through the rest of the process.
  5.  You can use any sort of removable media to create a password reset disk: CD, DVD, USB drive, even a 
      floppy disk if you still have such a thing. A keychain USB thumb drive is the most convenient and 
      popular choice.
  6.  When you see an "incorrect password" message again, don't panic. Just click OK to bring up the 
      "reset password" link. Click that and follow instructions. You will insert your password reset disk,
      Windows will read it, and you be allowed to create a new password. Ta-da!