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With each version of Windows, recovering a lost password becomes a bit harder. Thanks to Microsoft’s inextirpable security proofs. However, there is no need to abandon hope. If it is your Windows XP log-in password, try logging in under another account with administrator privileges. It may have been an account like owner-installed, often with no password, when you first bought your PC, and any administrator account can reset the password of any other account.

If you are not using the standard Windows XP log-in screen, the one with icon speech user, you can try logging in with the account named administrator, which is hidden. If you are using the standard XP log-in screen, try pressing control-alt-delete, to erase the empty start screen, which should allow you type in the user name.

If no other account exists on the PC, you will need to turn to third party tools to reset the password or to crack it. Ophcrack is a third party tool useful for recovering a lost password. Using another PC, download the free software from their website and burn it to a disc. Boot from this CD, and watch Ophcrack go to work. Based on extensive password tables, it could recover most passwords in a matter of minutes for all the accounts on the PC.

You can also try a tool that can reset your password if everything else has failed. Note though that such tools involve a small risk of data loss or corruption. Offline NT password and registry editor and emergency boot CD are both free; include bootable CD versions, and a very self-explanatory of your comfortable working with the command line. Both can reset your Windows passwords for you, and they support multiple versions of Windows.

If you lost the BIOS level password, you can try resetting, or bypassing it. First, try backdoor passwords, as listed at TECFAC. If none of these works, try resetting the CMOS to close the BIOS to reset to its default state. Shut down the PC, unplug it, ground yourself, and take out the battery on the motherboard. Wait five minutes, and consult your PC manual, or go to the vendor’s website for instructions on resetting CMOS jumpers.

If password loss is a frequent problem, consider writing them down, and keeping them in your wallet, or storing them in a bank safe deposit box or in a safe at home; just make sure you do not lose the key

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