How To Reset A (Administrator) Password On A Windows Server 2003

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Mattias Geniar, October 23, 2008

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There are several tools to reset a user password on a Windows Server/Desktop. Most of them are expensive and do not work. Here’s one that definitely works: Offline NT Password & Registry Editor (also called: Nordahl’s NTPasswd). And it’s entirely free.

How it works

It exists of an ISO that needs to be burned to a CD or placed on a bootable USB drive. Afterwards, you boot from that CD to reset any Windows Users’ password. To do so, make sure you change the Boot order in the BIOS to try to boot from the CD first.

There is a very detailed walkthrough available, on how to reset an Administrator password on a NT/2000/XP/2003 machine, which will guide you directly through all the steps involved.

Some notes

These are some notes from personal experience;

  • If you have a server with a (software) RAID1 config, the moment you boot from the CD, you will see 2 separate disks. Just apply the password-reset to the first one. Chances are, that’s the “master” in the RAID 1 configuration.
  • After applying the reset, your server will first perform a checkdisk, and require another reboot – afterwards, the reset will be completed.
  • It was verified to work on a Windows Server 2003 SP2, in October 2008.

There are hundreds of other tools, some free, some not. This one has worked several times already – it’s the one I’ll keep using and promoting.



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