Solved Password not accepted

GoodOldBill

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3
Location
Canada
I have Windows 8 pre-installed on an Acer laptop. I have a specific password that I use on start up. However, I turned off the computer without using a proper shutdown and somehow the password has been changed because the computer will not accept the password I have used from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, although I live in Vancouver BC most of the time, I am currently in Basel, Switzerland until the end of May and I believe any record of my Windows 25 character code is in Vancouver; thus, I doubt I'll be able to restore Windows until I get back there.
I've been reading your forums and I gather that getting into safe mode in the Acer in Windows 8 is not easy. I've tried doing it the way the documentation says to no avail. I am able to get to system settings but do not find any way to bypass the startup password code.
With all the fiddling around I have done, now the cursor arrow doesn't show and I have to use <Tab> to move around the screen to restart. I restart with the <Shift> key down and that gets me into a mode where I can troubleshoot.
I'm about to accept that this issue is unsolvable until I get home again; but I thought I'd ask anyway. I don't mind paying someone at a local computer shop to do the actual restoration if that is the best way to go.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
GoodOldBill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
There are ways to reset your password, some require to use a third party to boot your PC then reset, some involving tricks to reset without using 3rd party software. However, it depends on how your system is setup, if you've created a recovery disk ? and also if your Windows 8 installed with EFUI/GPT or with legacy BIOS ?

Since you posted this question, I assume that you have access to this Forum from another PC. Can you create a recovery disk from it ? Before I can help you, Please provide more information then we'll go from there.

Cheers !!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
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    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hi Topgundcp: Yes, I have access to a Toshiba laptop running Vista. Can I create a Windows 8 recovery disk on a Vista system? I suspect not. I suppose I could upgrade the Vista 7 to Windows 8 and then do it. I have not created a recovery disk for Windows 8 yet. I don't know whether the Windows 8 is installed with EFUI/GPT or Legacy BIOS although I can get to the menus that let me change the machine's password. If I upgrade this machine to windows 8, I presume I'd just create a reset password disk for this machine and then use it on the one that is blocked. Correct?
I appreciate your help; however, this is not a panic situation so answer when you can get around to it.
Thanks,
GoodOldBill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
No, It does not work that way. You can not use a reset password disk from another PC to reset yours, that's would be a big security hole. If your PC setup with legacy BIOS then all you need is to download a freeware: Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info and burn it to CD or USB then boot into Windows and you can use one of the tool to reset your password. If You have EFUI/GPT, this tool cannot read the GPT disk format then you have to boot it from the recovery disk and edit the registry to turn on the built in admin account and login with that. Once login as a built in admin account, you can change the password on your regular user admin account.

EDIT: I am not sure about creating a recovery disk from Vista. It has been a long time and I forgot everything about Vista. Maybe someone who's still using Vista can give you some idea. Or just go to Control Panel to see if there's an option for you to create it.
The idea is to boot up the PC and get to use the command prompt to be able to edit the registry but I am not sure if your PC is setup with legacy BIOS or not.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hi again Topgundcp,
I have decided to put that laptop aside until I get back to Canada and then take it to a Microsoft or other PC store and get them to do the fix. I was able to download Hiren's stuff but it didn't turn out to be bootable. I then tried the instructions that involve using Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool and it complained that the .iso file from Hiren was no good. I tried getting an ISO file from various websites without success and it looks as though I need the 25 character product key which is sitting in Vancouver to get it. I guess if I had the product key I could reinstall Windows 8. On a minor matter, I found that <Fn> <F5> returns the cursor. As well, I found that I can toggle between EFUI/GPT and Legacy Bios using the troubleshooting access to the system parameters.
So,
I appreciate your assistance and will mark the problem as solved.
With best regards,
GoodOldBill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
No, It does not work that way. You can not use a reset password disk from another PC to reset yours, that's would be a big security hole. If your PC setup with legacy BIOS then all you need is to download a freeware: Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info and burn it to CD or USB then boot into Windows and you can use one of the tool to reset your password. If You have EFUI/GPT, this tool cannot read the GPT disk format then you have to boot it from the recovery disk and edit the registry to turn on the built in admin account and login with that. Once login as a built in admin account, you can change the password on your regular user admin account.

I have a boot disc for clearing the account password for Vista/7. Assuming a system is setup with legacy BIOS will this disc work with Windows 8 accounts too? If EFUI is enabled and the disc can't read the GPT format how does one go about editing the Windows 8 registry to enable the built in admin account? TIA
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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