Windows 8 Password recovery

[Zenith]

I have a win 8 pro computer the password to which I forgot (yes, not very smart, but it happened). Hoping to reset it without losing all my data/programs, I read about the method using the cmd and the ultiman.exe file, which can be replaced in order to allow you to change the password. However, after trying to get into the cmd from advanced startup options (holding shift and pressing restart), it asks me to choose an account and enter a password: hence the loop closes. Since the utilman.exe method is referenced in multiple sources as specifically a way to reset the password, I thought I might be doing something wrong. Any help would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

 

[BK_123]

Unfortunately we cannot give advice on recovering passwords as its against forum rules..

 

[Celegorm]

Unfortunately we cannot give advice on recovering passwords as its against forum rules..

Recovering passwords and hacking passwords are 100% different. I see no reason why to prevent people from helping him on this.

 

[BK_123]

Recovering passwords and hacking passwords are 100% different. I see no reason why to prevent people from helping him on this.

My mistake.

Well did you use a Microsoft account to login or have you created a local account on the computer?

 

[tmc8295]

Usually with Windows 8 the only way to recover it is order their recovery disc which resets it due to the problems you already encountered. You can however download software's to run outside your computer's hard drive which can then access your SAM file to change it.

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[Zenith]

My mistake.
Well did you use a Microsoft account to login or have you created a local account on the computer?

I created a local account.

You can however download software's to run outside your computer's hard drive which can then access your SAM file to change it.

I'd imagine that means taking the hard drive out and hooking it up to another working computer. Is there a free and safe (i.e. not virus-ridden) software that could be used? Or perhaps I can access the file directly from the other pc to alter it?

Thank you for your responses.

 

[tmc8295]

There are numerous ones you can use however the best ones I've used that actually still work with Windows 8 as it's still relatively new come on Hirens Boot. No need to take anything out of your hard drive, download the software onto a flash drive and boot to it. Then just choose the software and you're all set.

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[Zenith]

There are numerous ones you can use however the best ones I've used that actually still work with Windows 8 as it's still relatively new come on Hirens Boot. No need to take anything out of your hard drive, download the software onto a flash drive and boot to it. Then just choose the software and you're all set.

Thanks a million, worked like a charm. Problem thus resolved.

For future reference, here's an quick outline of the steps that worked:
1. Download Hiren's BootCD 15.2 (or latest).
2. Mount the ISO to a CD or USB: I'd recommend RufusPortable (free, gave good results), and stay away from "ISO to USB", that comes with a bunch of malware and also gave me a faulty USB.
3. Boot from your CD/USB to reset your password: you can find at least one nice tutorial on youtube, probably many others exist. This step takes less than five minutes.
Total time for the whole process with downloads is under an hour.

Thanks again for your help everyone, and tmc8395 especially for a perfect answer.

 

[tmc8295]

Not a problem zenith! Anytime

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