Can't access former employee's Windows 8 laptop

I am trying to access a Dell Latitude E6530 running Windows 8.1.  It was used by a former employee of our company, and his is the only ID currently set up on the machine.  We do not have his password, and no administrator account was ever set up.  There was also no Backup/Recovery disc ever made.  (I know that these things are inexcusable, which is why the IT person who was responsible for setting up new computers ALSO no longer works here.)

I can't figure out a single thing to do with this computer except to reformat the drive and start over.  However, then we would lose all of the software that came pre-installed on the machine - Windows 8, Office, etc.  Is there any way to avoid this and access his account, or at least set up a new account so that we can continue to use the existing software?

Thank you for any help.

Hi

Was the former employees account an Administrator account or a Standard account?

If his account was a standard account and there are no other Administrator accounts on the computer, perform the following.

Start the computer.

1. On the Login screen click the Power Icon on the lower/right corner of the screen.

2. Press and hold the Shift key and click Restart.

3. In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.

4. Click Startup Settings.

5. Click the Restart button.

6. On the next screen, press the F4 Key.

The computer will start in Safe Mode.

On the Logon screen, click the Arrow Icon.

Select the account that is named Administrator.

(This account does not have a password, by default) 

7. On the next screen, press the WinKey+X to display the system menu and select Command Prompt (Admin).

In the Command Prompt window type the following command exactly as shown.

net user administrator /active:yes

Press Enter.

Exit the command prompt.

8. Press the WinKey+X to display the system menu and select Control Panel.

9. In control panel select User Accounts. Select Manage another account.

10. Select the former employee's account and click Change Password.

11. Click the Change Password button (Do not type anything in the boxes). This will remove the password from the former employee's standard account. Exit Control Panel and Restart the computer.

12. The system will start in normal mode. At the login screen, click the Arrow icon and click the former employees account to log on.

13. From there you can go to Control Panel/User Accounts and click the Create a password option to assign a new Password to the account.

Note: Some of these steps may take a few minutes to complete, be patient.

Note: 2: The Built-in Administrator account will also be available in normal mode. One of the first things you need to do is create strong password for that account.

(You can also run the command net user administrator /active:no to disable that account)

Let us know the result.

Regards

Unfortunately, I don't know if the previous user was set up as a standard or administrator account, but it does seem to be the only account on the machine.  I followed the above instructions through "restart in Safe Mode".  At that point, though, I was still not given the option of restarting with any other account.  Only the previous user's account is listed.

I've already tried password retrieval, anyway, and no luck there, either.  Thanks anyway for your assistance!

Unfortunately, I don't know if the previous user was set up as a standard or administrator account, but it does seem to be the only account on the machine.  I followed the above instructions through "restart in Safe Mode".  At that point, though, I was still not given the option of restarting with any other account.  Only the previous user's account is listed.

Hi

OK, unfortunately it looks like that user does have an Administrator account.

These forums have a policy about retrieving lost passwords, so we cannot help further.

I would recommend that you take the laptop to a local, reputable, computer repair shop for help resolving the problem.

Regards