Administrator password recovery in Windows Vista

Microsoft forbids any assistance being given in these Forums to help you bypass or "crack" lost or forgotten Passwords.

Here is the Microsoft Information outlining that Policy:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-security/keeping-passwords-secure-microsoft-policy-on/39f56ef0-5d68-41ad-9daa-6e6019c25d37

And this is the Microsoft Information about problems with Passwords;

You will have to borrow a Microsoft DVD from a friend if you don't have one,  as a Manufacturer's Recovery DVD does not have these particular working options available.

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940765

***If you cannot log on to Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can use the Windows Vista System Restore feature, or the Windows 7 System Restore feature.***You may be unable to log on to Windows Vista or Windows 7 in the following scenarios:

• Scenario 1: You recently set a new password for the protected administrator account. However, you do not remember the password.
• Scenario 2: You type the correct logon password. However, Windows Vista or Windows 7 does not accept the password because the system is corrupted.
• Scenario 3: You delete a protected administrator account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.
• Scenario 4: You change a protected administrator account to a standard user account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.

"What to do if you forget your Windows password"

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/What-to-do-if-you-forget-your-Windows-password

"If you forget the administrator password and don't have a password reset disk or another administrator account, you won't be able to reset the password. If there are no other user accounts on the computer, you won't be able to log on to Windows and will need to re-install Windows."

Cheers.

Microsoft forbids any assistance being given in these Forums to help you bypass or "crack" lost or forgotten Passwords.

Here is the Microsoft Information outlining that Policy:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-security/keeping-passwords-secure-microsoft-policy-on/39f56ef0-5d68-41ad-9daa-6e6019c25d37

And this is the Microsoft Information about problems with Passwords;

You will have to borrow a Microsoft DVD from a friend if you don't have one,  as a Manufacturer's Recovery DVD does not have these particular working options available.

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940765

***If you cannot log on to Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can use the Windows Vista System Restore feature, or the Windows 7 System Restore feature.***You may be unable to log on to Windows Vista or Windows 7 in the following scenarios:

• Scenario 1: You recently set a new password for the protected administrator account. However, you do not remember the password.
• Scenario 2: You type the correct logon password. However, Windows Vista or Windows 7 does not accept the password because the system is corrupted.
• Scenario 3: You delete a protected administrator account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.
• Scenario 4: You change a protected administrator account to a standard user account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.

"What to do if you forget your Windows password"

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/What-to-do-if-you-forget-your-Windows-password

"If you forget the administrator password and don't have a password reset disk or another administrator account, you won't be able to reset the password. If there are no other user accounts on the computer, you won't be able to log on to Windows and will need to re-install Windows."

Cheers.

Thank you Bill Smithers for your response. I tried the Windows Vista restore but came up with an error. At first it said that the restore point is older than 60 days but I decided to continue. Eventually the restore was unsuccessful due to a corrupted file (if I remembered it correctly). 

I then decided to do a complete recovery using the set of recovery discs I created years ago, confident that I would be able to reload the contents since I have backed up my computer to an external hard drive (clickfree). It was a disaster! After my computer reset to factory settings, I hooked up my click free hard drive backup which supposedly put the files back into my computer. Right now there are no files restored on my computer except for two documents!

It appears as though the system got corrupted the last time I backed up my computer because when I previously used the command prompt, the last administrator logon date coincided with the last backup date shown on the backup drive. I think this was the cause of my initial problem of my admin password  being rejected when I tried to log in as administrator.

Do you have any advice at this point?