Reset computer of deceased father, password unknown?

Net community and computer experts!

I have a problem, and I have found the laptop of my deceased father and would like to reset the computer if possible without losing the data (which I doubt).

However, unfortunately I can't access the computer because none of my family knows the password of the computer.

it is an Acer laptop of the Aspire 5332 series.

I've already tried to reset the computer via the boot menu but that did not work and I can only reset it with a CD since we have a Windows 7 ultimate CD and I do not know how to do that.

(He does not recognize the CD automatically!)

I thank you for every tip.

For Windows, there are several tricks to bypass the password protection, ergoogeln these easy.

Alternatively, if the disk is not encrypted, you can also use another operating system, such as Boot Linux and then read the data as normal.

You can do this for example Install a Linux distribution on an external medium, such as a CD or a USB stick (not the installer, but the operating system itself).

If you only care about the data, then remove the hard drive and attach it to another computer. There it will appear as an additional drive.

You want to keep the data, but have you tried to reset the laptop? When you reset the laptop, all the data is gone. They have to be backed up first.

Under Windows 7, you could try using the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor to remove the password.

It is an ISO file that you can download here: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

The ISO file you burn on another device on a DVD or alternatively create a bootable USB stick. As of Windows 7, there's an option directly under Windows to burn an ISO file to a data medium. Right-click on the ISO file and select Burn Disk Image. Otherwise, there would be the CDBurnerXP to burn an ISO file to a DVD: https://cdburnerxp.se/de/home

If you decide for the variant with the USB stick, then download the free program Rufus: https://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=de_DE

Except for one shot you can leave everything at Rufus. Simply use the selection button to integrate the ISO file. Then start the process.

You will then boot from the created volume and once the Password & Registry Editor has been started, at the beginning you will select the partition on which Windows is installed and then press Enter again to confirm the registry path.

Now select the first option => Password reset with space as delimeter and then again the first option => Edit user data and passwords.

Enter your username and confirm with Enter. Now select again the first option => Clear (blank) user password.

Now you give! One to confirm everything. Finally Q to finish the tool.

The password should now have been removed if everything went well.

If it does not work this way, I would download another ISO file, Hiren's BootCD: https://www.heise.de/...otcd-86184

This is a collection of tools and one of them is Mini XP. This is a kind of live version of Windows XP, which you can use to access and back up the files.

You do this by opening the My Computer desktop in Mini XP, which is the workspace. You can then access the hard disk.

Disassemble the hard drive and insert it as a 2nd hard drive into another PC. If it is not encrypted, the problem is solved.

As far as I know, there are certain tricks for it, but I know them only slightly and I have used them just as little.

But there's a tool called KON-BOOT, so you should log in normally in Windows by burning the program to a CD (or bootable USB stick), start the laptop and then perform a second boot from the hard drive. Then the program lets you boot into the desktop after selecting an account with admin rights and without entering a password. After that you can go into the settings and change the password for the account. Remove CD or USB stick and then restart the laptop, then you should be able to log in with the new password.

Unfortunately, I can't confirm or guarantee that everything works so well, because I have no experience with it myself. But supposedly work… The disadvantage is that the program was originally free, but now it is chargeable. ($ 27.00 USD) There may be some older and free versions of it, but unfortunately they are not compatible with Windows 10.

Here is the link: https://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/

More about this:

https://de.wikipedia.org/...i/Kon-Boot

The other option would be Windows reset the password by the "password forgotten" function. Of course, works only under certain conditions. You must also have access to other things, such as e-mail address or mobile or mobile number, etc.

But I think there are enough tricks.

The latest version of Hirens mWn even uses Windows 10. In addition, I think a tool is included to change the Windows password (at least that was included in older versions). So I would vmtl. Start directly with Hirens. Otherwise, but a very good, detailed answer.

https://www.deskmodder.de/blog/2018/07/14/windows-10-live-cd-hirens-bootcd-pe-einmal-angeschaut/

I did not seem to agree.

You can reset the PC and keep the data on it.