Windows 7 recovery, no media

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quickymart

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#289448 6-Sep-2021 21:58

Evening,

Wife has an old Acer Windows 7 laptop, purchased in 2011. She hasn't used it for a long time and has no idea what the Windows login password is, despite trying many combinations.

She doesn't have the recovery or installation CD - both are long, long gone. She wants to get into the machine to retrieve photos and download her e-mail.

Can anyone suggest a good (preferably free) tool to bypass this password, or reset it or something? When she tries the reset password option it tells her to insert her Windows CD...of which she doesn't have one :(

I tried creating a bootable USB drive and tried to force the machine to read from it first via the BIOS, but it didn't work and just shunted her straight to the login screen.

Any assistance much appreciated, thanks :)

Lias

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#2773302 6-Sep-2021 22:42

https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

Use that to blank the password.

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Kiwifruta

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#2773313 6-Sep-2021 23:41

Use a live Linux CD or USB, that’ll allow you copy and paste the files to a 2nd USB stick.

quickymart

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#2773363 7-Sep-2021 08:29

Lias:

https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

Use that to blank the password.

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried this and it asks to boot from the USB drive...but then right away says "No operating system found" and I end up in a rebooting loop :/

rhy7s

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#2773380 7-Sep-2021 08:54

Try LazeSoft and if you still have troubles USB booting, try burning to a physical disc.

nztim

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#2773381 7-Sep-2021 08:55

they the HDD out and use a sata to usb cable to copy the contents to another pc

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old3eyes

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#2773384 7-Sep-2021 09:01

nztim:

they the HDD out and use a sata to usb cable to copy the contents to another pc

This is assuming that he can get the HD out without wrecking the laptop. Hopefully the HD is just under a cover.

Regards,

Old3eyes

quickymart

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#2773401 7-Sep-2021 09:30

rhy7s: Try LazeSoft and if you still have troubles USB booting, try burning to a physical disc.

This worked perfectly!!! Thank you so much! I was able to use a USB drive as well 👍