In this tutorial, we will demonstrate using various scenarios, how to change the Administrator password, which is the main administrative account, on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, the enterprise version of Windows 10.
Microsoft Windows 10
Method 1. You know the current Administrator password
If you already know the password, it is pretty easy to change the Administrator password.
-Open the Start Menu;
-Search for Windows Settings;
-After opening a new window with Settings, go to the Accounts tab;
-Search for Sign-in Options, where you will find the Password button;
-After pressing the Password button, you need to enter the New password in the first field and Re-enter the password in the second field.
Voila, you have changed the Administrator password.
Method 2. You have forgotten the password of your Microsoft Live Account
If you don’t know the Administrator password and use a Microsoft Account to login to your computer, you need to:
-Go to the Reset your password page;
-Choose the reason you need your password reset, then click Next;
-Enter the Microsoft account email address you’re trying to recover;
-Enter the characters you see on the screen, then click Next;
-If you have security info activated on your account, Microsoft will send a one-time code to your phone number or email address;
-After you enter the code on the next screen, you can input a new password.
Voila, you have changed the Administrator password for your Microsoft Live Account.
PS: There is no option to use your Microsoft Live account on Windows Server 2016, as this is a Client OS feature, which is not supported on Server systems.
Method 3. You have forgotten the password of your Local Account
First, start by booting the setup of your Windows 10 installation by changing the boot order in your BIOS to take priority with the CD, or use the ISO as a startup disk instead.
Once the setup starts, hit Shift+F10.
This will bring up a command prompt. From here, we’re going to use the command prompt to replace the Utility Manager at the login screen with cmd.exe with the following commands:
move d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak
copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe
Once this is complete, use this command to reboot the machine:
wpeutil reboot
Once your computer is back at the login screen, click the Utility Manager. If everything went right, you should see a cmd.exe window.
This is the window you’ll use to create a new user with Administrator power. Type in the following commands, replacing <username> with the name you’d like to assign to the new account.
net user <username> /add
net localgroup administrators <username> /add
Now close the prompt, reboot, and you should see your new user in the login screen.
After you have logged-in, open the Start Menu and select or search for “Computer Management”.
Navigate to “Local Users and Groups”, scroll down to the Administrator account, and click right. Select the “Set Password” option, and choose a new password to regain access to your Administrator account.
Please note that this method only works to recover local accounts that are designated to sign on locally. If you want to retrieve your Microsoft Live account password, you’ll have to recover it using the 2nd method.
Microsoft Windows Server 2016
Method 1. You know the current Administrator password
If you already know the password, it is pretty easy to change the Administrator password. The procedure is exactly the same as on Windows 10.
-Open the Start Menu;
-Search for Windows Settings;
-After opening a new window with Settings, go to the Accounts tab;
-Search for Sign-in Options, where you will find the Password button.
-After pressing the Password button, you need to enter the New password in the first field and Re-enter the password in the second field.
Method 2. Reset Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Forgotten Password with Installation Disk
If you have the Windows Server 2016 install DVD, you can recover your Windows Server 2016 password through these steps:
-Boot the system using the Windows Server 2016 Install DVD.
-When the Setup screen appears, press SHIFT + F10 keys to open cmd.exe.
In the Command Prompt window, run these commands:
d:
cd Windows\System32
ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.original
copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe
shutdown -r -t 0
-The server should now reboot and present the logon screen. Press Windows Key + U or click the Ease of Access button, Command Prompt will pop up and type:
net user Administrator XXXX(Your password of choice)
-Close the Command Prompt and proceed to login to your Microsoft Windows Server 2016 using the password you have provided in the previous step.
-After logging in, browse to the directory C:\Windows\System32, delete Utilman.exe and rename Utilman.exe.original back to Utilman.exe.
Congratulations, you have successfully changed your Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Administrator password!