Forgotten Password

[Maybole]

This concerns a mini laptop, if it is in the wrong forum please redirect.

My wife has a mini Acer laptop which she has not used for at least 2 years. 

The operating system is Windows 10 and she has forgotten the opening password. I expect there is a way round this so that we can change the password and bring the device back into use. How do we do it?

Replies please in word of one syllable if possible.

[wgdanson]

Re-install W10 with a different user email address, and then a different password.

[MAF666]

Have had success on ASUS T100 Win 10 to reset password.

While holding down F9 key, Press & Hold down
the Power key until "Wait a minute" shows up: This Boots into Windows
recovery mode with options to completely Reset to factory or Refresh. Do
not need Password

[Isaanbiker]

There's an easy program to reset the password. I'll try to send it to you via message. Do not make a new installation, it's a waste of time. 

 

Please read the message I've sent you. File is too big to send it to you. 

[KhunBENQ]

There has been and will always be a method to wipe the existing password by booting (starting up) the computer with CD/DVD/USB stick and use some fairly cryptic command line tool(s).

As the OP writes:

47 minutes ago, Maybole said:

Replies please in word of one syllable if possible.

I hesitated to point to.

Search for "Offline NT Password & Registry Editor" and see whether you can handle that.

Where are you located? Where is the next IT mall/PC repair shop?

I am confident these guys know how to do for little money.

 

Overcautious warning: for the very unlikely case that the disk content is encrypted do NOT use such a wiping tool.

Otherwise the game is over, all data lost.

[Isaanbiker]

OP, have you got a Microsoft account?

 

  Please see: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028457/windows-10-reset-your-local-account-password

[KhunBENQ]

8 minutes ago, Swiss1960 said:

log in to my W10 laptop through my Microsoft hotmail (outlook) credentials

And I have done the trick to circumvent the Microsoft account on W10 installation.

Local accounts only.

Don't call me a nerd, call me an old fart

 

Oh I miss this so much (even better with the domain server selection):

[OneMoreFarang]

Option 1:

Start the computer in safe mode. If you are lucky the administrator password is not set, only the user password.

Try to login with Administrator, no password. If that works then you can get access to all data and/or you can reset the password for any user.

 

Option 2:

Start from a CD, DVD, USB-Stick and look at your data. 

There are also tools to reset the password after you have access to your data

 

Option 3:

Remove the hard disk or SSD and connect it to another PC. Then it's similar to Option 2

 

Option 4:

If you don't care about the existing data then just reset Windows

 

Option Secure:

If you don't want that anybody is ever able to do above the use BitLocker. It's part of Windows, at least of the Windows Pro version.

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been  removed. 

[Eindhoven]

4 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Re-install W10 with a different user email address, and then a different password.

 

Why use an email address at all? 

 

Though of course I know Microsoft try to coerce people to do so.