How to unlock a laptop if you forgot your password? Simple methods, instructions and recommendations. Current plugins and programs for Mozilla Firefox ® and others

Surely many fans of the Windows operating system are familiar with the situation when a banner appears on the monitor with the threatening words “Attention, your computer is locked!” And then follows a text threatening to delete all data from the computer in the near future. To prevent this from happening, it is proposed to pay the fine by depositing funds to the specified mobile number and receive an unlock code. I can’t even remove the hated banner. When you turn it on again, it still appears on the monitor.

What to do if your computer is locked? Top up your account? In no case! After depositing the specified amount or sending an SMS to the suggested number, the unfortunate user will not receive any unlock code, and the computer will remain locked. This is how the most common scammers operate: they launch virus programs on computers and rely on the fact that there are naive users on the network. This type of Internet fraud has existed for a long time, and the fines are constantly growing. As a rule, the operating system is blocked when you try to play or download a video of dubious content.

So, the computer is locked and no actions are performed. What to do? In this case, you can do two things - contact a specialist or try to unlock the system yourself.

Unlocking via Safe Mode

There is a possibility that the banner reached your computer through a browser, which, when launched, may offer to restore the session. Under no circumstances should this be done.

Unlock viaBIOS

If your computer is locked, you can try to unlock it through the BIOS. You need to enter this system immediately after turning on the computer by pressing a certain button or. Different manufacturers have different buttons and key combinations, for example: F1, F2, Del, and others.

The start page will open with the system date and system time, where you need to change the date to a few days ago, that is, before the banner appeared. Then you need to save the changed dates by pressing F10 and exit the BIOS. If this saving method does not work, you should go to Exit and select the “Saving Changes” item, highlight “Yes” and press Enter. After this, the system will start without a banner.

If these methods do not help and the computer is still blocked, you will have to use a special program to destroy viruses. To do this you will need another computer connected to the Internet. You need to go to Dr.'s website. Web, in order to download from there a program called Dr. Web LiveCD. The downloaded image must be burned to a CD using the Nero program and thereby obtain a boot disk. Then boot the blocked computer from the disk on which the antivirus program is installed. Now you need to configure Dr. Web and start scanning. There is a high probability that the fraudulent virus will be destroyed and the computer will turn on normally.

In some cases, none of the above methods help and you have to use a last resort - reinstalling Windows.

To protect their data stored on a laptop, users set passwords. But sometimes such an unpleasant situation arises as the inability to remember the code that allows you to log into Windows. Don't despair. Everything can be restored quite quickly and without data loss. How to unlock a laptop will be discussed further.

Is it possible to recover my password?

If it is impossible to enter the password, some immediately begin to reinstall the operating system. But there are simpler ways. They will tell you how to unlock your laptop if you have forgotten your password. Initially, you can use the hint on the welcome screen. Sometimes this helps you remember the password yourself, without resorting to any additional actions.

If, even after reading the hint, you still cannot remember the password, you will have to move on to more radical methods. In this case, the code can be restored or hacked. All data on the hard drive will be saved.

To understand how to quickly unlock a laptop, you should learn several methods. Various sources present many ways, both useful and not so useful, on how to cope with such a problem.

What should I do to recover my password?

Having filtered out advice that could lead to a complete blocking of the laptop, you should choose the most suitable path. You should not delete SAM files, otherwise the laptop may not turn on at all. A system error occurs, the laptop will require a reboot, but everything will repeat in a vicious circle. Here the usual unlocking methods will not help.

Next, you should determine the course of action on how to unlock your laptop if you forgot your password. A lost password can be recovered or hacked. In the first case, you will need to log in to the system in safe mode, and in the second, you will need to use special software.

Entering Safe Mode

To unlock a laptop running Windows, you need to log in. You will need to restart the laptop and wait for a short time. Then press the F8 button. It is better to do this several times so as not to miss the moment when the system is ready to execute the command.

Depending on the brand of laptop, the request to enter the BIOS may be carried out using a different command. This must be clarified in the instructions for this type of equipment.

After this, a screen should load showing the available operating system startup modes. If the laptop starts loading Windows as usual, something has been done wrong. You will need to repeat the procedure.

To understand how to unlock a laptop (Windows or another operating system is installed - it doesn’t matter) and not damage the information on the hard drive, you need to carefully read the instructions and follow the steps exactly. When the startup modes are highlighted in the BIOS, you will need to select “Safe Mode” using the keyboard.

The laptop will boot the system. You will need to log in as an administrator. This user has no password by default.

Changing your password in safe mode

While in safe mode, you will need to do the following: You need to launch the “Start” button and open the “Control Panel”. Then you will need to enter the “User Accounts” menu. Here the user will find his account, the password for which was lost or forgotten.

A list of available commands will be located on the left side of the screen. All that remains is to find “Change password”. The new encoding will need to be entered 2 times. If you leave both fields blank, the password will no longer be present on this computer at all.

The technology of how to unlock a laptop if you forgot your password is almost complete at this stage. You will need to click the “Save” button and restart the laptop.

Faster method

There is another, faster approach to unlock your laptop. To do this, you will need to launch the console on the administrator account.

By simultaneously pressing the Win + R buttons, the “Run” tab is called up. A dialog box will appear, in the empty field of which you will need to enter cmd and press Enter.

A console will open for the user as an administrator. In it you need to enter net user *user_name* *new_code* and confirm the entry again. These steps will help solve the question of how to unlock a disk (laptop with Windows) without damaging the data on it. After the system restarts, login proceeds as normal.

Application of special software

To understand how to unlock a laptop if you forgot your password, you should consider another method. Sometimes the previous method cannot be performed due to the user changing certain settings. In this case, you can use a special program.

You can install it as a disk image or on different platforms. The result will be identical. It all depends on what is more convenient for the user. The image is installed on a prepared bootable USB flash drive or disk. After this, going into the BIOS, you will need to select a method to boot the system from a flash drive (disk).

When launched, the program will begin to guess the password for the laptop. The method of unlocking a laptop must be followed strictly according to these rules. There is no need to delete any files. The program will select the old code and require you to restart the laptop. This method takes more time, but it will help if you were unable to change your password in safe mode.

When deciding how to unlock a laptop, the user can go in two ways. The system code can be hacked or recovered. It all depends on the system itself. Thanks to this approach, information on the hard drive will not be lost. Therefore, these methods are considered quite effective and appropriate. If you follow all the recommendations in the instructions without deleting other files, the purpose of which the user may not even know, the laptop will turn on again. When faced with a similar problem, you should consider past mistakes and store your password in a safe place.

Greetings, dear visitor to the Penserman blog.

Surely, you have heard, and maybe even found yourself in a situation where, after some file or visiting a dubious site on the Internet, the PC suddenly became uncontrollable and a banner appeared asking you to enter a code in order to unlock computer, which can be received by sending an SMS or topping up the specified phone account with a certain amount.

What to do in this case? Submit to extortionists or still have a chance somehow unlock the computer without SMS? Let's look at several options for our actions in order not to become a "cash cow" for. After all, after replenishing their account, they will already know your phone number and will most likely be able to log in to your mobile operator. This means that it will not be difficult for them to withdraw money from your phone. But let’s not despair and first try to cope with the problem ourselves. So how?

Trying to unblock from a banner through the task manager

This is one of the simplest methods. Who knows, maybe the scammers are not so literate and are just bluffing? So, we call the task manager and remove the task performed by our browser. To do this, press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys simultaneously (of course, we don’t press the plus signs). Then in the window that opens, click “Launch dispatcher”:

This window may have different views, depending on the operating system, but I hope the essence is clear. Next, the task manager appears. This is where we need to remove the task of our browser. Click on the line with the browser and then on the “Cancel task” button:


By the way, this method is applicable both for this and for any other task. To close a hung one, for example. I must say, it is not always possible to do this on the first try; sometimes the task manager window blinks and disappears again. In such cases, it happens that pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del repeatedly, up to 10 times in a row, helps! It probably doesn't make sense anymore. It turned out well. No - let's move on.

Trying to unlock a computer through the registry

Now let's try the next option - more complicated. Place the cursor in the code input field, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and carefully look at the banner. It, of course, will not necessarily be the same as mine, but the offer to send SMS or top up the number and the line for entering the code or must be present. If as a result of our actions the cursor disappears, then the keyboard’s attention has switched to the task manager:


Now you can press Tab, and then Enter, and an empty desktop should open in front of you, most likely, even without “Start”. If this happened, now in order to “unblock our prisoner” you need to go to the registry, since viruses are usually registered there.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del. Then “Launch Task Manager”. In the new window that appears - “File”, then in the drop-down menu “New task (Run...)”:



In the following we enter the command “regedit” and then click “OK”:


The “Run” command can be called even easier if, of course, it works out - by pressing the Win + R buttons on the keyboard. For those who don't know, Win is the key with the Windows picture, usually at the bottom left end of the keyboard. If everything works out, we will end up in . Here, be very careful and careful. Don't touch anything unnecessary. Because incorrect actions can lead to unpleasant and sometimes unpredictable consequences in the operation of the computer.

So we need to get here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon. I will show you two windows so that you can understand where and what to click to implement this idea. In the first window, find the line that says “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” and click on the triangle to the left of it:


The list below this line will expand. There you need to find the line “SOFTWARE” and also click on the triangle:

Don’t be alarmed, the lists there are very large, about the bottom slider - move it to see the inscriptions in full. When you reach Winlogon in this way, click not on the triangle on the left, but on the word “Winlogon” itself. Then move your gaze to the right panel, where you will need to check the parameters: “Shell” and “Userinit” (If it’s hard to see, click on the picture to enlarge it):

We look at the Shell parameter - its value is only explorer.exe. ""Userinit"" should look like this: C:\WINDOW\Ssystem32\userinit.exe, . Please note that there is a comma at the end after “exe”! If there are any other values, then we correct them to the ones indicated above. To do this, just click on “Shell” or “Userinit” with the right mouse button, click “Change”, and write the desired value in the pop-up window. This, I think, will not cause you any particular difficulties.

Final work and actions in case of failure

In some cases, it happens that these parameters are fine. Then we find this section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Image File Execution Options and deploy it. If there is a subsection explorer.exe there, delete it without regret. Well, we did everything to unblock our “prisoner”.

Now you can restart your computer. Unless the virus is more insidious, everything should

People often contact me with the following questions: “what to do if you forgot your Windows password,” “how to unlock your password,” “how to reset your Windows password,” etc. Today I will tell you how to get out of a situation if one of the computer users forgot my login password. And also what to do if the computer administrator forgot the password.

If one of the computer users has forgotten the password, the administrator can reset it and create it again without any problems. But what to do if the administrator himself forgot the password? Let's consider all cases in order.

Situation one: At least two accounts are created on one of the computers on the network: this is a user account and your administrator account.

If the user has forgotten the password, then you log in to the system using your account. Then on the desktop, right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Manage”: " Click here on the folder Users and all existing accounts on the computer will be displayed in the right window. Right-click on your forgetful user name and select “Set Password”:
A warning window will appear - click “Continue”:
You can then set a new password for the user. If you leave the fields here empty and click “OK”, the password will be empty: After this, you can restart the computer and the user will log in with the new password.

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Situation two: You don’t remember your administrator password, or you are the only user of the computer (but again, you don’t remember the password).

In this case, we need to login via built into Windows account Administrator. Most ordinary users are not even aware of its existence. This account is the default not password protected.

You can log in as an Administrator either through classic login window , either in Bsafe mode .

Classic window is called in the following way: after turning on the computer, while on the welcome page, press the key combination twice Ctrl+Alt+Del. In the classic login window, manually enter the name Administrator (in some cases Administrator) - click “OK”.

To enter the Safe Mode : After turning on the computer, press and hold the key F8 on keyboard. Then select “Safe Mode” and press Enter. In addition to your account (or entries), the next window will display your account Administrator– log into the system under it.

Personally, I prefer to enter through classic login window: It's more convenient and faster. In addition, on some computers, the keyboard and mouse refuse to work in Safe Mode, so even if you get into this mode, you can’t do anything there.

Regardless of how you logged into your account Administrator, then we do the same thing as I already described above. Namely: find the “My Computer” icon on the desktop and right-click on it and select “Manage”.

Next, expand the “Utilities” section and select “ Local users and groups" Click here on the folder Users and all existing accounts on the computer will be displayed in the right window.

Right-click on your account name and select “Set Password.” A warning window will appear - click “Continue”. You can then set a new password for the user. If you leave the fields here empty and click “OK”, the password will be empty. After this, you can restart your computer and log in with a new password.

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Situation three: But what should we do if the built-in Administrator account is under a password and it is unknown to us? Should I reinstall Windows? Of course not! We can solve this problem if we use a bootable emergency recovery disk ERD Commander.

You can download the archive with the image of this disk intended for restoring Windows XP. After this, burn the image to a CD or DVD (for example, via Alcohol 120%). Then insert the recorded disc into the computer drive and configure it in BIOS.

During loading you will see the following on the screen:
Then, when launched, ERD Commander will try to detect and configure network cards - skip this operation by clicking the “Skip Network Configuration” button: Next you need to connect to your operating system. To do this, select the Windows system folder and click “OK”:
We wait for the download to finish (from a CD, naturally, it is slower than from a hard drive). After a while we will see a desktop on the screen that is almost no different from the usual Windows XP desktop:
Go to “ Start" - Choose a section " System Tools” – “Locksmith”:Utility Locksmith(Password Change Wizard) allows you to change passwords for administrator and user accounts.

In the welcome window that appears, click “ Next”.

In the next window in the field “ Account” select the account for which you forgot the password. In field " New Password” (New password) and “ Confirm Password” (Confirm Password) Enter the new password.
Click the “ Next" In the last window, click the “ Finish” and restart your computer. Don't forget to set the BIOS to boot from the hard drive. That's all! Now you can log in to your account with a new password.

ATTENTION: If none of the proposed methods helped you, then read my new article. There I described in detail how you can remove a user password in Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 and XP.