By Sophia | Last Updated
Locked out of Windows Server 2012 (R2) computer? What can you do to re-access your files without factory resetting? Our post would show three top ways to reset password Windows Server 2012 after forgot for the local and domain account. These include the Windows installation disk, WinPE media, or third-party tool. The benefits are your data won't be lost or damaged.
Before you start, you must make clear how to set computer boot from USB flash drive or CD/DVD-ROM:
Difficulty:
This method would be easy if you have a pre-created installation disk with your computer when it is accessible. Find the disk and insert it to the target computer.
Step 1: Create a Windows Server 2012 installation media in an accessible computer.
Otherwise, you can refer to this post, Windows Server 2012 also works:
How to Make a Windows Installation Disk with USB/CD/DVD Drive
Step 2: Insert to the locked Windows Server 2012 computer and continually hit the boot key to enter BIOS. Setting your installation disk as the first boot option then press F10 to save and exit.
Step 3: Enter your language and other preferences and click on the Next button.
Step 4: After that, click on Repair your computer in the lower-left corner.
Step 5: In the Choose an option window, tap on Troubleshoot.
Step 6: When the Advanced options window shows you, click Command Prompt.
Step 7: Type the following commands and hit Enter key at the end of each line.
Then your computer will automatically restart.
Step 8: In the Windows Server 2012 login screen, click on the Ease to access icon to open Utilman.exe. Run the net command to reset the Windows 2012 password and active the admin account.
Then log in your Windows server with the new password Admin123. Finally, navigate to the Command Prompt in the installation disk to rename utilamn.exe to cmd.exe, and rename utilman.exe.bak to utilman.exe.
NOTE: If you have no permission to rename the utilman and cmd program, please repeat the Step 1-6 above and run the command lines below:
Difficulty:
Windows PE is a minimum operating system that provides basic devices for users to troubleshoot or recover Windows. You need to prepare a USB drive, DVD, or CD to burn a Windows PE. Remember to backup important files to another place because of making a WinPE media will format your device. It can be a little complex for beginners to understand and accomplish.
Confirm your operating system and download the AIK or ADK that matches the current operating system.
Type Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment into the search bar and run it as administrator. Input "copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64" and press Enter to execute the command.
Run Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as administrator and execute "MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 P:" command.
NOTE: Replace your USB drive letter with P in the above command.
You can run the command below to create an ISO file:
MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\WinPE_amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64\WinPE_amd64.iso
Then you can right-click on the created ISO file and choose Burn disc image Burn from the context menu scan.
Using WinPE to reset forgotten password for Windows Server is difficult to find out system target partition. Generally, the drive D is the system disk.
1. Insert your WinPE device into the locked computer and go to BIOS settings to set it to boot from USB/CD/DVD drive.
2. To view and rename the OSK.exe, you can respectively run the command lines. Don't forget to hit Enter key at the end of each line.
3. Copy cmd.exe and rename it to osk.exe:
4. Run "wpeutil reboot" to restart the machine.
5. On the login screen, click on the Ease to access icon and select On-Screen Keyboard to open the osk.exe window. Then change the account name with the net commands:
Alternatively, you can also add a new account if you forgot the user name:
6. Login your account with new password and then copy the osk.exe from another computer with Windows Server 2012.
Difficulty:
In general, the solutions above are so difficult for most users to accomplish. So, how can we reset Windows Server password 2012 without installation USB/CD/DVD or WinPE?
Fortunately, iSunshare Windows Password Genius is a powerful tool that helps users to reset the Windows server 2012 password with three steps. You don't need to worry because it is suitable for anyone especially who is new to computer. Besides, this tool won't cause any data loss to your PC. Here is what you need to prepare before changing Windows Server 2012 password:
Here is how:
1. Launch iSunshare Windows Password Genius and click on USB or CD/DVD button. Just follow the wizard to finish burning a reset disk.
2. When the Burning Successfully Window prompts, you can connect it with the locked computer.
NOTE: In this part, we will take a Windows computer as an example. If you want to know more about the Mac or Android version, please refer to the two articles below:
Start your computer and repeatedly press the hotkey like F12 to enter the BIOS settings. Then set up the reset disk as the boot option. Hit F10 to save resets and exit.
After restart, you can see a window as the image below appears on the screen. Select a Windows and user that you would like to reset the password. Click Reset Password button and then your Windows Server 2012 password will set a default password for the selected account. Click Reboot to restart your computer and disconnect your reset disk at the same time. Now you can log into your computer with no password.
Tips: You can also click on Add User to create a new user to enter this computer.
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