The person who set up the account on this Windows Server 2008 R2 is now incommunicado so I have no way of accessing it since I don't know the user+password. Please help Thank you

a lot of free tools are available on the Internet to help you reset the Windows Password: John the Ripper: http://www.openwall.com/john/Offline NT Password & Registry Editor: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/PCLoginNow: http://www.pcloginnow.com/index.htmlKon-Boot: http://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/Etc.. Hope this help :) Aris Lesmana | IT Technical Trainer | http://arhiez.net MVP Profile | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

a lot of free tools are available on the Internet to help you reset the Windows Password: John the Ripper: http://www.openwall.com/john/Offline NT Password & Registry Editor: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/PCLoginNow: http://www.pcloginnow.com/index.htmlKon-Boot: http://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/Etc.. Hope this help :) Aris Lesmana | IT Technical Trainer | http://arhiez.net MVP Profile | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

try with hiren boot cd 10 or laterhttp://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

You can use the DART tool from the MDOP and use the locksmith to reset the password. Check this similar thread which is already answered. Thanks

Hello, There is Live CDs which can be used for such recovery. Also, DART in MDOP is an efficient tool for such recovery operations also. It was already suggested by MYusuf. Is this server member of an AD domain? If yes, you can create a startup script which will reset the local Builtin Administrator password of this server without the need of the mentioned tools. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

Hi Sassy please refer the following video. its worked couple of times for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar-VoO9ogHc cheersAsitha

Does that Windows Server 2008 install Domain Controller? As the password you need maybe a domain logon password, or a local user logon password, but there still have solutions to all that. Here is an article that may help. How to Reset Windows Server 2008(R2)/2003(R2)/2000 Password?

Hi, Before going further, would you please let me know if the Windows Server 2008 R2 machines is a DC in the domain? If yes, do you have any other user who has administrator privileges? If so, you can use that user to reset the administrators password. If you have no other administrator account, there is no Microsoft recommended way to reset the administrative passwords. This is designed for improving security. Thanks for your understanding. For more information, please take a look at the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: Microsoft policy about lost or forgotten passwords http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189126/en-us Regards, Andy

Hi, Before going further, would you please let me know if the Windows Server 2008 R2 machines is a DC in the domain? If yes, do you have any other user who has administrator privileges? If so, you can use that user to reset the administrators password. If you have no other administrator account, there is no Microsoft recommended way to reset the administrative passwords. This is designed for improving security. Thanks for your understanding. For more information, please take a look at the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: Microsoft policy about lost or forgotten passwords http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189126/en-us Regards, Andy

Hi, If you lost the password of administrator account, do you have any other user who has administrator privileges? If so, you can use that user to reset the administrators password. If you have no other administrator account, there is no Microsoft recommended way to reset the administrative passwords. This is designed for improving the OS security. You need to look for 3rd party apps and solutions. Thanks for your understanding. Mahmoud has a trick by renaming Utilman.exe to Utilman.exe.bak. Have a look. Reset your Windows Sever 2008 / R2 Domain Controller administrator password http://blogs.technet.com/b/meacoex/archive/2011/08/15/reset-your-windows-sever-2008-r2-domain-controller-administrator-password.aspx Microsoft policy about lost or forgotten passwords http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189126/en-us Similar Discussion: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winservergen/thread/7d635686-569f-4927-a1e4-285caf2e2056 http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverDS/thread/4907f098-cf12-4d83-9d20-5885bfb966b2Regards, Rafic If you found this post helpful, please give it a "Helpful" vote. If it answered your question, remember to mark it as an "Answer". This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights! Always test ANY suggestion in a test environment before implementing!

Method 1: Reset Windows Server 2008 password with just the Windows Installation Disk. * Insert the original Windows Server 2008 installation DVD * Reset the computer, boot from DVD * Choose option "Repair your computer" * Start command prompt * C:\ * CD C:\Windows\System32 * MOVE Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.bak * COPY Cmd.exe Utilman.exe * You may also need to "Enable" the administrator account which can be done by using "NET USER administrator /active:yes" * Restart windows * At the login screen, type Windows-U, this fires up cmd.exe now * NET USER administrator Presto! Login as administrator! * Now repair computer again and move the original Utilman.exe back Method 2: Third party windows password recovery toolkits Step1. Download Windows Password Recovery Tool and install in any available computer. Step2. Create a bootable CD/DVD or USB flash drive. (A blank CD/DVD/USB Flash Drive is needed). Step3. BIOS set. Boot computer from the created CD/DVD/USB Flash Drive and set BIOS setup. Step4. Reset Windows Server 2008 R2 password to Re123456.

I just used this method and it works like a charm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar-VoO9ogHc check the above video for a step by step video tutorial