Adminstrator password

[baptiste]

I have recently started using an old pc which has vista home premium installed. My son owns the pc but unfortunately he cannot remember him administrator password which means I am unable to make any changes to the pc. Can anyone help me get over this issue?
Thanks

 

[wither 3]

What kind of changes do you want to make? To run most executables, you can right click on them and select "run as administrator."

 

[baptiste]

I am unable download AVG ect, as soon as I try the pc throws up the administrator password prompt and there are several others upgrades I wish to make as well as delete some old programs

 

[SIW2]

Have you considered doing a clean reinstall ?

 

[wither 3]

The Windows Help files provide instructions for creating a password reset disc. However, it indicates that's for the situation in which you can't log onto the computer because you forgot your password. That doesn't seem to be the case here so I don't know if the disk would work. The Help also indicates-

"What are the risks of resetting a password?
If you use an administrator account to reset the Windows‌ password for any other user account, the account with the reset password will lose access to its encrypted files, e‑mail messages that are encrypted, and stored passwords for websites or network resources. If the user account doesn't have any of these things, or the user doesn't mind losing them, then using an administrator account to reset the password is a fast and easy way to recover from a forgotten password."

 

[wither 3]

Any progress on this?

 

[baptiste]

I am unable to do a reinstall as the version of vista was installed on the pc and he has no disk available

 

[SIW2]

"an old pc which has vista home premium installed."

Is there a recovery partition?

Or you can find vista installation media easily.

What is the bit version and language?

 

[baptiste]

32 bit operating system
windows vista home premium- english

 

[SIW2]

If you reinstall, you will need to reactivate. Do you have the coa sticker that is readable?

What is the exact make and model of the machine?

 

[baptiste]

the computer is a Samsung, model number NPR510

 

[SIW2]

You are not supposed to broadcast the coa. You can use it to activate vista if you have to clean reinstall.

 

[SIW2]

@baptiste

There is a tutorial here which might help you

Password Reset

Reset your Windows Password in Regedit at Boot

www.sevenforums.com