Technical Anshu
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🔑 Password Reset Guide

Forgot Your Windows 1011 Password and Cant Log In

The login screen rejects every password you try, and reinstalling Windows would wipe your work. Stop. If the account is a local account, you can clear its password offline in about ten minutes by booting Strelec WinPE from your toolkit USB — no reinstall, no data loss.

✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows 10 / 11 local accounts⏱️ 10 minute job
🎥 The toolkit USB used here — Ventoy with Strelec WinPE — is built step by step in the video

First, one honest check that decides everything: is the locked account a local account or a Microsoft account? If the login screen shows an email address, it is a Microsoft account — its password lives online, no offline tool can change it, and you must reset it from another device at Microsoft's account recovery page. If the login shows just a name, it is a local account, and this guide works. Local account passwords are stored in the PC's own SAM database, and a WinPE toolkit can edit that database while Windows is off. Use this only on your own PC or one you are authorized to repair.

WINDOWS SIGN-IN SCREEN — WRONG PASSWORD
📷 The screen everyone dreads — Windows rejects the password and offers no other way in
1

Boot Strelec WinPE From the Toolkit USB

  1. Plug in your Ventoy toolkit USB and restart the locked PC
  2. Open the boot menu (F12 / F11 / Esc, brand-dependent) and choose the USB
  3. From the Ventoy menu, select Sergei Strelec WinPE and let the PE desktop load fully
  4. If a blue Secure Boot error appears instead, enroll the Ventoy key once — that fix is covered in this site's Secure Boot guide
2

Open a Password Reset Tool

Strelec's desktop and Start menu carry a password utilities section with tools such as Windows Login Unlocker, PCUnlocker and NTPWEdit. Menu names vary slightly between Strelec versions — any of these does the job.

  1. Open the Start menu and find the password reset utilities group
  2. Launch the tool — it scans the PC's drives and lists the Windows installations it finds
  3. Select the correct Windows installation if more than one is shown
3

Select the Right Account

The tool reads the SAM database and shows every local account: your account, the built-in Administrator, and system entries. Drive letters inside WinPE often differ from normal Windows, so if the tool asks for a path, pick the drive that actually contains the Windows folder.

  1. Choose the locked user account from the list
  2. Notice its status — some accounts are also disabled or locked out, and a good tool shows both options
  3. If the account you need is not listed at all, you selected the wrong Windows installation — go back and pick the other one
4

Clear the Password — and Save the Change ⭐

This is the step people rush and get wrong: in tools like NTPWEdit, nothing is written until you press Save.

TOOL WINDOW — PASSWORD EDITOR (NTPWEDIT STYLE)
Password Editor — SAM file: Windows\System32\config\SAM— ▢ ✕
AdministratorAccount disabled
YourUser (selected)Password set
GuestAccount disabled
Change passwordUnlock accountSave Changes
📷 What the password tool shows — pick the account, clear the password, then Save Changes
  1. Click Unlock / Reset Password for the selected account (in NTPWEdit: select the user, choose Change password, leave the fields empty, confirm)
  2. If the account was disabled, also tick Enable account
  3. Press the tool's Save Changes button and wait for its confirmation message
  4. Close the tool properly — do not just pull the USB out

The complete toolkit this runs on — Ventoy plus Strelec, MediCat and Gandalf on one USB — is built on screen in the video above, so you can prepare it on any working PC before you need it.

5

Restart Into Windows and Set a Fresh Password

  1. Restart the PC and remove the USB so it boots from the hard disk
  2. Click your account on the login screen — with the password cleared, it signs straight in
  3. Immediately set a new password: Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options → Password
  4. Write the new password down somewhere safe — and this time, also create a password reset disk or add a PIN
🔒 Two limits to know before you start: (1) a Microsoft account password cannot be reset offline at all — reset it online instead. (2) If the drive is protected by BitLocker, the tools cannot even read the account database until the drive is unlocked with its 48-digit recovery key. And one caution: files protected with Windows EFS encryption may become unreadable after a password reset — ordinary documents and photos are not affected.

🎥 Build the Toolkit USB Before You Need It

Ventoy + Strelec + MediCat + Gandalf on one USB — the full build is shown in the video, step by step.

▶️ Watch Full Video
❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Will resetting the password delete my files?

No. The reset only changes the account's password entry in the SAM database. Your documents, photos and installed programs stay exactly as they were. The one exception is files a user encrypted with Windows EFS, which are tied to the old password.

Does this work on Windows 11?

Yes, for local accounts on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Many Windows 11 setups push you into a Microsoft account during installation — those passwords are managed online and cannot be changed by any offline tool, including this one.

The login screen shows the account, but the tool says no users found. Why?

Almost always the tool opened the wrong drive's SAM file, or the drive is BitLocker-locked. Check that you picked the partition containing the real Windows folder, and unlock BitLocker with the recovery key first if the PC asks for it at boot.

This guide is based on Technical Anshu's "One USB = All Tools" video • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments — you'll get help there 🙏