When you need to reset Windows XP password, what will be the possible reasons? In my opinion, there are mainly two kinds of reasons. For one reason, you may have a good habit of resetting or changing your Windows XP password regularly to help keep your PC secure, as everyone knows. For another reason, you are locked out of the computer, like forgetting Windows password or buying a password protected notebook, etc. But no matter what the reason is, it's better for one to master some solutions on how to reset Windows XP password, if he still sticks on a Windows XP machine. Here shows you some simple methods on how to reset Windows XP password under different circumstance.

When you can logon Windows XP with an administrator account, password reset can be very simple and there are many solutions. The following just show you 2 examples of them.

Method One: Reset Windows XP Password Using Control Panel

Refer to resetting Windows XP password, most users will try to do it by using Control Panel as follows:

Step 1. Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts.

Step 2. Select the user for which you want to change the password and select Change my password.

Method Two: Reset Windows XP Password Using Command Prompt

By this method, you will go to the classic user management to reset your password.

Step 1. Click Start > Run, type "control userpasswords2" and hit Enter.

Step 2. The classic user accounts management window will open, select any user and select reset password.

When you cannot access your computer due to a lost Windows password or others, or when you cannot logon Windows XP with your admin account, it requires a little technical skill to reset the password.

Method Three: Reset Windows XP Password Using Built-in Admin Account

Unlike its successors like Windows Vista and 7, Windows XP has a built-in user account named Administrator and by default it is not password protected. If you never set password for the account, you can log on computer with this admin account.

Step 1. Turn on or restart your computer.

Step 2. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice when you enter its welcome screen.

Step 3. When "Log on to Windows dialog" box appears, type "Administrator" in the User name box and then click Ok to enter your computer.

After logging on, you can reset the password of the accounts on this computer by Control Panel or Command Prompt.

Method Four: Reset Windows XP Password Using Third Party Software

In addition to the methods above, you can also take advantage of Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery, which can help you by creating a password reset disk.

Step 1. Download and install Windows Password Recovery.

Step 2. Use the program to create a password reset disk.

Step 3. Boot the computer from the password reset disk.

Step 4. Reset Windows XP password under Windows PE.

Of course you also can reset any windows password this efficient Windows Password Recovery tool, which including Windows 7/Vista admin password and Server 2000/2003(R2)/2008(R2) domain password with easy.