How to Reset a Lost Windows Administrator Password on a Windows VPS Using Rescue Mode

Issue

You’re locked out of a Windows VPS because the Administrator password is no longer accepted. You only have remote console/VNC access via your hosting provider’s panel, and normal Windows tools for password reset aren’t available.

Probable Cause

The Administrator account password was lost, changed, or the account was locked after too many failed login attempts. Since this is a remote VPS with no physical access, you must boot into a Linux-based rescue system provided by your host and edit the Windows registry offline.

Solution

Use the provider’s rescue mode to boot a temporary Linux system, mount the Windows disk, clear and unlock the Administrator account password with chntpw, then reboot into Windows and set a new password.

1. Boot the VPS into Rescue Mode

1. In your VPS provider’s control panel, switch the server to Rescue Mode (Linux rescue/recovery).
2. Reboot the VPS into rescue mode using the panel.
3. Connect to the rescue system over SSH using the temporary credentials your provider gives you (IP, user, password).

2. Mount the Windows Partition

Once you’re logged into the rescue shell as root (or with sudo):

Verify that the Windows system is there:

You should see a SAM file listed with size > 0.

3. Clear and Unlock the Administrator Password with chntpw

Change to the Windows registry directory:

cd /mnt/win/Windows/System32/config

Run chntpw on the SAM database for the Administrator account:

You’ll see information about the user and a User Edit Menu similar to:

• 1 - Clear (blank) user password
• 2 - Unlock and enable user account
• 3 - Promote user (make user an administrator)
• 4 - Add user to a group
• 5 - Remove user from a group
• q - Quit editing user, back to user select

Perform these steps:

1. Type 1 and press Enter to clear (blank) the password.
   You should see: Password cleared!

2. Type 2 and press Enter to unlock and enable the account.
   You should see: Unlocked!

3. Type q and press Enter to quit the user edit menu.

4. When prompted:

    

   Hives that have changed: # Name 0 <SAM> Write hive files? (y/n) [n] :

   Type y and press Enter to save the changes.

Then sync and unmount:

4. Reboot the VPS Back into Windows

Some control panels occasionally show an error when rebooting from rescue, so it’s safer to reboot from the shell:

This exits rescue mode and boots the normal Windows installation. Wait a few minutes for the system to fully start.

5. Log in via VNC/Console with a Blank Password

1. Open your provider’s VNC/console for this VPS.
2. At the Windows login screen, select the Administrator user.
3. Leave the password field empty and press Enter.

Because you cleared and unlocked the account, you should now be logged into Windows as Administrator with a blank password.

6. Set a New Secure Administrator Password

Immediately set a strong password. Two common methods:

Option A: Change Password via Ctrl+Alt+End

1. In your VNC/console client, use the menu option to send Ctrl+Alt+End (or Ctrl+Alt+Del equivalent to the remote session).
2. Click Change a password.
3. For Old password, leave it blank and press Tab.
4. Enter your New password and Confirm password (use a strong, unique password).
5. Confirm to apply the change.

Option B: Change Password with Command Prompt

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

2. Run:

    

   net user Administrator YourNewStrongPassword123!

   Replace YourNewStrongPassword123! with your chosen strong password (12+ characters, mix of letters, numbers, symbols).

You can now log in to the VPS as:

• Username: Administrator
• Password: your new password

via VNC/console or any RDP client (if Remote Desktop is enabled and firewalled correctly).