Help When You Are Locked Out of Your Computer

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There might be a time when a user is trying to login, but just can't. A situation where the user is locked out from his computer could definitely be frustrating at times. Especially when the user is clueless on how to get around computer lockouts, and entering the password over and over again isn't much of a help. An option for some people is to just simply call a technician and let him figure out what's wrong, since there's always a solution to any computer problems such as this.

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Password Isn’t Working

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If the computer keeps on asking for the password even after trying to enter the correct one over several attempts, that means the user has been locked out... If the Administrator account still doesn't have a password, here's a simple solution the user can try that usually works. Click "CTRL + ALT + DEL" twice at the login screen. Select the user Administrator and just leave the password field blank. This will usually unlock the administrator account and let the user login.

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Forgotten Password

Another way is to reboot or restart the computer; this is if the Administrator account doesn't have a password yet. A splash screen would show up with the manufacturer's logo. As the splash screen disappears, keep hitting the "F8" key. A boot menu would then show up that would give an option for the Safe Mode. Select the Safe Mode option and wait until it loads. Then choose the user named "Administrator" and hit the "Login" option. After logging in, get to the control panel on the "Start" menu. Select the "User Accounts" and look for the "Remove Password" option to make the necessary changes. After that, reboot the computer again and log in where a password would not be required anymore. The "F8" key technique is not always a sure shot on solving problems regarding passwords. There could be something else that needs to be done. But sometimes, the user just misses the right timing for the F8 key. Be sure to keep tapping the F8 key continually as the splash screen goes away and until a menu comes out. If it's not the menu that shows up, then that means the user just missed the right timing for it. When this happen, restart the computer and start on the process all over again.

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Administrator Account

If the Administrator account has a password assigned to it already and suddenly got locked out, there is still a way to get around it. Click the "Start" icon on the computer screen around the bottom left corner. Enter the word "run" and wait for a pop-up window to appear. Type "cmd" and click the "OK" button. The black DOS command screen will come up. Right after the Administrator account, type in the following line: net(space)user(space)the username(i.e.jennymiles) * and press "Enter." Enter the new password when asked on the command screen. And lastly, type the word "exit" to be able to go back to the login screen. Enter the new password to confirm if it's working.

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