How to Reset Administrator Password on Windows Server
If you’ve forgotten the Administrator password for your Windows Server or need to reset it, this guide provides a step-by-step process to regain access through the VPS management portal. By mounting an ISO and using the command prompt, you can securely reset the password without reinstalling the operating system, ensuring that all server data remains intact. Follow these instructions carefully to successfully reset your password while preserving all data on your server.
- Open launch noVNC or VNC client
- In the drop-down list choose for example: Windows Server 2019
Check the box force reset & boot from the selected ISO then click on the Mount ISO button
- Open the noVNC tap in your browser or VNC client.
Press 2 to boot from mounted .iso (DVD/CD), For example:
Wait until the Windows installation is loaded and on the Windows Setup window click to Next button.
Press Install now button on the center of the new window.
Choose Windows Server 2019 Standard Evaluation (Desktop Experience) and click Next:
Check the box to accept the license terms, then click the Next button.
Choose Custom: Install Windows only(advanced) option:
On the new window click on the Load Driver:
On the Load driver window, click to Browse button
Select the drive labeled "virtio-win-0.1.215" to load the necessary Virtio drivers for the installation.
Choose viostor directory -> 2k19 -> amd64, and click to OK:
When the driver is loaded, click on the Next button:
When drives are displayed, do not click on the next button! Otherwise, you will start the reinstall process of the system and all the data will be wiped! Enter the combination SHIFT+F10 using a keyboard to open the command terminal, after that, you will see the console window:
Enter diskpart command to console:
Enter the list volume command. The Windows operating system is located on the F drive, identified by its large allocated space—in this example, 44 GB. Now that we know the Windows drive name, type exit to close diskpart.
Enter the command F: to follow on disk F (where located Windows OS)
Navigate to the directory by typing cd Windows/System32, then make a backup of Utilman.exe by entering move Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.bak and press Enter.
Run the command - copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe
Come back to KVM Manager panel and Umount Windows Server drive. Make sure the disk is unmounted and return to VNC. Run the command wpeutil reboot to restart VPS.
Once Windows loads, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to access the login screen. Click the Ease of Access icon at the bottom right, which should open a new terminal window.
In the terminal window that opens, run the command net user Administrator newstrongpassword Where: - Administrator is the Administrator account in Windows that has full system control -newstrongpassword is a new password.
- Close the console window and connect to the server using the new password. Once connected, reopen Command Prompt and follow the steps below to revert your changes, restoring the original functionality of the Ease of Access utility.
- Click the Start button or press the Windows key on your keyboard.
- Type cmd or Command Prompt in the search bar.
- Right-click Command Prompt from the search results and select Run as administrator.
- Run as administrator
Run command copy c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe /y
Congratulations, you have successfully changed the administrator password for Windows Server.
