Forgotten Windows 8 password...

[riskyfrisky]

Hello!

I've got a friend's Windows 8 laptop here (a Packard Bell EasyNote TE) but they have forgotten the password, never to be remembered, so what options do we have?

Recovery discs were never made (surprise, surprise) and we don't have a Windows disc (nor do we have a license found anywhere on the laptop). I also cannot access a CMD prompt because it asks for the password.

I have gone into an advanced settings area where there is an option to 'reset' the laptop, but I haven't committed to it in case there is stuff on the PC that is needed.

Is there a way to remove the password without losing data?

 

[xbenjiiman]

Try booting into a live Linux distro and using that to get into the hard drive to copy the files out.

Either that or remove the hard drive and plug it into another PC to copy the files.

After that the only option then is to reset the laptop like you said or get hold of a Windows 8 disk and re-install.

With the newer Windows 8 laptops, the license keys are written directly to the bios. The Windows 8 installer picks this up automatically, meaning you don't have to enter any keys.

 

[riskyfrisky]

It turns out there's nothing on the laptop that needs saving so I'm currently doing a reset. It's looking good!

EDIT: Job done! The reset worked it removed the old account but it didn't matter. Success!