How to reset the Administrator password on Windows 2008 R2 Server
Pre-requisite (You must have a copy of the Windows 2008 R2 Server DVD to boot from).
Take the following steps:
Boot the from your original copy, or burned copy of the Windows Server 2008 R2 Disk
Insert the original Windows Server 2008 installation DVD
Reset the computer, boot from DVD
Choose option “Repair your computer”
Select command prompt (C:\)
Type the following
CD C:\Windows\System32
MOVE Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.bak
COPY cmd.exe Utilman.exe
You may also need to “Enable” the administrator account which can be done by using “NET USER administrator /active:yes”
Restart windows
At the login screen, press the Windows Key + U which will automatically open up a Command Prompt Window.
In the Command prompt window type:
NET USER administrator Presto!
Leave the command prompt window open, and login as Administrator with the password “Presto!”
Remember to either put Utilman.exe back, from the command prompt type:
MOVE Utilman.exe.bak Utilman.exe
Please note, if you forget to or do not properly put back Utilman.exe Windows may believe it is corrupt, to resolve this you can boot the DVD again and run a Windows repair, and/or run sfc /SCANNOW from the command prompt to resolve any Windows integrity issues.
