How to Reset Password by Windows PE Boot Disk?

When you forget local admin password, don’t worry, you can reset password by Windows PE boot disk. This article is about how to create Windows PE boot disk for password recovery.

Delia

by Delia Updated on October 18, 2022

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Forget administrator password?

If you forgot longin password in your Windows system, you can’t enter the desktop successfully, then what should you do? Your target is resetting password. There are many solutions. One of ways is resetting password using Windows PE boot disk.

What is Windows PE boot disk?

Windows PE, or WinPE, is short for Windows Pre-installation Environment. It is developed by Microsoft and designed for taking the place of MS-DOS operating system in workstations and servers deployment, test and diagnostic programs development, and system restore processes when it is offline. WinPE does not need a hard drive to boot, and it can run solely from a CD/DVD, USB drive, etc. So usually we talk about the Windows PE boot disk it is meaning boot media, such USB or CD. They are also called rescue disc.

Windows PE has the best hardware support and most users would be familiar with it. However, originally Windows PE may have a higher system requirement because the newest Windows PE 5.1 already require at least 512MB just for the base and adding more drivers, packages, or apps will obviously need more volume.

So users try other customized boot disks that based on Windows PE packaged with a collection of third-party practical applications for different kinds of maintenance purpose.

AOMEI PE Builder

AOMEI PE Builder is a freeware released by AOMEI Technology, which is well known for its PC partition management software called AOMEI Partition Assistant and PC backup software called AOMEI Backupper. AOMEI PE Builder is able to help users easily create a WinPE-based bootable media with just a few clicks and without installing AIK/WAIK.

The Windows PE created by AOMEI PE Builder seems more like a common Windows desktop because it comes with Windows desktop, Explorer, Start menu, taskbar and so on which are not found in the Windows PE built by other WinPE software. What’s more, AOMEI Backupper, AOMEI Partition Assistant and Windows Recovery Environment are in the environment by default.

AOMEI PE Builder also integrated other useful utilities, for example - NTPWEdit. So to reset the password, you can boot your machine up with a bootable WinPE disc built by AOMEI PE Builder and run the password editor NTPWEdit from the Windows PE environment.

Steps of using AOMEI PE Builder to reset password

First, make sure you have a bootable media, if not, try AOMEI PE Builder to create one please. Download AOMEI PE Builder, install and apply. You can see its main interface as follow:

Download FreewareWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

AOMEI PE Builder

Cool and deep blue, simple and atmosphere! Click “Next” to continue. In this step, check NTPWEdit then click “Next” to go. Custom drivers and files can also be added.

Files Drivers

Choose a bootable media in this step. AOMEI PE Builder provides three methods as follow:

Bootalbe Media

Select any one of the listed media, then click “Next” to execute the task.

Creating Process

More detailed please refer to: https://www.aomeitech.com/pebuilder/help/index.html

The link also contains how to enter the bootable environment created by AOMEI PE Builder.

In the environment, you can reset password by using NTPWEdit.

Ntpwedit

Summary

Now you see, reset password in Windows PE created by AOMEI PE Builder is simple and safe. Besides password recovery, you can also recover file, troubleshooting other problems on an unbootable computer. We can’t predict when computer will fail to boot, so prevention and preparation are always necessary. Creating a rescue media with AOMEI PE Builder is a great choice.

Delia
Delia · Editor
Delia owns extensive experience in writing technology-related blog posts, and has been a part of AOMEI since 2020 to provide expertise in data security and disaster recovery. She works with Windows operating systems, SQL databases, and virtualization platforms such as VMware and Hyper-V, specializing in troubleshooting and advising on data protection and migration.