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I have locked both my administrator accounts out on my Windows Server 2008 R2 that has Raid. I tried the following-

  • Insert the original Windows Server 2008 installation DVD
  • Reset the computer, boot from DVD
  • Choose option “Repair your computer”
  • Start command prompt
    • C:\
    • 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, type Windows-U, this fires up cmd.exe now
  • NET USER administrator Presto! Login as administrator!
  • Now repair computer again and move the original Utilman.exe back"

My problem is that since my server is on Raid when I am at the command prompt from the dvd the cmd prompt does not recognized the c drive.. it says "the system cannot find the drive specified."

Does anyone know how to get it to find the C: drive? Or any other way I can get into my admin account?

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Ignoring the fact that RAID 0 is a terrible idea. Is this software RAID or hardware RAID? – MDMarra Jan 15 at 19:25
It's actually Raid 5 sorry and it's the hardward Raid.. – KMiller Jan 15 at 19:51
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In either case, you need to provide the RAID driver during setup. During Windows setup, when you get to the screen asking which drive to install to, there is a button "Add Driver". After that, don't click next.You can press F12 (I think) to get a command prompt and finish your instructions. – John Homer Jan 15 at 19:51
So after seletcing enlish for the language I'm supposed to go to "Repair your computer" right? and then I can go to the system recovery tools which is where I can find the command prompt.. I didn't see anything that you could "Add driver" but there was something that said 'Load drivers" and after you click that it tells you to insert media for the device and click ok... Or are you saying that after I select the lanuage I should click "install now" instead of "repair you computer"? I just don't want to mess anything up... :/ – KMiller Jan 15 at 20:15
Protecting this since anything with 'password' in a tag is a spam-magnet. Please, continue. – sysadmin1138♦ Jan 15 at 21:26
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1 Answer

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I always use Windows Password Resetter to do stuff like this. It works well enough to blank the Adminstrator password (allowing you to reset it on next login). The bootable Live CD can usually see most drives I deal with (provided I am using real, bona-fide hardware RAID).

Haven't had to try it on Win7/2008R2 yet, though -- might be some restrictions built into those operating systems regarding logging in with blank passwords.

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protected by sysadmin1138♦ Jan 15 at 21:26

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