How do I change my password

Change password from command line (DOS prompt in Windows 7 / Vista / XP)

Previous tutorials have explained how to change Windows 7 password, change Vista password, and change XP password the usual way, by going through the Control Panel. But all three versions of Windows (and earlier ones) allow you to change password from the command line (DOS prompt), using the "NET USER" command: this is a powerful tool that allows you to do much more, including renaming user profiles and managing other user account settings. This tutorial will show you the basic password-related commands, with three options, and experience how to bypass the common "system error 5" problem.

How do I change my Windows password with DOS command line prompt?

The following steps focus on Windows Vista and Windows 7, which have to cope with UAC prompts (unlike XP), but the procedure beyond launching the command line is exactly the same in all cases. Confirmations and password requests you may receive will depend on your profile type (standard user or administrator), as well as your current security settings (how to configure UAC settings in Windows 7).

• Click on the start menu, and type "cmd" in the search field; then, right-click on the "cmd.exe" top result, and choose "Run as administrator" to launch the DOS prompt with elevated privileges - if needed choose "Yes" at the UAC prompt or enter the requested password:
  
• When the DOS prompt opens, there are several ways to type your command, depending on how you want to change password - here's the breakdown: replace "UserName" in examples below with the actual name of the Windows user whose password you want to change.
  
  • To change the users password to a specific new password, enter the following command:
  NET USER UserName password Once you hit Enter, this command will change the selected user's password to the very last word you type after the username. While you only type the new password once, it will be showing in clear text, so you can visually confirm it (but risk that others will see it above your shoulder!)
  
  
  • The net-user command shown below lets you change the password for a user and "silently" enter the new password, with request to confirm it: this is ideal when someone could see the new password you type above your shoulder. Once you hit Enter, type the new credentials when you see the "Type a password for the user" and "Retype the password to confirm" prompts:
  NET USER UserName *
  
  
  • The last way to change a user account's password is to use the "RANDOM" switch, which will automatically generate a random, eight-character password containing upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols (a hard-to-remember, but very safe combination). Once you hit Enter at the end of the command line, the DOS prompt will show the password it chose for you:
  NET USER UserName /RANDOM

And these are the three options you can use with the NET USER command in DOS!

Problems changing users' passwords from the command line

If you receive the following error message, it simply means that you are not currently running the DOS prompt with elevated privileges; bypass this problem by running the command line as administrator, as we explained above: "System error 5 has occurred - Access is denied" (can happen with all three variations of the NET USER command described earlier, since all require the same privileges).

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