Forgot Windows 8 local account or Microsoft account password? How to reset the password so you can log back into your PC without data loss? There are basically two types of accounts that you can create in Windows 8: Local accounts and Microsoft account. In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between local account and Microsoft account, and provide an easy way to help you reset lost Windows 8 local account and Microsoft account password.

Local Account vs. Microsoft Account

A local account is just what we always used to log on to a Windows machine (if the computer is not a member of a Windows domain). All credentials for this account are stored only on the local computer. Your user profile is stored on your local computer only. This type of account has been around since the time of Windows 98.

A Microsoft account is a new logon option introduced in Windows 8, which allows you to sign in to your PC using an email account. The email account can be a hotmail/Microsoft live account or any other email account that you registered in Microsoft’s website. The credentials of Microsoft account are stored in Microsoft’s cloud and are locally cached, so you can also log on without an Internet connection. The user profile is accessible to other computers running Windows 8, provided you’ve logged on with your Microsoft account.

Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Local Account & Microsoft Account Password

The passwords of both local account and Microsoft account are stored in a SAM file which is usually located in the folder c:\windows\system32\config. Windows 8 stores the passwords in a hashed format (in LM hash and NTLM hash). Since a hash function is one-way, it is almost impossible to recover such passwords. However, you can reset the password easily and instantly.

Reset Windows Password utility is a recovery bootdisk which can run from a CD or USB drive and enables you to reset forgotten Windows 8 local account and Microsoft account password easily. The local account password will be blank/removed immediately so you can then log on your PC with a empty/blank password, while the Microsoft account password seems to be impossible to reset because it is stored online in Microsoft’s cloud. But as long as you can reset the Microsoft account password which is cached on your local computer, Windows 8 still allows you to sign in your PC, but without connecting to Microsoft’s cloud. Reset Windows Password utility can help you do this job perfectly so you can log back into your computer with a new Microsoft account password.