I have an Acer Aspire V5 laptop running Windows 8 with Phoenix BIOS running UEFI boot. I forgot the administrator password and now I am locked out. I’ve searched the web for how to reset Windows 8 password for computer which comes with UEFI BIOS, but there is no Live CD that supports UEFI-mode booting. So how do I reset my forgotten admin password?

If you’ve purchased an Acer computer with Windows 8 pre-installed, you’ll find that you are unable to boot up your PC using the Live CDs that you have ever used. This is because almost all Windows 8 PCs are shipped with UEFI BIOS, which replaces the traditional PC BIOS. The Secure Boot feature included in UEFI will prevent you from running operating systems other than Windows 8. So what to do if you’ve forgotten the Windows 8 administrator password on your Acer computer? In this tutorial we’ll walk you through how to reset lost administrator password on an Acer computer which comes with Windows 8 pre-installed in UEFI boot mode.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Administrator Password on Acer Computer with UEFI BIOS?

To get started, you need to create a Live CD (or USB flash drive) on another PC that you can access. Download the Reset Windows Password utility and save it on your desktop. Unzip the download file and you’ll get a bootable ISO image. Burn it onto an empty CD using ISO2Disc, BurnCDCC or other ISO burning software.

Place the Live CD into the CD drive of your locked Windows 8 Acer computer. Now we need to make some changes with the computer in order to get it to boot from the Live CD. Power off the computer. As soon as the Acer logo screen appears, immediately press F2 or Del key to enter the BIOS. Use the arrow key to select Boot tab. Choose the Boot Mode and press Enter to change the setting from UEFI to Legacy BIOS. Move to the Secure Boot option and disable it. Next change the boot order to CD/DVD-ROM and press F10 to save your changes.

Note: If you can’t find the UEFI boot mode in BIOS, try to switch to the Boot Options tab. With Launch CSM highlighted, press Enter and use the down arrow to select Always. Then switch to the Authentication tab, choose the Secure Boot option and press Enter to select Disabled.

After successfully booting from the Live CD, the computer will open up the Reset Windows Password program after a few minutes. The program automatically searches the Windows SAM registry hive for your Windows 8 installation, and then display all of local user accounts on your Acer PC.

Choose the administrator account and then click on “Reset Password” button. It will reset your forgotten Windows 8 administrator password instantly.

Restart the computer and take out the Live CD from the CD drive. Remember to change your computer’s boot mode from Legacy BIOS back to UEFI, otherwise Windows 8 will fail to boot. When the Acer computer boots into the Windows 8 login screen, you can then log in to the administrator account with a blank/empty password. It’s that easy!