We have a few customers, who have forgot their AD Administrator password on their Windows 2008 server. Is there really any way to recover it? I know it’s possible to reset your Windows 7, XP and Vista password. But is it possible to get the AD administrator password on a 2008 server? I hope we can avoid a re-install. Cheers.

Lost or forgot the administrator password on Active Directory 2008? There isn’t any efficient way to recover the password as Active Directory encrypts the password using some very strong encryption algorithms. But you can reset or replace the forgotten password easily. Today’s tutorial will be covering a technique that will allow you to reset your lost 2008 Active Directory Administrator Password.

How to Reset Lost 2008 Active Directory Admin Password?

1. Download and install Password Recovery Bundle on another computer that you can log in.
2. Prepare a blank CD and insert it into the computer.
3. Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, it will display the ISO burning dialog.

   

4. Choose your CD you’ve plugged in and then click on Start Burn button to create a Live CD.
5. After you have the Live CD, put it into the CD drive of your Active Directory server whose password you want to reset.
6. Turn on the Active Directory server and have it boot from the Live CD. You may need to go into BIOS and set CD/DVD as the first boot device.
7. After booting from the Live CD, it will load the Windows PE operating system inside the Live CD and start the Reset Windows Password program.

   

8. Choose the Active Directory NTDS.dit database, it will display a list of domain user accounts inside the NTDS.dit database.
9. Choose the administrator account from the list, then click on Reset Password button, the program will replace the forgotten/unknown administrator password with a new password: Password123.

Take out the Live CD and reboot the Windows 2008 server, you can then log in to your domain administrator account with your new password. With the Live CD you can also reset lost admin password on Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP.