I was using my new Windows 8 laptop file until I rebooted the laptop. After reboot, I entered my Microsoft live account password but wouldn’t let me log in. The system said the password is incorrect. Later I went to account.live.com/password/reset to change my password and tried it still no luck. The laptop is connected via a live network cable but I still can’t log in! How can I get around this issue?
Can’t login to Windows 8 with live account password? Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us and you are not alone. It’s a known issue that Windows 8 has a 16-character limitation to the password for Windows Live ID. So if you have a password that contains more than 16 characters, simply change your password to a shorter one. If you still can’t login, here is the ultimate solution for you to reset Microsoft live account password in Windows 8.
How to Reset Microsoft Live Account Password in Windows 8?
- First, you will need to download and install Password Recovery Bundle on another PC that you can access. This can be your work PC, or a friend or family member’s PC.
- Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, the pop-up dialog allows you to create a Windows password reset boot CD.
- Next, insert the boot CD into your locked Windows 8 computer and boot the computer from it. If you don’t know how to set your computer to boot from CD, please refer to your computer’s manual or check out this guide: How to Boot A Computer from CD or USB Drive.
- The computer will load the mini operating system inside the Windows password reset boot CD and open up the Reset Windows Password window as follow.
- From the window, you can see a list of user accounts existing in your Windows installation. For dual-boot or multi-boot computer, make sure you choose your desired Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list.
- Choose the local user account which is linked to your Microsoft live account, and then click on Reset Password button. The program will assign a new password to your Microsoft live account.
- Remove the password reset boot CD and restart the computer, you can then login to your Microsoft live account using the new password: Password123
How does it work? Actually, the password reset boot CD just updates the password hash for your Microsoft live account which is stored on your local computer, it doesn’t have the ability to change your actual online live account password. But this can used to solve most of Windows 8 login problems.