I have been using Windows 7 Ultimate for some time using the same password. I have not, repeat not, forgotten my password, but now it won’t accept it. Why has this happened, and more importantly, how do I get back in? I haven’t got a pre-made disk which will allow me to reset the password.
Windows won’t accept your password even if you’ve typed in a correct password? If your account are not locked out or disabled, it’s likely that you have turned on the NumLock feature that many laptops have. After enabling the NumLock feature, you’ll find a strange problem and you can’t type normal anymore. For example, when you type in “hey, how’s it going”, your computer would type “123456… etc.”. If you later try to type something else it will continue in sequence from before, eg: “7890123… etc”
The NumLock feature is used to convert part of the main keyboard to act as a (slightly skewed) numeric keypad rather than letters. NumLock is rarely used for its original purpose, and ends up confusing the user if it has for some reason been activated without the user being aware of this. This can be more of an issue on most laptop computers, since activating the NumLock function typically requires use of the Fn key and if a user accidentally switches it on they may have no idea how to switch it off.
How to Turn Off NumLock Feature?
Find the NumLock key and press it to reverse things and set it back to normal. On my Dell it’s Fn + F4, on my Compaq it’s Fn + ScrLk. It’s different on every make and model. Based on your keyboard you can get original settings of your keyboard in following ways.
- Fn + F11
- Shift + Num Lock
- Fn + Num Lock
- Fn + F11 + Scroll lock
- Fn + F8 (on HP laptop)
- Ctrl + F11
- Fn + Shift + Num Lock
Some keyboards have and don’t have the Num Lock key. If there is then just press the Num Lock or NmLk key. Sometimes you have to hold the Fn button with the Num Lock key. If there is no Num Lock key on your keyboard then just follow these steps: START -> ALL PROGRAMS -> ACCESSORIES -> ACCESSIBILITY -> ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD -> NLK.
Find the correct key combination on your laptop and your problem should be solved. If you still can’t log in to Windows, you can use the Reset Windows Password utility to remove your administrator/user password so you can then log on your computer without typing a password. After getting into Windows, you can turn off NumLock feature easier.