Quoted:


I have always used this: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/



ETA: You create a boot disk. Follow the prompts to assign a new password to the admin account. Reboot and login.

   

how to reset a local system administrator password without using 3rd party utilities
Text:
At the command window type in the following command, where the time set is 1 minute in the future.
example: at 16:30 /interactive cmd.exe
when the command is ran it will return the following display Added a new job with job ID = 1. this creates a new command prompt running as the local system (this account has higher privleges than the local administrator account and can reset the local admin password)
in the new command prompt run the following command witch launches the management console
mmc.exe
now go to file, add/remove snap-in. click add. double click computer management, click finish. click "close" click ok. you will now have the local computer managment console available with the ability to reset the local administrator password. reset the password and communicate this to the end user.