cannot get windows 7 to open in safe mode. I press the f8 key as the computer starts and nothing happens. When I try to log on it says password not recognized- I jsut used it last night what happened?

Hi Lindaferreira,

·         Do you get the Windows Advance boot option when you tap F8?

·         Are you typing the password correctly?

·         Is the caps lock on?

·         Do you have another user account with administrative privileges on your computer?

Verify if the keyboard is working correctly.

Follow the below methods:

Method 1: I would suggest you to try using Ease of Access from the welcome screen and choose type without keyboard (on screen Keyboard) and check if he can boot into Windows.

Follow the steps provided below:

a.       Start the computer.

b.      On welcome screen, click on the screen at the bottom left of the screen “Ease of Access”

c.       After clicking on “Ease of Access” icon, select “choose type without keyboard (on-screen Keyboard)”

d.      Now type the password through on-screen keyboard and check if you are able to boot or not.

Method 2: Try booting into WinRE (Windows Recover Environment) and enable the default administrator account from command prompt.

a.       Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To open an elevated Command Prompt, click Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

b.      Type the following command and press ENTER:

net user administrator /active:yes

c.       Once enabled, login to the admin account and remove the password for the account which you cannot access

Method 3: If you have another user account with administrative privileges, I would suggest you to boot into Windows 7 using that account and change the password of the locked user account.

Refer the below article for more information:

Passwords: recommended links

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Passwords-recommended-links

Please note that Microsoft support engineers cannot help you retrieve passwords of files and features in Microsoft products that are lost or forgotten.

Refer:

Microsoft policy about lost or forgotten passwords

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189126

Additionally, read through BillFill MSFT, Moderator’s response regarding keeping passwords secure and Microsoft’s policy on getting around passwords in the following link:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-security/keeping-passwords-secure-microsoft-policy-on/39f56ef0-5d68-41ad-9daa-6e6019c25d37

Hope this information helps!