If you find yourself locked out of a Windows computer this is a simple trick you can do to reset the password. Basically it is a process of booting into the command line via a Windows setup disk and overwriting the sethc.exe file with the cmd.exe file. Sethc.exe is the built in application that turns on Sticky Keys, which assists with accessibility. So, once this process is all done when you press shift 5x to open the Sticky Keys menu you will instead get an admin command prompt. The password change command is also included below.

To reset a forgotten administrator password, follow these steps:

1. Boot from Windows PE or Windows RE and access the command prompt.
2. Find the drive letter of the partition where Windows is installed. In Vista and Windows XP, it is usually C:, in Windows 7, it is D: in most cases because the first partition contains Startup Repair. To find the drive letter, type C: (or D:, respectively) and search for the Windows folder. Note that Windows PE (RE) usually resides on X:.
3. Type the following command (replace “c:” with the correct drive letter if Windows is not located on C:):
   copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\
   This creates a copy of sethc.exe to restore later.
4. Type this command to replace sethc.exe with cmd.exe:
   copy /y c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
   Reboot your computer and start the Windows installation where you forgot the administrator password.
5. After you see the logon screen, press the SHIFT key five times.
6. You should see a command prompt where you can enter the following command to reset the Windows password (see screenshot above):
   net user your_user_name new_password
   If you don’t know your user name, just type net user to list the available user names.
7. You can now log on with the new password.

I recommend that you replace sethc.exe with the copy you stored in the root folder of your system drive in step 3. For this, you have to boot up again with Windows PE or RE because you can’t replace system files while the Windows installation is online. Then you have to enter this command:

copy /y c:\sethc.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe

https://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/caffeine/

Prevent your computer from going to sleep

If you have problems with your PC locking or going to sleep, caffeine will keep it awake. It works by simulating a keypress once every 59 seconds, so your machine thinks you’re still working at the keyboard, so won’t lock the screen or activate the screensaver.

The icon is shown above – it’s the leftmost one in the task tray, and this is all you see. Double-clicking the icon empties the coffee pot (that’s what the icon is) and temporarily disables the program. Double-clicking it again refills the pot, and will keep your machine awake.

By default the app starts enabled, and works every 59 seconds. There are some command line switches you can use to alter this behaviour:

• xx – where xx is a number which sets the number of seconds between simulated keypresses. This must be the first text on the commandline
• -startoff – application starts disabled.
• -exitafter:xx – application will terminate after xx minutes
• -activefor:xx – application will become inactive after xx minutes
• -inactivefor:xx – application will become active after xx minutes
• -appexit – terminates current running instance of application
• -appon – makes the current running instance of the application active
• -appoff – makes the current running instance of the application inactive
• -apptoggle – toggles the running state of the current running instance of the application
• -apptoggleshowdlg – toggles the running state, and shows dialog
• -replace – closes the current running instance, replacing it
• -noicon – does not show a task tray icon
• -useshift – simulate the shift key instead of F15
• -allowss – prevent sleep, but allow the screensaver to start
• -stes – tell Windows to stay awake, don’t use F15
• -showdlg – shows a dialog indicating whether caffeine is active
• -ontaskbar – show a task bar button (use with -showdlg)
• -key:xx – simulate using virtual key code xx
    Note: the codes on the linked page are in Hex, convert them to decimal for use with this parameter
• -keypress – simulate a full key press, not just a key up event
• -oldicons – use more colourful tray icons
• -lighticons – always use the light icons
• -darkicons – always use the dark icons
• -watchwindow:xx – active only when a window with xx in the title is found
• -activehours:........xxxxxxxx........ – put 24 . or x characters – which indicate from hour 0 to hour 23 of the day. Caffeine will be active only in hours with an x
• -onac – active only when the computer is on AC power (plugged in)
• -cpu:xx – active until the CPU drops below xx%