Network Administration: Windows User Password Resetting

By some estimates, the single most time-consuming task of most network administrators is resetting user passwords. It’s easy to just think users are forgetful idiots, but put yourself in their shoes. We insist that they set their passwords to something incomprehensible, such as 94kD82leL384K, that they change it a week later to something more unmemorable, such as dJUQ63DWd8331, and that they don’t write it down. Then we get mad when they forget their passwords.

So when a user calls and says he or she forgot his or her password, the least we can do is be cheerful when we reset it for them. After all, they’ve probably already spent 15 minutes trying to remember it before they finally gave up and admitted failure.

Here’s the procedure to reset the password for a user domain account:

1. Log on as an administrator.

   
   

   You must have administrator privileges in order to perform this procedure.

   
   



2. Choose Start→Administrative Tools→Active Directory Users and Computers.

   
   

   The Active Directory Users and Computers management console appears.

   
   



3. Click Users in the console tree.

   
   



4. In the Details pane, right-click the user who forgot his or her password and choose Reset Password.

   
   



5. Type the new password in both password boxes.

   
   

   You have to type the password twice to ensure that you type it correctly.

   
   



6. If desired, select the User Must Change Password at Next Logon option.

   
   

   If you select this option, the password that you assign will work for only one logon. As soon as the user logs on, he or she will be required to change the password.

   
   



7. Click OK.

   
   

   That’s all there is to it! The user’s password is now reset.

   
   

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-administration-windows-user-password-reset.html