Windows – Are the losses of resetting a Windows password reversible

passwordsSecuritywindowswindows 7windows xp

In Windowses (XP SP3, Windows 7, et al), setting Windows' login/account/user password by:

  • Run –> Compmgmt.msc –> Local Users and Groups –> Users –> Right Click on a user in right panel –> Set password…

shows:

Resetting this password might cause irreversible loss of information
for this user account. For security reasons, Windows protects
certain information by making it impossible to access if the user's
password is reset.

  • Update (added the end of this warning)

    "The data loss will occur the next time the user log off.

    You should use this command only if a user has forgotten his or her
    password and does not have a password reset disk. If this user has
    created a password reset disk should use the disk to set the
    password.

    If the user knows the password and wants to change it, he or she
    should log in, then use User Accounts in Control Panel to change the
    password.

    For additional information, click Help.

    Buttons: Proceed, Cancel, Help"

and in next dialog box:

If you click OK, the following will occur:

  • The user account will immediately lose access to all of its encrypted files, stored passwords, and personal security certificates

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Can these losses be reverted by setting the login password back to the old one?
Or, more specifically, do these losses still occur, if I

  • change the password first to another (new) one and, after that, by the same procedure,to a previous (old) one?
  • if I enter in "New password:" and "Confirm password:" textboxes the old password?
    i.e. set the password to the old one )applying this procedure)?

Update:
As developer, I know that deleting and then recreating an object doesn't restore the old object, just creates identical copy (with usually tedious manual work of restoring references, links, dependencies which are rarely even known since frequently created dynamically, in run-time).

And the question has huge implications for practical system administration especially in workgroups, sometimes big ones.

Best Answer

Can these losses be reverted by setting the login password back to the old one?

Depends on if were talking about encrypted information or not.

if I enter in "New password:" and "Confirm password:" textboxes the old password? i.e. set the password to the old one )applying this procedure)?

If you did this then the password would not actually be changed. Information stored like the encryption key likely still would be wiped. Why would anyone do this?

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