Introduction

TL:DR: Load whatever required Storage/RAID controller drivers earlier attempting to reset Windows password via the installation media in a VMware environment.

I recently found myself in the position of having to reset the Windows (2012 R2) domain admin password in a virtual (VMware) lab surround. This procedure involves temporarily replacing the Utilman.exe executable on the system install drive with a re-create of the cmd.exe file. However, my domain controller was a VM on ESXi that required a 3rd political party SCSi driver be loaded in order to view the Bone drive/install.

The easiest method of loading this driver is to re-create your drivers to a virtual floppy deejay or .iso image and mountain it on an additional virtual CD/DVD drive and so kicking the VM from your Windows installation media .iso to proceed with the password reset process.

Instructions

Using the following steps you tin can reset the admin password on the Windows 2012 R2 domain controller:

  1. Boot from the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 DVD

  2. From the Windows Setup carte, click "Next".

  3. Select "Repair your computer"

  4. Under Choose and option, click on "Troubleshoot".

  5. Under Avant-garde options, click "Command Prompt".

  6. At the command prompt, run the post-obit command to determine the drive letters in use on the server: wmic logicaldisk get explanation, description,filesystem 

                                  Ten:\Sources> wmic logicaldisk go explanation,clarification,filesystem  Caption   Clarification               Filesystem  A:        iii 1/two Inch Floppy Drive  D:        CD-ROM Disc               UDF  X:        Local Fixed Disk          NTFS

  7. Utilize the drvload command in order to load the paravirtual SCSi driver from the disk/image mounted via your additional bulldoze (in my case A: floppy bulldoze):

                                  X:\Sources> drvload A:\AMD64\PVSCSI.INF  DrvLoad: Successfully loaded A:\AMD64\PVSCSI.INF.

  8. Run the wmic logicaldisk get caption,description,filesystem command again and you should be able to see the local installation disk now (in my case this was E:):

                                  X:\Sources> wmic logicaldisk become explanation,description,filesystem  Explanation   Description               Filesystem  A:        iii 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive  C:        Local Fixed Disk          NTFS  D:        CD-ROM Disc               UDF  E:        Local Fixed Disk          NTFS  X:        Local Stock-still Disk          NTFS

    Note: Considering your server is started with bootable media, the System Reserved sectionalization of your hard drive is temporarily marked equally C: and therefore the C: bulldoze that you lot see from within Windows 2012 is marked as Due east: drive (since the CD-ROM Disc is marked as D:). This is a temporary modification. Things will revert to normal as before long as yous boot Windows 2012 commonly.

    The 10:\Sources directory is a temporary container that is created when Windows 2012 is booted externally, it allows you to run a host of commands to manage your install.

  9. Now switch to your local installation disk (E:) and run the commands to supercede the Utilman.exe file with a re-create of cmd.exe:

                                  10:\Sources>E:   E:\>cd Windows\System32   E:\Windows\System32>ren Utilman.exe Utilman.bak   E:\Windows\System32>copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe          i file(southward) copied   Due east:\Windows\System32>

  10. Now use the wpeutil control to reboot your Windows VM:

                  E:\Windows\System32>wpeutil reboot

  11. One time the VM has rebooted, click the Utility Manager icon to load a command prompt:

    Windows 2012 Logon Screen Reset Windows 2012 password (Click Utility Manager Icon) | Windows 2012 R2

  12. Run the post-obit control to reset your Windows 2012 countersign (e.g. 'Password123' case sensitive): internet user ambassador Password123 

                  C:\Windows\System32>net user administrator Password123     The command completed successfully  C:\Windows\System32>

  13. Closing the command prompt, you should now be able to log dorsum onto the server using the countersign you have provided in the last footstep.

Revert Changes

Once you lot've confirmed that you can logon to the server you should restore the Utilman.exe from the earlier backup.

  1. Follow steps one to 9 in the Installation section above.

  2. Run the post-obit commands to restore the Utilman.exe from Utilman.bak 

                                  E:\Windows\System32>del Utilman.exe   Due east:\Windows\System32>copy Utilman.bak Utilman.exe          1 file(south) copied   E:\Windows\System32>

You tin can at present logout and reboot. Your admin countersign has now been reset.

Sources: http://world wide web.kieranlane.com/2013/09/18/resetting-ambassador-password-windows-2012/