Let’s say you just boot up a Windows 7 recovery environment and you are trying to get a command prompt.
- After you boot the CD, select your Language and press Next.
- Click the Repair your computer link
- At this point you will either get a screen asking you to select which operating system to restore (in which case you should do that and click Next) or it will go directly to the System Recovery Options screen with two radio buttons on it and the operating system to select listed below.
- MAKE SURE YOU CLICK ON THE RADIO BUTTON “Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows…”
It may look selected already but if you do not click on that radio, then you will not get the full recovery list of options (including the ability to select Command Prompt) screen. - you can take it from here…
And if you need it…here is a guide to get you going: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/56864-user-account-password-change-winre.html
PS. If you follow the instructions on the link above and you cannot disable the built-in administrator account then simply “Manage” My Computer, open up the Local Users applet and right-click/disable the account from there.