Reset password Cisco Router 2600 Series

I need to recover or at least reset all password of our Cisco Routers. Some of the Cisco Routers are 2500 Series and 2600 Series. Kinda old huh? This are the procedures I used to reset the password on Cisco Router 2600.



1. Connect your router to a pc. I'm using a Putty to access the router and use usb-to-serial cable because my laptop has no serial port. Below is the terminal settings on my putty. This is also applicable to Hyperterminal application on your Windows Machine

9600 baud rate
No parity
8 data bits
1 stop bit
No flow control

2. Boot up your router. Press Ctrl+Break immediately upon power on of the router.

3. Type o and press Enter at the > prompt, and record the current value of the configuration register (usually 0x2102, or 0x102)

4. Type o/r 0x2142 and press Enter at the > prompt to boot from Flash without loading the configuration

5. Type i at the > prompt and press Enter

6. Type no after each setup question or press Ctrl-C to skip the initial setup procedure

7. Type enable at the Router> prompt. You'll be in enable mode and see the Router# prompt

8. Type configure memory or copy startup-config running-config to copy the NVRAM into memory. Do not type write memory or copy running startup-config

9. Type write terminal or show running-config

The show running-config and write terminal commands show the configuration of the router. In this configuration you see under all the interfaces the shutdown command, which means all interfaces are currently shutdown. Also, you can see the passwords either in encrypted or unencrypted format.

10. Type configure terminal and make the changes.

11. Type enable secret

12. Issue the no shutdown command on every interface that is used. If you issue a show ip interface brief command after you exit configuration mode, every interface that you want to use should be "up up"

13. Type config-register 0x2102, or the value you recorded in step 4.

This causes the router to load the Cisco IOS software from the Flash with the configuration from NVRAM at the next reload.

14. Press Ctrl+Z to leave the configuration mode.

15. Type write memory or copy running-config startup-config to commit the changes.

16. Type Reload to restart the router with the Cisco IOS software booting from the Flash.

17. Finish. You should be able to login using your new password.