3 the present invention contemplates two potentially independent components namely a password reset sensor mechanism fig2 for determining when a situation requiring a password reset is present with little or no intervention from the user and a password reset effector fig3 for resetting the password now referring to fig2 the logic of the sensor mechanism may be seen commencing at block 26 the number of failed log on attempts is counted in the case of a lost primary o s e g windows password the logic may be executed in windows with system credentials so that it is active even when no user is logged in the logic may access the windows graphical identification and authentication gina to keep a record of the number of failed attempts to log onto windows when a successful logon occurs the count of failed logon attempts is reset at block 28 the count of failed log on attempts is stored outside the primary o s file system for instance the count could be stored in a separate file allocation table fat partition that can be read by the secondary o s such as ibm 39 s client rescue and recovery system because the user cannot gain local access into windows due to the lost password the user must change e g by boot hypervisor swap or hibernation swap to the secondary o s which upon starting up executes.