Step 1 Attach a terminal or PC with terminal emulation software to the console port of the router. Windows HyperTerm / Hyperterminal works well here.
Step 2 Enter the show version command and record the setting of the configuration register. It is usually 0x2102 or 0x102.
The configuration register value is on the last line of the display. Note whether the configuration register is set to enable Break or disable Break.
The factory-default configuration register value is 0x2102. Notice that the third digit from the left in this value is 1, which disables Break. If the third digit is not 1, Break is enabled.
Step 3 Turn off the router, then turn it on.
Step 4 Press the Break key on the terminal within 60 seconds of turning on the router.
The rommon> prompt with no router name appears. If it does not appear, the terminal is not sending the correct Break signal. In that case, check the terminal or terminal emulation setup.
Step 5 Enter o/r0x42 at the rommon> prompt to boot from Flash memory or o/r0x41 to boot from the boot ROMs.
Note that the first character is the letter o, not the numeral zero. If you have Flash memory and it is intact, 0x42 is the best setting. Use 0x41 only if the Flash memory is erased or not installed. If you use 0x41, you can only view or erase the configuration. You cannot change the password.
Step 6 At the rommon> prompt, enter the initialize command to initialize the router.
This causes the router to reboot but ignore its saved configuration and use the image in Flash memory instead.
The system configuration display appears.
Step 7 Enter no in response to the System Configuration Dialog prompts until the following message appears:
Press RETURN to get started!
Step 8 Press Return.
The Router> prompt appears.
Step 9 Enter the enable command.
The Router# prompt appears.
Step 10 Choose one of the following options:
To view the password, if it is not encrypted, enter the show startup-config command.
To change the password (if it is encrypted, for example), enter the configure terminal command to make the changes to the configuration, or the write memory command to save the changes to NVRAM. For example:
Router # configure terminal Router(config)# enable password 1234abcd Router(config)# ctrl-z Router # write memory
To erase the configuration, enter the write erase command.
Step 11 Enter the configure terminal command at the EXEC prompt to enter configuration mode.
Step 12 Enter the config-register command and whatever value you recorded in step 2.
Step 13 Press Ctrl-Z to quit from the configuration editor.
Step 14 Enter the reload command at the privileged EXEC prompt and issue the write memory command to save the configuration.
