Change A Password

How the Ctrl+Alt+Delete screen looks to a local account

How the Ctrl+Alt+Delete screen looks to a Live account

I'm assuming the reason for this has to do the the winlogon process that handles Ctrl+Alt+Delete and that the whole client-server communication with Microsofts services shouldn't be initiated through it.

If it's a Microsoft account, change your password on their site. Easiest way is through Hotmail.com or Outlook.com, and going through the Preferences.

For a local account, you can also try running control userpasswords, and changing the password from there

EDIT: Based on your comments, if the Ctrl+Alt+Delete doesn't work, you can try typing NET USER username password /DOMAIN. A full command includes:

NET USER [username [password | *] [options]] [/DOMAIN]

A reference page here explains what the options are. I do not know of a way to get the actual Ctrl+Alt+Delete prompt back though, for changing a password