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    Tedious technology emergencies

    (Right, this can be a rolling thread for the various techie troubles normal people are always going to encounter. There's usually a thread or two on them at any one time in World, and it not only does it makes the place look boring, it also makes the answers harder to track down at a later date.)

    I bought a Dell laptop from Tesco a couple of weeks ago, and so far it's been great. But last night I shut it down, went out for a couple of hours, and when I started it up again on my return it wouldn't recognise my password. I've closed and restarted it any number of times, but the problem remains.

    How is this humanly possible? The password prompt fits the password I used, there was no caps lock on, and I've not tried to change the password at any time. Mine is the only account on it, and it's not networked or anything. There's a "reset your password" option which tells you can't reset your password unless you insert a zip drive or similar; so I inserted a zip drive and it told me it wasn't a special "reset your password" type of zip drive - basically, you have to plan to forget your password, or else you're fucked.

    The only logical possibility I can think of is that I didn't shut it down properly and one of my flatmates came into my room and maliciously reset it in my absence. But that's the kind of possibility that only sounds logical to a paranoiac madman, and I'm not quite one of those.

    #2
    Tedious technology emergencies

    If all else fails you can just reinstall Windows. You shouldn't lose too much if it's a new PC (and your files should be saved in a Windows.old folder.

    Have you successfully entered the password before? It's possible you typed it wrong when you first entered it. Maybe the file that stores it got corrupted, though. You could try using the disk check or system restore sytems.

    Comment


      #3
      Tedious technology emergencies

      Thanks, but how would I reinstall Windows when I can't log on to my computer? (My techie situations tend to resemble Zen koans.)

      I've been using the password constantly, which is why this is so odd.

      Comment


        #4
        Tedious technology emergencies

        you can set it to boot from the installation disc ... you interrupt it when you turn it on and it's loading, before you get the sign in screen.

        I'm sure a man will be along to tell you in more detail soon. I've got backcombing to do.

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          #5
          Tedious technology emergencies

          So's that man, probably, if he's on here. Thanks MsD!

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            #6
            Tedious technology emergencies

            Yes, with the the recovery/Windows CD inserted, press F12 when the Dell splash screen appears. Then select the option to boot from CD.

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              #7
              Tedious technology emergencies

              Bit of a long-shot, but Vista (and some flavours of XP) allows you to log on as an administrator or as a user. I don't know if that's the issue? Probably not.

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                #8
                Tedious technology emergencies

                I know this sounds a bit daft, but you don't have Num Lock on accidentally? That is the really subtle password killer.

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                  #9
                  Tedious technology emergencies

                  dglh wrote:
                  I know this sounds a bit daft, but you don't have Num Lock on accidentally? That is the really subtle password killer.
                  I'm no expert, but this sounds quite likely. I've fallen prey to this one, myself.

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                    #10
                    Tedious technology emergencies

                    You sweet, sweet, beautiful bastards. I haven't got a key with Num Lock written on it; but I have got an F6 key with nothing whatsoever written on it. I just hit that, and it accepted my password right afterwards.

                    Why do they make these things so stupid?

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                      #11
                      Tedious technology emergencies

                      Lucia Lanigan wrote:
                      You sweet, sweet, beautiful bastards. I haven't got a key with Num Lock written on it; but I have got an F6 key with nothing whatsoever written on it. I just hit that, and it accepted my password right afterwards.

                      Why do they make these things so stupid?
                      Good to hear, old chap.

                      Welcome back to the unreal world.

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