I got Vista troubles, real bad.

[Helldiver]

I have this other computer. It's really a nice machine except for one thing. It's got Windows Vista :bs:on it. I use it for a week and finally give up and go back to my reliable, easy to use Windows XP. So I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks and tried to use it again yesterday.
I am now confronted with a picture of a kitten with my name on it. Plus a section to put in my password.
Ordinarily you would merely hit the Enter button and just do away with this nonsense. But nooooo. Windows Vista wants a password.
Now in my career I have held secret, top secret, Q,K, and L secret clearances. I've dealt with the NSA, CIA, the Lockheed Skunk works and all the spook outfits.
In all these years, I have never had need for a password and yet I have this miserable little operating system on my computer called Windows Vista:bs: and I'm stymied! Microsoft, I hate you.
Has anyody got a way of cleaning this up without a whole bunch of instructions that will cross my eyes. Don't forget, I'm on the shady side of eighty and can't followed a bunch of complicated instructions.

[Ickie]

I was having Vista problems last week and was turned on to this:
tune up 2009
http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

it is a full blown 30 day freebie and it is the best windows program I have ever used.

[Henry]

I was having Vista problems last week and was turned on to this:
tune up 2009
http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

it is a full blown 30 day freebie and it is the best windows program I have ever used.
I will 2nd that
but i do not think it will help your password problem
cos you cannot get in without it
i do not like that in vista either
if you have the original discs you could probably get in
H

[Lionheart]

I never put in a password and so when I boot up, I am not asked for a password, thank the Lord.

I hate this OS. I miss XP.



Bill

[Roger]

Are you running a network there? If so then it will require a network password.

If not run the system in safe mode and login as Administrator. Then go to Control Panel "Users". You can set a new password for your account.

[Odie]

I never put in a password and so when I boot up, I am not asked for a password, thank the Lord.

I hate this OS. I miss XP.



Bill

My Dell XPS laptop has Vista on it AND a fingerprint reader....and I ain't put a password in OR activated the fingerprint reader. I foresee much messiness with either of them !

[Odie]

I have this other computer. It's really a nice machine except for one thing. It's got Windows Vista :bs:on it. I use it for a week and finally give up and go back to my reliable, easy to use Windows XP. So I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks and tried to use it again yesterday.
I am now confronted with a picture of a kitten with my name on it. Plus a section to put in my password.
Ordinarily you would merely hit the Enter button and just do away with this nonsense. But nooooo. Windows Vista wants a password.
Now in my career I have held secret, top secret, Q,K, and L secret clearances. I've dealt with the NSA, CIA, the Lockheed Skunk works and all the spook outfits.
In all these years, I have never had need for a password and yet I have this miserable little operating system on my computer called Windows Vista:bs: and I'm stymied! Microsoft, I hate you.
Has anyody got a way of cleaning this up without a whole bunch of instructions that will cross my eyes. Don't forget, I'm on the shady side of eighty and can't followed a bunch of complicated instructions.

Hey HD....take a look here and see if this will help:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/passrecovery.htm

[Helldiver]

I never, ever, put in any password Lionheart. I tried all the passwords I know without any luck.
Plus they say in order to get my passwords I can find it in External Drive G:\
I have no External Drive G:\

[Helldiver]

Odie, I tried Ophcrack and cannot download it..

[Roger]

Can you understand my post and do you understand what to do? If so it will work. If not you will need to get some local help.

[Butcherbird17]

Helldiver, Just go into safe mode as Admin (restart comp and start tapping the F8 key) when the Boot option screen loads pick Safe Mode. and let it do its thing, once in safe mode go to Control Panel, Then Users Accounts and Family Safety, then click on Change your Windows password, now you can choose to reset or remove the password just click on the one you want to do and then set it. Once done reboot to get back into windows.

Joe

[Helldiver]

I tried to go into Safe mode. It only brought me back to the password.

[quantumleap]

Does anyone else have access to, or used your Vista machine recently? Maybe someone else did something to it without you knowing.

Jeff

[hey_moe]

Try here>> http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

[kjb]

I had this happen after one of Vista's helpful updates. A system restore back to the last good example worked. The next time I ran the Vista update it came out okay. On another laptop, all of my networking stopped working with various crashes. Again, a restore fixed it.

[Roger]

I think some local help would be the best solution. Anyone live close to Plum Island?

[Gdavis101]

Try here>> http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ (http://home.eunet.no/%7Epnordahl/ntpasswd/)

That is what I was going to recommend as well. If no one else had access to that computer I would check it for a virus once you get into it.

[wildcat400]

Helldiver,
I have mine set for a password, and I will see what I can dig up for you.

EDIT: Ok, Does anyone else have an account on the computer besides you? If so, you can log into their account and go to Control Panel / User Accounts. Click the Manage
another account option, select your account and click the Remove the
password option.

OR if you are the only person with a password on there... well sorry my friend. Vista was built with security in mind. And you would have to wipe the system clean. :(

[Helldiver]

No one has access to my computer except my wife and she can't figger out how to turn it on.
The only thing was, as I was shutting it down, Windows intterupted it with four updates. One of them must have been the darn password gimmick.
I truly do hate Microsoft.
They steal your money and then give you nothing but angina.


.

[harleyman]

HD....Maybe if you boot off your Windows disk and do a repair this will go away...Not sure but will not hurt anything..it may set something straight...


Just open your DVD drive...Close it,and reboot your computer..After Vista loads files just find the repair option and let her rip....


Hope that helps...

[Helldiver]

Odie, I tried Ophcrack and finally downloaded it.. It's French and took some doing but it looks like just what I wanted. I'll shift over to the Vista computer and let you know. I thank everyone for their concern and help.
Even you Mike. :costumes:

[Lipra]

Hi Hd
The program above comes as an iso file from what I can see. are you just copying the files to disk or using a program to correctly burn the disk.

Im just going away till middle of next week so cant return to this too soon but others will know what I am trying to say.

[JimC1702]

Guys, thanks for the tip on TuneUp 2009. I downloaded it and it works very well.

Jim

[Helldiver]

No luck so far. Some of the solutions you got to be a young computer mechanic to run. Not some eighty year old geezer that can't see and is working with half his brain.

[harleyman]

HD....Did you ever just try clicking OK on the password screen......I get that screen in XP,but never set a password,so just selecting OK loads windows...

The next thing to do is buy a program that will get you in,or just reinstall Vista and shoot the password entry......:wavey:

[Helldiver]

That's the first thing I tried, just ignoring it. It didn't work.
The programs I've tried are more difficult than I can master. With a stroke you can follow one instruction at a time. Give me two or more and I self destruct.
What I'm after is on the desktop and putting in another Vista will just ruin that.
I hate Microsoft and the spawn of this devil, Vista.
Microsoft sucks!

[harleyman]

Do you have two Hard Drives?

If so you can switch the sata cables ,then reload Vista,leaving your (whats now) OS drive with what you want intact.....Then you can accedd your old drive and recover the info...

You can purchase a second drive very easy and cheaply....OR

If you have a comp shop near you let them open your Vista for you..they should have the tools and knowledge.....

If you were close to me I would come do it for you....


Sorry thats its still broke for you HD....

[hey_moe]

Instead of going nuts over this why don't ya just format the HD and be gone with this mess?

[Helldiver]

"What I'm after is on the desktop and putting in another Vista will just ruin that."
You didn't read what I said Mike. Other than that, I would have chucked Windows Vista and put in Windows XP.
From what I've read about Windows 7, it's just a shoeshine over Vista. Why didn't they just polish up Windows XP?

[GT182]

No luck so far. Some of the solutions you got to be a young computer mechanic to run. Not some eighty year old geezer that can't see and is working with half his brain.

HD, you are not alone. ;) This 58 year old geezer has troubles with these damn things too. And I'm still glad I don't have Vista. :d



From what I've read about Windows 7, it's just a shoeshine over Vista. Why didn't they just polish up Windows XP?

Are you kidding? M$ won't cut their own throats and lose money. That's why they're phazing out XP.... just so we spend more money and they can p*ss us off with their crap.

[Bjoern]

If you have Vista trimmed down it's a barely passable OS.

The real deal for the Vista kernel though is Server 2008, since it lets you decide which Vista features you want to run.
Hard to find a good, free antivirus program though. As soon as the installers find out that you're running a server OS, they'll refuse to go on to make you buy the server version of the program.
This can be overcome by some tricks though.


I still prefer XP though. You simply can't beat 200 Mbytes Ram usage and 20 services running with anything newer.

[harleyman]

HellDiver...If you are close to a bestbuy or Circuit city and can get some help getting your rig to them,they can recover your info you want and then you can just reinstall....


Plus in my area there are companies and individuals that will come to you for that and charge a *Fair* fee for their service...


Just a thought...

[Redmist01]

Hi
Just had a thought,Create new user,give full access and delete old profile in safe mode,
might work

[Joao Paz]

Hi gents,

This may a be a bit too techie for some, but on the other hand that's a solution you should have at hand for any occasion....

A couple of weeks ago my wife's Laptop locked her out (Windows XP). An error had occurred somewhere in the administrator password area, so there was little to be done as every solution would require us to, at least, have access to the operating system!

The answer came from an utility called Ultimate Boot CD for Windows:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/

This too comes as as iso image - means that you will need to burn it to a CD. And for that you may use the freeware InfraRecorder.
http://infrarecorder.org/

What does UBCD4WIN do? Is a "complete" operating system on a CD, packed with freeware utilities, that will let you perform almost any task you'd do if inside your own computer. Among other things it allows you to reset the Administrator password :)

So basically you'll need to download and burn the ISO on another PC, then insert the CD in the troubled one, maybe go to the Bios screen to tell the PC to boot from the CD and not from his Harddisk, and then perform the password change .... easier said than done ;)

Even if you're not in trouble right now, consider having such a tool at hand!

Hope it helps!
Joao

[Helldiver]

Redmist, when I try to go into a safe mode it brings me right back to the password. This is Windows Vista don't forget.
All Windows 7 gives you some relief from the "bloat" that Vista has. It's still the Vista kernal. It is nothiing more than what is available in PC World and other such publications that have tried to retrain Vista.
It's just a bad operating system and until Microsoft will own up to it and come out with another Windows XP, they will contiuue to piss people off.
The problem is with the problemsome computer it came with Vista on it and I thought I'd give it a try. I now wish that I didn't.
Now as far as hiring The Computer Geeks, at $100 bucks an hour, my Social Security check wouldn't last log at that rate. So I'm left to my own devices and SOH.

[harleyman]

I still think that if the HDD was placed in another machine not as the OS drive it could be accessed to retrieve your info...Then you can just reinstall it....

[harleyman]

HD...You bought that computer with Vista installed..

Seems to me then you have service included and I would call the manufacturer and have them help you out..MS teck can probably use remote connection to get into it...

If you can't burn an ISO on your own

And can't pay a tech

And can't remove the HDD and install into another computer

And will not reinstall

Then at the least call MIcrosoft and have them fix this...Even if you have to pay the one time fee..Once inside they will see you did not set a password and might not charge you anyway


There is no magic software that will do this unless you burn an ISO file to boot from

[Butcherbird17]

I still think that if the HDD was placed in another machine not as the OS drive it could be accessed to retrieve your info...Then you can just reinstall it....

You can do this and it will work. Once the drive is installed, find the drive through "My Computer" then open the "Users" folder, then open (Your name) folder, then open "Desktop" folder and you should see the file or zip or what ever it is. Then right click on it, Copy, then go to the desktop of comp your using and right click again and Paste, all done. Replace the drive in other rig and format and reinstall.

Joe

[gigabyte]

Helldiver, I suspect you might be best off blowing the system away and starting fresh, and if there are only a few things on your desktop you need there is a way to recover them before you do that. I would be more than happy to send you a tool complete with some easy to follow instructions (including lots of pictures - I find they are very helpful...).

I have dealt with this type of thing fairly often and have a good understanding of your frustration. drop me a PM or send me an eMail if you want to give it a go, what I am suggesting is Ultimate Boot CD for Windows to get access to your system and them copying what you need off to a safe disk flash drive etc, then starting over.

"Ears Hopin" you get this resolved...

[Helldiver]

Mike, I really love your hearing aids. Would they work in the United States? I sent an IM

[gigabyte]

Mike, I really love your hearing aids. Would they work in the United States? I sent an IM

Helldiver, I have a special one now, the old one's were kind of hard to use in the car, you would not believe how much wind those things caught...lol I went and got myself a Cochlear Implant, real neat device, looks like a regualr hearing aid, but that is the only thing it has in common, wonderful device, I had my Audie program it to remove the mother in laws voice completely... Love this technology, the only draw back is when I fly now I set off most of the security scanners at the airports, seems they find the magnet implanted in my skull darn near every time... Oh well the last guard that patted me down was cute anyway :icon_lol:

I just sent you an eMail with some instructions on using the UBCD, hoep it helps, if you have problems with them let me know.

[Helldiver]

I sent you the wrong address. I've since corrected it. Not only am I'm hard of hearing but I'm also going blind.
It's always something, as you slide down the razor blade of life.

[FLighT01]

No one has access to my computer except my wife and she can't figger out how to turn it on.
The only thing was, as I was shutting it down, Windows intterupted it with four updates. One of them must have been the darn password gimmick.
I truly do hate Microsoft.
They steal your money and then give you nothing but angina.


.

Not necessarily a password gimmick. When I recently got a new box with Vista 64 I had the boot drive fail after an auto-update scenario before I could get around (trouble finding with all the unnecessary changes to where things were located and what they were called and interpreting instructions on how to turn things off in Vista) to turning off the automatic updates feature. I don't allow anything automatic with any version of Windows, never have. I always do updates manually.

I had to send the 7 day old box back for service, would not boot, a blank black screen. I think, if I remember correctly, it installed software or driver updates to the MOBO that precipitated (along with some other issues no doubt) the complete failure of the system. It all happened so fast it was like watching a car accident in slow motion and being unable to do anything about it. Totally insane.

I have also noticed that updates occur differently on Vista than with XP. After the updates are downoaded I reboot, as the shutdown phase is occurring it takes maybe 20 to 30 seconds longer than usual and a screen appears showing certain aspects of the downloaded patches being executed (? I'm guessing here). As the the machine is booting up another screen appears telling me it's configuring something ( The updates, Malicious Tool process?). That normally takes another 20 to 30 seconds or less and then on to the desktop.

You have to be patient while this stuff is happening. Vista's functional response are slower/different from XP's, at least that's been my experience.

Many people have no problems with auto updates, I've never had anything but problems with it (Vista or XP).

My 8 step mantra for Vista:
1. Make sure your the Administrator
2. Turn off Defender
3. Turn off UAC
4. Turn off Aero
5. Turn off Automatic Updates
6. Turn off Indexing
7. Turn off System Restore (Optional - depends on how "lucky" your
feeling.
8. Shut down the Security Center.

(As gleened from others who know significantly more about these things than I do)

I'm down to 29 (so far) Processes at start up and running "stock" FSX Accel at 60 FPS most situations with high slider settings, 1% or less variation in the countryside, 3% or so variation in city settings. (Everyone's mileage will vary.)

I use my home PC's for FS and FS related activities only. No surfing pron sights, no on line banking, no business related activities, no ripping/burning of discs, no digital photography stuff, no need for 75% of the bloatware that Vista would run if I let it.

Again, these are my experiences only, with Vista I had to take charge or it would run roughshod all over me. It doesn't seem to be interested in working with you regardless of what the ads imply. Hopefully this will be corrected when they update Vista to Win7.

[Helldiver]

Well FLight 01, those eight steps sound like there great to do but you fail to tell how you do them. I'd love to be administrator of my own machine but Vista resists it.
I remember that Vista decided to install updates to the computer with the password. There was five of them with the note "Do not shut off your computer. We'll do it for you." It took a half hour for the update.
The only thing is I have a master switch which turns of the computer, printer and othe accessories and so I had to wait until 12:30 for it would quit installing. Bloody thoughtless of Vista.

[gigabyte]

Helldiver, I resent the UBCD instruction to the proper eMail address, I also have a few easy to follow tweak guides for vista if you want them, while I agree with most of the 8 steps, I am not a big fan of using the Administrator account for normal every day access to any system. One of the big improvements in system security with XP Pro and even more improved in Vista is the User Accounts, yes they are a bit of a PITA, but keep in mind if you are running on a limited account and you get infected with any malware that malware has limited access to your system and in many cases can't even install it's payload. If you always run as an administrator and pick up a bug you just gave it the key to the vault...

BTW I just spent 2 weeks from HELL cleaning up a nasty little bug from our corporate network, SPAM-BOT.OQ I worked over 80 hours each of the past 2 weeks. We have locked down desktops so it was not as bad as it could have been. I did trace the main outbreak to a shipping system from a vendor that was set to use the Administrator account for normal access, now it's set to NO ACCESS to the corporate network, of course the shippers tech rep was not pleased when he found his system with a large dent in the side of the case, not sure how that got there... but it is just about the same size as the toe of my shoe???? - MY BAD...

[FLighT01]

Who built this other box for you? Is it relatively new? I'd be having this discussion with them. And there's no reason you can't have it reformatted and get XP Pro installed instead. I still run XP on my 2nd box, and it's pretty good on FSX but can't compare with my newer boxes speed and memory management with Vista 64, at least that's what I believe the differences to primarily be. Could I do just as well running FSX with XP Pro and some upgrading as many FSX'ers (maybe most) do? Probably: add some RAM, do the 3 gigabyte switch thingy, faster CPU (probably need to replace the MOBO to use the latest high performance CPU's), upgrade the GPU, probably need a larger PSU as well to run it all - now I've also got to pay somebody else to do all this for me - cheaper to buy a whole new box in the end.

Unfortunately there is no easy way with Vista. Your gonna' have to do some reading. Vista isn't XP and the learning curve seems steeper, (or maybe it's just too different from what we're used to with XP), to get what you want out of it with a minimum of hassles. It took me 3 weeks just to find eveything I needed access to in Vista because of all the "improvements" over XP. I'll be 62 in 2 weeks and never in my life touched a computer until I was in my 50's. This is not so easy this caveman could do it without investing some time in reading and trying.

I see gigabyte is sending you some info and he sounds like he's giving you a "safe approach", that's always a good thing.

For a simple read to some performance tweaks reading wise:
by Stuart Yarnold (Paperback - Jul 28, 2007) $11.24
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Cpvb9G7mL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA115_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Vista-Tips-Tricks-Steps/dp/1840783389/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229364657&sr=1-1)check Borders or Amazon

I've got a couple of 1,000 page tomes I bought and read those Chapters I thought pertinent, not really necessary though.

Also check out http://www.vistax64.com/
and http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/index2.html?filter[11]=Performance%20Maintenance


Again, if this is a newer box and under warranty I'd be all over the builder like flies on :bs:.

[Lionheart]

Not necessarily a password gimmick. When I recently got a new box with Vista 64 I had the boot drive fail after an auto-update scenario before I could get around (trouble finding with all the unnecessary changes to where things were located and what they were called and interpreting instructions on how to turn things off in Vista) to turning off the automatic updates feature. I don't allow anything automatic with any version of Windows, never have. I always do updates manually.

I had to send the 7 day old box back for service, would not boot, a blank black screen. I think, if I remember correctly, it installed software or driver updates to the MOBO that precipitated (along with some other issues no doubt) the complete failure of the system. It all happened so fast it was like watching a car accident in slow motion and being unable to do anything about it. Totally insane.

I have also noticed that updates occur differently on Vista than with XP. After the updates are downoaded I reboot, as the shutdown phase is occurring it takes maybe 20 to 30 seconds longer than usual and a screen appears showing certain aspects of the downloaded patches being executed (? I'm guessing here). As the the machine is booting up another screen appears telling me it's configuring something ( The updates, Malicious Tool process?). That normally takes another 20 to 30 seconds or less and then on to the desktop.

You have to be patient while this stuff is happening. Vista's functional response are slower/different from XP's, at least that's been my experience.

Many people have no problems with auto updates, I've never had anything but problems with it (Vista or XP).

My 8 step mantra for Vista:
1. Make sure your the Administrator
2. Turn off Defender
3. Turn off UAC
4. Turn off Aero
5. Turn off Automatic Updates
6. Turn off Indexing
7. Turn off System Restore (Optional - depends on how "lucky" your
feeling.
8. Shut down the Security Center.

(As gleened from others who know significantly more about these things than I do)

I'm down to 29 (so far) Processes at start up and running "stock" FSX Accel at 60 FPS most situations with high slider settings, 1% or less variation in the countryside, 3% or so variation in city settings. (Everyone's mileage will vary.)

I use my home PC's for FS and FS related activities only. No surfing pron sights, no on line banking, no business related activities, no ripping/burning of discs, no digital photography stuff, no need for 75% of the bloatware that Vista would run if I let it.

Again, these are my experiences only, with Vista I had to take charge or it would run roughshod all over me. It doesn't seem to be interested in working with you regardless of what the ads imply. Hopefully this will be corrected when they update Vista to Win7.



Wild how all of that is what MS thought we needed, and its all basically what make vista such a rough OS to run with.

[FLighT01]

LOL at that avatar Lionheart.

[Helldiver]

emachines, el cheapo Intel Dual 3.2 CPU ($250)
added:
650 watt power supply
4 GB Memory
2 SATA 250GB Hard drives
e-systems overclocked nVidia 8800 video card.
Apart from Windows Vista Home, it is extremely wicked fast.
You couldn't pay me enough to try Windows Vista Pro.

[FLighT01]

That's certainly enough CPU and GPU horsepower to drive FS9 or FSX well.

I'm feeling confident I've got Vista 64 under control at this point. (Riiiight!)

I'm constantly amazed at the amount of self flagellation we flight simmers will endure for a few FPS more, LOL.