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Tag: vista

Techy: Resetting a Windows Vista Password

July 14, 2009
4 Comments

Due to staff changes at work, we had two Windows Vista PCs (Business Edition, but these instructions should work all all versions of Windows XP and Vista) which had installed/purchased software on them, but we did not know the user passwords and/or administrator passwords. We also did not have a “Password reset disc”. We therefore needed to “break into” them and it’s a lot easier than you expect.

  • First of all, from a machine which you do have access to, download the Trinity Rescue Kit (TRK) from http://trinityhome.org.
  • Now burn the ISO image to a CD/DVD (instructions will vary depending on which platform you downloaded the ISO from and what software you are using). Make sure you burn it as a “Disc Image (ISO)” (aka a “Bootable CD/DVD”) and not just storing the file “as is”.
  • Insert the TRK CD into the machine you need recovering and get the machine to boot from the CD drive (on Dell machines, just press F12 as it is booting for the “Boot Menu” and select “Boot from onboard or USB CD/DVD drive”).
  • Wait for TRK to load.
  • Select the first option on the TRK menu as you don’t need any fancy extras
  • Once booted, type “winpass -l” (that’s all in lower case and finishes with a hypen and then a lower case L for lima)
  • If you get a message about Windows already being mounted, just select the “Force” option.
  • You may then be asked to select a Windows installation – select one and see if it lists the username you are trying to reset. If it doesn’t, repeat the previous step and select another Windows installation
  • Make an exact note of the username as the spelling, spacing and capitalisation will matter
  • Type “winpass -u 'User Name'” where ‘User Name’ is the exact username you are changing. Select the same Windows installation as you did previously.
  • Select option 1 to reset the password for that account to “blank” and, if necessary, unlock the account with option 4 (if there have been too many resets previously).
  • When finished, type “q” and press return to exit winpass.
  • Eject the CD/DVD and reboot.
  • You should now be able to log into that user account without using a password (if it is the only Windows account on the machine, it should auto-boot into that account)

Needless to say, neither myself nor the makers of Trinity Rescue Kit can take any responsibility for any damage/problems caused by following these instructions and I can only say “it worked for me!” (twice).

Out with the old PC, in with the New Vista Ultimate Machine

February 6, 2008
2 Comments

Sorry I’ve been absent from blogging for a while – my old Dell Dimension 4550 PC (which has lasted me just 2months shy of 5 years) practically failed. The power fan had been making funny noises for nearly 2 years on and off (rectified by just blindly plunging a screwdriver into the back of the power unit when it made a noise – not at all recommended) and the primary hard drive started failing. Yes, I know I could have just replaced the hard drive (at a cost of around 70 GBP for over 200Gb), but I couldn’t run certain large photo-editing applications on it as it had a measly 3/4Gb of RAM 🙁

So I splurged out with a combination of a new widescreen TFT Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW monitor from PC World – £180 (my old CRT was still in perfect working order after the nearly 5 years usage, but took up so much desk space), an extra 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM RAM from Crucial (£49.99) and the biggest purchase of all – a Dell Dimension XPS 420 with an Intel Viiv Q6600 Quad Core 2.40Ghz Processor, 2Gb RAM (giving a total of 4Gb), 16x DVD+/- RW drive (at long last – the old Dimension could never write DVDs for some reason), 512MB Nvidia Geforce 8800GT card, 2x 500Gb Hard drives and Microsoft Vista Ultimate. Total price (including VAT and delivery) – £760.75.

Was I disappointed and what did I think of Vista?

Continue ReadingOut with the old PC, in with the New Vista Ultimate Machine

Joke: Airlines and Operating Systems

December 19, 2007
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Tension Not.com has some very funny analogies of how airlines would operate if they were ran the way operating systems (such as Windows, Linux and Mac) do. Here’s just two examples from their list:

Mac Airlines
All the stewards, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look and act exactly the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are gently but firmly told that you don’t need to know, don’t want to know, and everything will be done for you without your ever having to know, so just shut up.

Windows Vista Airlines:

You enter a good looking terminal with the largest planes you have ever seen. Every 10 feet a security officer appears and asks you if you are “sure” you want to continue walking to your plane and if you would like to cancel. Not sure what cancel would do, you continue walking and ask the agent at the desk why the planes are so big. After the security officer making sure you want to ask the question and you want to hear the answer, the agent replies that they are bigger because it makes customers feel better, but the planes are designed to fly twice as slow. Adding the size helped achieve the slow fly goal.

Once on the plane, every passenger has to be asked individually by the flight attendants if they are sure they want to take this flight. Then it is company policy that the captain asks the passengers collectively the same thing. After answering yes to so many questions, you are punched in the face by some stranger who when he asked “Are you sure you want me to punch you in the face? Cancel or Allow?” you instinctively say “Allow”.

After takeoff, the pilots realize that the landing gear driver wasn’t updated to work with the new plane. Therefore it is always stuck in the down position. This forces the plane to fly even slower, but the pilots are used to it and continue to fly the planes, hoping that soon the landing gear manufacturer will give out a landing gear driver update.

You arrive at your destination wishing you had used your reward miles with XP airlines rather than trying out this new carrier. A close friend, after hearing your story, mentions that Linux Air is a much better alternative and helps.