Passwords

I don't know about the italics but you don't have either of the correct keys selected in your photos.

Denis

James,

You didn't play around in RegEdit's View menu, Font entry by any chance?
See example in Change the Registry Editor Font - TenForumsTuutorials

Denis

James,

There's nothing to stop you staying in the Built-in Admin account when you access C:\Users\PreviousUser folder and copy the contents to an external drive.
Retrieve the data you are interested in before you try an internet connection let alone any updating.
Since retrieving the data is the priority I suggest you just do it and worry about my other stupid questions later.

I'd like to address the observations you have made in order to help you get the computer ready for further routine use. If you have already decided to ditch the computer or to reinstall Windows then you don't need to address any of these issues. Check these things whilst you are logged in to the user account you have just created [not the Built-in Admin] except for #3:-

1 Check its Windows 10 Version. Right-click on the Start button, select [whichever appears] either Windows PowerShell or Command prompt and enter the command WinVer

2 Check its "UAC" setting and post the result so I can comment on it.

Start menu,
Windows system,
Control panel,
[View by - Small icons, just to see everything],
User accounts,
Change User account control settings,

[You ought to get an Admin challenge - you could select the Administrator account, the Built-in Admin, to give you authorisation to proceed].

It ought to be at the very top level or the second to top. Your comments make me think it might be at the lowest setting. That's fine as long as you do not connect it to the internet or to other computers yet.

3 I do recall that "Family And Other Users" had been labelled as other things in old Windows 10 Versions but I don't happen to recall it being "Other people".

- You'll need to log back in as the Built-in Admin to check this out.
- Does it have a list of accounts?
- Can you select one of them then click on Change account type?
- If not then could you post a screenshot? Or could you post a screenshot anyway because I'm a bit intrigued.

4 I've never seen the response "SAM is in use" and I don't know what circumstances would cause it. Disabling the Built-in Admin is part of getting the computer ready for routine use so is not urgent.

5 Is the Windows activated? Settings, Update, Activation.

6 This one is puzzling. It makes me think the computer's existing user account might have been defective because I'd only expect to see this happen if the Built-in Admin was the only account on the computer.

James1093 said:

I rebooted the comp but was not asked for my User Name or password. It said Welcome Administrator and took me straight to the desktop.

What are your thoughts about future use of the computer?



Denis

James,

I get the impression that you have not yet copied off the old family files that were the reason for your going to all this effort.
Do that now.
Use the Built-in Admin since you still have that enabled.

Try3 said:

There's nothing to stop you staying in the Built-in Admin account when you access C:\Users\PreviousUser folder and copy the contents to an external drive.
Retrieve the data you are interested in before you try an internet connection let alone any updating.
Since retrieving the data is the priority I suggest you just do it and worry about my other stupid questions later.

Don't even bother reading the rest of this post until you have done the job.

Best of luck,
Denis

---

James1093 said:

Hi Denis, it occurred to me later the startup not wanting a pw was a result of being the Built-in Administrator. You had said to change this back (your step 6) or there would be a passwordless boot.

The significance was not about the Built-in Admin having been enabled. The significance was that without having set up automatic login with the netplwiz utility, it booted straight through. So it did not acknowledge the existence of the Alex user account or it would have waited for one of you to log in [Build-in Admin or Alex].
- It would not have cared which one logged in and it would not have known which to choose automatically.
- It must think that Alex is not a viable user account.
- If you had also created your new, additional account it should also have waited in case you wanted to log in with that but perhaps your comment was made before it was created.

My conclusion is that you cannot trust the Alex account.

This is only of transitory interest to you. You have created the additional user account for your future use and have merely yet to make it an Admin one.

James1093 said:

You had said to change this back (your step 6) or there would be a passwordless boot.
I presume this would need to boot from the flash drive and run regedit from that configuration. I haven't done this yet.

James1093 said:

I can't seem to quit the Build in Admin account. Twice I have set F 0038 from 10 to 11 but it continues to boot to the desktop without wanting a password. It would seem the "11" is not sticking. Can I read this to confirm or change it from where I am ?

Don't disable the Built-in Admin until you have raised your newly-created account to Admin status.
Because of the doubts your subsequent posts have raised, wait until you are certain about your newly-created account's Admin status before using Step 6 to disable the Built-in Admin. So I suggest awaiting my response to your WinVer, UAC & Activation state results [see below].
No, you do not need to use RegEdit to disable it. You are now free to use any Option but I find Option 1 to be the simplest method.
Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account - TenForumsTutorials

Your latest diagram looks the same as Family and Other Users and you can click on the Change account type button to make your newly-created account an Admin account.

James1093 said:

If Family and Other Users is a change after a Windows update since March this would explain the difference.
If you want an answer to 3. only until I login with the new a/c I'll do that now. This is the screen after Settings-Accounts and yes, I can Change account type on both. Not that I have tried but the option is there.

No, it has been Family and Other Users for ages. That's why I am keen to see the WinVer results. It might be that Enterprise Editions have the entry you are seeing. That's what led me on to suggest checking its activation state.

Get the newly-created account raised to Admin before addressing these questions so that you can use it for checking these factors [the Built-in Admin would give a misleading result for the UAC level]:-

I suggest posting screenshots of the WinVer, UAC & Activation results to avoid any ambiguities.

Try3 said:

1 Check its Windows 10 Version. Right-click on the Start button, select [whichever appears] either Windows PowerShell or Command prompt and enter the command WinVer

2 Check its "UAC" setting and post the result so I can comment on it.

Start menu,
Windows system,
Control panel,
[View by - Small icons, just to see everything],
User accounts,
Change User account control settings,

[You ought to get an Admin challenge - you could select the Administrator account, the Built-in Admin, to give you authorisation to proceed].

It ought to be at the very top level or the second to top. Your comments make me think it might be at the lowest setting. That's fine as long as you do not connect it to the internet or to other computers yet.

...

5 Is the Windows activated? Settings, Update, Activation.

James1093 said:

>What are your thoughts about future use of the computer?
Long term it will be offered to my grandson if he shows an interest in computers. In the meantime I was thinking of RDP into it from my wifes computer so she could use it for some internet activity hers; isn't good enough for. That way she's be able to keep all her existing stuff.

I have never seen a computer described as not good enough for the internet.
I've seen some described as only good enough for internet browsing but never the other way around.
I'm intrigued but should not pursue the matter because it would be a major distraction from finishing off the current computer rescue.

James1093 said:

I won't try that or connecting to the net for now.

I agree. Please respond to my other questions before doing so.

James1093 said:

Am I able to change the other user (Alex) password and login as him ?

I would not trust the Alex account as explained above. If you want to you can reset its password so you can log in and have a nose around but the act of resetting the password for a different account might clear its network logins
- It used to for IE in Windows 7.
- I have not seen any mention of it in Windows 10.
- I do not know how other browsers respond.
- I know that the methods used to save internet logins have changed over the years but it's not a subject I have studied at all.

To reset the Alex password, if you think it worthwhile having a nose around, use the procedure given in
Reset Password of Local Account or Microsoft Account - TenForumsTutorials
but please don't think of that user account as trustworthy enough for day-to-day use.

James1093 said:

Yes I have backed up everything I could onto a new (now disconnected) HDD.
...
I can now login as Alex and see his desktop/files etc. This is more than hoped for and to see things as he saw them is much valued.

But if you had made your newly-created user account an Admin one or if you had used the Built-in Admin account, you would have got full access to Alex's folders & files.
- There would be nothing new to see by logging in as Alex.
- I am worried that we have been talking at cross-purposes.

If these newly discovered files include the ones you wanted to rescue then please do so now.

I'll respond to the points I want to discuss further in my next post.

Denis

James1093 said:

> Your latest diagram looks the same as Family and Other Users
I don't see that - only "Other people"

What I meant was that what you could see in Other people is the same as I see in Family & other users and that you can select your newly-created user account there, click on Change account type and make it an Admin account.

There are other methods, as described in the tutorial, but I was commenting on that particular diagram because you were so very nearly there.

James1093 said:

c) Confirmed user "Dad" and PW was ok and Admin level.

James1093 said:

UAC reports highest level

Please log in to Dad then right-click on the Start button & select {whichever is there} Windows PowerShell [Admin] or Command prompt [Admin]

Your UAC setting indicates that you should get an Admin challenge.
- Do you?
- Does it have a Yes button or does it demand a password?
You can just dismiss the Admin challenge as I'm only interested in whether & how it appears.

If there is anything at all unusual about the Admin challenge then post a photo of it.

James1093 said:

One - Activation - really puzzles me. I know this computer would have been activated. Perhaps something I've done has "deactivated" it ?

I doubt it. You would have had to go in to that activation dialog to do something very specific to have removed activation.

That message about not being able to connect to the Windows activation servers is also unusual. Once activated, it just says so. But the computer has been offline for months. Perhaps it is merely showing not-activated for that reason.

Perhaps it was activated as Windows 10 Home and Alex upgraded to Pro without getting a licence for it?

Perhaps Alex changed some hardware, such as an Ethernet network adapter, that cancelled the activation and never bothered working through the relevant procedures to regain activation?

My conclusion is a non-conclusion - that the Windows 10 Pro might or might not be activated. You'll only get a better answer once you have gone online. I still advise against that until the other strange behaviours have been resolved one way or another.

James1093 said:

I read somewhere Activation could be machine specific and be identified when on line.

That's correct. Activation is recorded on MS servers.
Activation is for a specific OS, such as Windows 10 Home, on a specific computer [well, actually for a specific hardware combination that was recorded in a hardware ID at the time of activation].
If the OS was activated "with a digital licence" as most are then you could safely reinstall the OS without worrying about losing activation. It would simply reactivate the next time you went online without any action on your part.

James1093 said:

WinVer reports Version 1803

That Version is well out of support. I think it dropped out in late 2019.

---

Action 1 - I really do want to hear about testing UAC by checking the Admin challenge dialog.

Action 2 - Once that is done then I think you need to address the booting up without signing in. I know which tutorials to suggest and I'm only holding back to wait for the UAC / Admin challenge result and, if that is a good result, disabling the Built-in Admin.

Action 3 - And once these are resolved, I will suggest going online to see if the activation status changes once the computer can connect to the MS servers again. I am worried about suggesting that you go online with an old out-of-date OS but I can at least suggest how to get Windows Defender up to date first.
- On your current computer, download the latest WD definitions file then copy that to Alex's computer and run it. It doesn't give a completion message but you can watch its entry in Task manager & when that disappears you'll know the update has been completed.




All the best,
Denis