I Got A Fright

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By Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
Switzerland
December 14, 2015 8:55am CST
This morning, I booted my computer as usual and I was waiting my Windows screen. At the welcome screen I clicked on my username and I was surprised to see the request to enter a password. Which password? I use this Windows from several years and I have never set a password. Thinking to a virus, I have run the Kaspersky antivirus from a CD, no virus found. I have booted from a Linux CD to check if there was a hidden password, set by mistake, always nothing. Finally, I decided to shut down the computer, wait ten minutes and reboot. What a relief to see that, after the reboot, I have been able to access my account as usual, without the password. I still do not understand what happened, well Windows you gave me a good scare! Did you ever had a similar problem?
60 people like this
66 responses
AbbyGreenhill
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
14 Dec 15
That's one thing that hasn't happened to me...but rebooting is always something I do first if something is weird.
9 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
I checked for virus first, because rebooting can spread a virus.
5 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@AbbyGreenhill My antivirus runs in the background too, but the one I run from the CD can find viruses that the antivirus running under Windows cannot find.
5 people like this
AbbyGreenhill
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck My anti-virus runs in the background all the time.
3 people like this
Valerie J. Routhieaux
@just4him (317249)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
14 Dec 15
Not yet. I'm glad you were able to get back into your computer.
5 people like this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
14 Dec 15
I have never encountered that situation, but have had a few people ask me to access their computers because they have forgotten the password, which is extremely careless. As you may know this could be done from DOS with Windows 98 and via the Administrator account in Windows XP, but then it begins to get more complicated. Circumventing the password in Windows 8 or 10 is a very laborious process.
4 people like this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck As you no doubt realise most people would be unaware of the account.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
There was no password set, I booted an old Windows XP, I have a utility to reset the password under the console, but there was no password. After I shut down the computer and left alone ten minutes, it booted without asking a password.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@Asylum I knew about the Administrator account under Windows XP, it's the only password that I have set. You are right Windows XP is the easiest version to work around.
2 people like this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
14 Dec 15
Windows 7 always asks me for a password and I have never thought to look for a way to get rid of it, but I don't have a real password so it's not much in the way of security.
4 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
I was using my old (very old) computer with Windows XP installed. It never asked a password before, but Windows is a weird operating system.
3 people like this
Arthur Chappell
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
14 Dec 15
never had that on my computer so far - glad you got round it OK
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
Windows has a mind of its own, for a moment I thought I had to reinstall.
3 people like this
Arthur Chappell
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck glad you didn't have to go that far
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@arthurchappell You lose everything if you have to reinstall, I cannot understand how they did not come out with a system where you can only reinstall the operating system and keep all your programs.
2 people like this
Jekca
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Dec 15
mine has a password from restart, but I know what it is at least!
4 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
I have never set a password and it never asked for one, weird.
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@Jessicalynnt I suppose that sometimes Windows has bad timing. I never had this problem before and I am glad it auto fixed.
2 people like this
Jekca
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck that is super weird
2 people like this
celticeagle
@celticeagle (168126)
• Boise, Idaho
14 Dec 15
Have you tried googling for similar situations others may have had?
2 people like this
celticeagle
@celticeagle (168126)
• Boise, Idaho
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck ..Sometimes rebooting is all it takes.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
Nothing interesting came out, in fact it surely was a glitch of the system, because after restarting it did not ask for a password anymore.
1 person likes this
Jabo
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 15
I haven't had that particular thing, but 'restart' is always me go-to thing if anything goes wrong. it usually puts it right.
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
I did not want to restart before running a virus checker to avoid a possible virus to spread and destroy data.
2 people like this
Alfredo Rossi
@amadeo (111938)
• United States
14 Dec 15
Never had this problem.If I did just restart This works for me.
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
Sometimes a simple reboot does not work and it's necessary to shut down and restart. It worked.
1 person likes this
Kimberley
@mom210 (9115)
• United States
16 Dec 15
What a pain, I am glad it worked out
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
16 Dec 15
Computers have the ability to stress you early in the morning. I am glad it was only a glitch.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
19 Dec 15
@mom210 You are right, they are helpful, we can do without them, but they can be stressful.
1 person likes this
Kimberley
@mom210 (9115)
• United States
18 Dec 15
@LadyDuck early in the morning, early in the afternoon, and early n the evening too
1 person likes this
Inlemay
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
14 Dec 15
Sometimes when we have had a power surge - wow you must have been a little frantic
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
I was, for a moment I thought that was a ransomware virus. I was glad when it came back.
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@Inlemay I have backups of my photos and important data, but I panicked anyway.
2 people like this
Inlemay
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck i panic a bit when that happens because my entire backed up paper work of life is on the computer
2 people like this
Catherine
@bluesa (15022)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
14 Dec 15
Computers and, well technology, frightens me most of the time, because I find it all complicated, but, I finally realised that to reboot is the first thing I should try when something seems not right. I am glad the reboot worked for your windows @LadyDuck .
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
No, the reboot did not work, I had to shut down the computer and turn on after a few minutes.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
@bluesa When you simply reboot, the system does not refresh the registry and everything already in memory, shutting down, it is obliged to reload everything. I suppose it was a glitch.
2 people like this
Catherine
@bluesa (15022)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
14 Dec 15
@LadyDuck , oh, yes, pardon, I see now you first shut down the computer and then rebooted, I will have to keep this in mind if it happens to me.
2 people like this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
14 Dec 15
Not sure what you mean about booting from a Linux CD to check for a hidden password... but it sounds like you have it fixed now!
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
15 Dec 15
Linux is a stand alone operating system that runs from a CD and there are utilities to "examine" the HD. It's not for everybody, only for computer experts.
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
15 Dec 15
@LadyDuck Ah, ok - now I comprehend, thank you! Clever, if it works.
1 person likes this
Toto
@totobasso (331)
• Canada
14 Dec 15
Glitches happen and you did the wise thing to shut it down and restart.
2 people like this
Hope
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
15 Dec 15
@LadyDuck One tries the simplest thing first and if that works, great!
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
When you have no other ideas, this is the only thing to do. It usually works.
3 people like this
AmberLynn
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
15 Dec 15
Did you try just hitting OK? On the older windows it comes up with username and password when you first turn on the computer. If you don't have a password you hit "Ok" and it goes straight to the desktop. I have the Windows 10 so I don't know if you can do it on that as I have a password set up and enter it in every time.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
15 Dec 15
Of course I tried hitting OK, even it was weird as it was the first time that it happened and of course it did not work. It was surely a glitch, this is also the opinion of my husband who is a computer programmer.
Belle Starr (Iz)
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
14 Dec 15
I have a password set so I do encounter this every day. Mine is a laptop so I like having a password.
2 people like this
Marlina
@marlina (154131)
• Canada
14 Dec 15
Not this problem exactly but sometimes there is something weird, so I reboot it.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
14 Dec 15
Computers sometimes are weird, you change nothing, but you find them different from the day before.
1 person likes this
MARILYN
@Marilynda1225 (83068)
• United States
14 Dec 15
I do have a password for when I log on and haven it written down so I don't forget it.
2 people like this
Deborah-Diane
@DeborahDiane (40316)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Dec 15
I have never had that problem. If I did, I wouldn't know what to do, either! Glad it worked after your turned it off and on.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
15 Dec 15
I am usually pretty good in fixing my computers, but here I had no clues, how to enter a password that you never set?!
1 person likes this
Gabby Bugwadia
@Gabugs (1895)
• United States
15 Dec 15
@ladyduck Your query reminded me of my old laptop. Annoying things happened then a couple of times including the one you mentioned. However, now that my laptop is fairly new [a gift from my son] I have as yet no such issue. Glad you were able to sort it out.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (471998)
• Switzerland
15 Dec 15
This computer is pretty old, but I like it, I have installed so many programs. I think something went wrong at the moment of the boot sequence, only a glitch.
1 person likes this