HELP Please PC locked me out

[solarman216]

I need help please laptop locked me out this morning, it will not respond to password keyboard only responds to some keys and often after only 3 letters entered it responds with "incorrect PW" I do get the option to reset my password but it asked for a disc which of course I cannot make as I cannot get into my machine,
I think may be it is an infection but equally I guess it could be the keyboard, any ideas much appreciated, Rick

[Paff]

Sounds like a virus of some sort. Can you boot into safe mode? What OS?

Windows 2000 and XP users

Tip: If you are running Safe Mode because you cannot get into Windows, you may want to first try loading the last known good configuration.

To get into the Windows 2000 and XP Safe mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu". Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.

Note: With some computers, if you press and hold a key as the computer is booting you will get a stuck key message. If this occurs, instead of pressing and holding the "F8 key", tap the "F8 key" continuously until you get the startup menu.

[solarman216]

Running 8 , how do
I start in safe mode? Rick

[AlexD333]

Sounds like a virus of some sort. Can you boot into safe mode? What OS?

Windows 2000 and XP users

Tip: If you are running Safe Mode because you cannot get into Windows, you may want to first try loading the last known good configuration.

To get into the Windows 2000 and XP Safe mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu". Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.

Note: With some computers, if you press and hold a key as the computer is booting you will get a stuck key message. If this occurs, instead of pressing and holding the "F8 key", tap the "F8 key" continuously until you get the startup menu.

Yeah try and open safe mode.

Does sound a bit suspicious :(

Keep us posted. I will do some research if you have no joy, just give me the exact wording that comes up please Rick :thumb2

[Paff]

Reboot the computer.

Start tapping the F8 key as soon as your manufacturer’s logo appears. This will open the Windows Advanced Options Menu.

If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard error" message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again.

If you see the Windows logo, it means you did not start pressing the F8 button soon enough. You will need to reboot and try again.

Start Windows in Safe Mode.

Select your Safe Mode option. You can choose regular Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Regular Safe Mode will open Windows with minimal drivers and no internet connection. This is the most recommended method for dealing with viruses and other malware.

Get into safe mode, this mode does not load a lot of crap including viruses/malware.

Let me know how you get on...

[solarman216]

F8 does not work, the password screen works different every time I boot, last time for every key press including return it entered two letters, Rick

[briggie]

CLIVE !!!!!! :thumb2

[Paff]

If you can't get into safe mode, then it sounds like you have a virus stopping you from starting your PC.

Explain what happens when you cold boot. Press the start button until all goes dead, then press again to start.

[Paff]

Try pressing the 'Delete' button repeatedly from cold boot. The should give you the option of a repair to the OS and access to safe mode via the F8 button.

[rayf3262]

F8 does not work, the password screen works different every time I boot, last time for every key press including return it entered two letters, Rick

BIOS or Windows password?

[AlexD333]

What model of laptop? Haven't they all got different ways of entering bios and the likes? :nenau

[Ogri]

F8 does not work, the password screen works different every time I boot, last time for every key press including return it entered two letters, Rick

Could be something as innocent as a stuck key on the keyboard. With the machine off, give each of the keys a sharp press with the intention of freeing any stuck ones.

A stuck key could be sending a constant keystroke and blocking the action of other key presses. Worth a try.

Ian.

[thesilkster]

does your keyboard have blue numbers within the letters if yes then make sure you haven't activated the FN Lock

[AlexD333]

does your keyboard have blue numbers within the letters if yes then make sure you haven't activated the FN Lock

Isn't this reset when the pc is turned off anyway? :nenau

[Paff]

F2 from cold boot should get you into bios.

[solarman216]

It is an Asus X401A, I got the manual on the hard drive, too much to print it out:doh ifires up onto my first picture screen which I have to left click which brings up the password box after that it is random, what keys do, pressing delete after holding on button does not help , Rick

[Paff]

Rick, you should not be waiting for the logon screen before pressing F8, Delete.

Cold boot, as soon as you see writing on the black screen, repeatedly press F8

[solarman216]

OK Paff well done got into BIOS, now what?, Rick

[Ogri]

I'm not sure there's anything in the BIOS that will help you Rick. Try doing the same again but hit F8 rather than delete when you see the Asus logo. Should bring up a boot menu where you can choose "safe mode"

[Paff]

Cold boot again. Press F8 repeatedly...

[solarman216]

In BIOS changes we're offerd re booting but return key did not work, think I have a very Cleaver virus that but defender missed, f8 on first Asus screen does produce "please wait" but then drops me to the password screen which then does not function, Rick

[Paff]

In BIOS changes we're offerd re booting but return key did not work, think I have a very Cleaver virus that but defender missed, f8 on first Asus screen does produce "please wait" but then drops me to the password screen which then does not function, Rick

If F2 gets you into the bios, what happens when you cold boot and press F8?

[AlexD333]

Have you tried sticky keys ect, physically sticky keys that is.

I didn't think most virus's were active that early before the operating system has loaded..

[Ogri]

Another way to get to the boot menu in W8 is to hold down "shift" while clicking restart on the login page.

[solarman216]

If F2 gets you into the bios, what happens when you cold boot and press F8?

Sometimes it will display "please wait" others it drops me briefly to the password screen then back to the PIC screen that requires a left click to go to the password screen, and it all stops there, Rick

[clivvy]

Windows 8 doesn't have the F8 function enabled by default - to get into safe mode, you must first get into windows. To enable the F8 function you have to run a command to enable the feature, then F8 will work.

just to check, numlock isn't switched on is it, causing a problem? If its a laptop without a number pad, half the keyboard will be a number locked if you press the numlock key, meaning when you type letters on one side, they are numbers - which you wont see if you are typing a password. Check this, to turn off num lock press Fn NumLock, probably highlighted blue on the key print.

if you haven't already, try enforce an improper shutdown, this will make windows enter a repair mode which MIGHT help. To do that, turn off laptop, unplug battery, plug in the charger and switch on. As the laptop is booting, pull the plug. Now plug back in and switch on....

[AlexD333]

For your exact model - I'm sure you may have tried this

Troubleshooting :
Laptop keyboard is abnormal. How do I solve the problem?

Solution

Please press F8 when ASUS logo appears during system startup. Enter to Safe Mode and check whether the keyboard works.

[clivvy]

another thing you can try Rick, if you have a computer USB keyboard laying about, plug that in as well...

[solarman216]

Another way to get to the boot menu in W8 is to hold down "shift" while clicking restart on the login page.

Great that worked opted to refresh but it is now asking for my password and will not accept a NY key presses,Rick

[Ogri]

Great that worked opted to refresh but it is now asking for my password and will not accept a NY key presses,Rick

I'm still thinking keyboard error. Maybe stuck key or more serious. Trying a USB keyboard is worth a shot if you have one about you.

[Paff]

I have one you can borrow :augie

Have you got a PC shop locally? Maybe sweet talk them into letting you try a USB board?

[solarman216]

Interestingly 2nd time round it did not work now trying Clivvys idea and got diagnosing your PC at the mo, now says could not load correctly hopefully I can restore to an earlier time, it is still thinking about it, Rick

[AlexD333]

Interestingly 2nd time round it did not work now trying Clivvys idea and got diagnosing your PC at the mo, now says could not load correctly hopefully I can restore to an earlier time, it is still thinking about it, Rick

Wicked, fingers crossed it was just a glitch, do you have malware bytes or similar aswell as virus checker?

I'd try and run virus checker in safe mode still :thumb2

[solarman216]

Thanks for all your help guys really appreciated but if it does not sort itself by the am it will go on the fire minus hard drive and I will get another, and as an update it has finished its restore and is just the same so looks like I will be on the fire in the am, Rick

[AlexD333]

Thanks for all your help guys really appreciated but if it does not sort itself by the am it will go on the fire minus hard drive and I will get another, and as an update it has finished its restore and is just the same so looks like I will be on the fire in the am, Rick

Noooo don't do that. There must be an easy fix. Just put it to the side for the time being.

[Ogri]

Thanks for all your help guys really appreciated but if it does not sort itself by the am it will go on the fire minus hard drive and I will get another, and as an update it has finished its restore and is just the same so looks like I will be on the fire in the am, Rick

As a last ditch effort (and to satisfy my curiosity), just try blowing a bit of compressed air around the keyboard to dislodge any bits and give each key a good bang (not hard enough to kill it), and give it another go. If no better and you're feeling really brave you could lift off and disconnect the keyboard connector and try a USB keyboard in its place? Nothing to lose if it's going on the fire and you might just rescue it?

Ian

[solarman216]

No it is on the fire tomorrow, cannot be having with crapp in the mean time will have to put up with this tablet rubbish, Rick

[Paff]

Most likely some bas'tard malware :doh

I use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and AdwCleaner, surprising the amount of crap gets through onto your machine.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://download.cnet.com/AdwCleaner/3000-7786_4-75851221.html

[Paff]

Rick - go for a Lenovo laptop, it's the best laptop I have ever had, even got my bro in law to get one. The wife will be getting one when she upgrades. John Lewis do a 2 year warranty :thumb2

Get the most speed CPU you can afford min core i3, core i5 I have, i7 was a bit too much to pay and max memory you can find. But memory is cheap and easy to fit, I did.

[clivvy]

Rick, don't bin it - give it to one of the lads here, they can easy fix it - unfortunately its one of those problems that requires hands on - its probably a faulty keyboard or num lock is locked on, seriously its an easy fix either way. We can easily reset your password too - post it to me if you like, ill clear the password, fix the keyboard and post it back we just cover the postage costs.

[rustic]

Rick, don't bin it - give it to one of the lads here, they can easy fix it - unfortunately its one of those problems that requires hands on - its probably a faulty keyboard or num lock is locked on, seriously its an easy fix either way. We can easily reset your password too - post it to me if you like, ill clear the password, fix the keyboard and post it back we just cover the postage costs.

That is a great offer, and one worthy for Rick too, as Rick has helped many folk on here.:thumb2:thumb2

Since this is my 5000 th post, I am pleased I have used it for Rick.:thumb2:thumb2

I must admit, the keyboard stuck key, could well be the issue, a bit of biscuit, cereal , hair... and what ever else gets dropped on the keyboard...:augie

Sometimes just shaking it upside down is nearly as bad as doing it with a toaster......:eek:


Rustic

[arcascomp]

In BIOS changes we're offerd re booting but return key did not work, think I have a very Cleaver virus that but defender missed, f8 on first Asus screen does produce "please wait" but then drops me to the password screen which then does not function, Rick

Rick, sounds like you were saying the keys weren't working correctly in the BIOS screen, if you don't have a USB keyboard lying around to try, shout and I'll send you one. If it's just a duff keyboard, then they are quite easy to change out without too much expense - happy to do it for you if you post up the laptop.

Don't burn it on the fire, the chemicals released by doing that are pretty nasty.

[Paff]

I think that Rick had decided to upgrade his laptop, this has just brought it forward a tad :D

[solarman216]

It is deffo a virus, it cleverly blocks all sensible attempts to get into the heart of the system, most need the password to continue which of course does not work the only one that may work means loosing all my info which is not too bad as I did a backup about a month ago so I will loose some pictures and a couple of documents, got a mate coming round this evening with another lappy so will remove hard drive from mine and either stick in his or just hook it up to his hard drive reader and see what we see, Rick

[jonela]

Good luck Rick ,I hope he gets it sorted for you :thumb2

[Banshee]

By the time I'd got round to reading this and offering my advice (IT is my trade, I'm an IT Technician for a Water Company) it was on the fire :lol

Let me know if you want a decent cheap laptop, we throw some nice ones away because we have way too much money, well the management have more of it than sense!!!

How does a 15" Core 2 sound with 2-4GB of RAM and 160GB-320GB HDD sound for about £20? When I come across one I'll keep it aside for you and confirm exact specs :thumb2

[Paff]

Solarman - I wouldn't put your HD in your mates to try and boot from (not that it would), if you can hook it up somehow, you should be able to 'read' what is no there and cherry pick off what you want before binning it :thumb2

[dave123]

By the time I'd got round to reading this and offering my advice (IT is my trade, I'm an IT Technician for a Water Company) it was on the fire :lol

Let me know if you want a decent cheap laptop, we throw some nice ones away because we have way too much money, well the management have more of it than sense!!!

How does a 15" Core 2 sound with 2-4GB of RAM and 160GB-320GB HDD sound for about £20? When I come across one I'll keep it aside for you and confirm exact specs :thumb2

I would like one of those :augie . even if it just to do ecu talk as I don't have a laptop

[Paff]

+1 for the above :D

[solarman216]

By the time I'd got round to reading this and offering my advice (IT is my trade, I'm an IT Technician for a Water Company) it was on the fire :lol



How does a 15" Core 2 sound with 2-4GB of RAM and 160GB-320GB HDD sound for about £20? When I come across one I'll keep it aside for you and confirm exact specs :thumb2

Yes please, even if I get this one going it getting long in the tooth,Rick

[johnb5177]

+1 here as well Banshee.......:thumb2

[AlexD333]

Spoken with rick, he has done a reset on the pc, hopefully will be online soon :thumb2

[solarman216]

Yes I am here but not on the lappy, given up with it for tonight, had other problems, as many of you know I live an alternative lifestyle, no services etc, luckily today had my winch bitch Sarah doing some gardening to take the load of the Mrs, she (Sarah) rang me in a panic about 3.30 to say she had no power so went to the battery shed and discovers water everywhere, and still flowing, I directed her to the shut off valve in the barn and said do not go near the battery shed again and initially leaft it at that but then realised the sun was still strong and no solar pump, so left the job and shot home to find hot cylinder at 60 top to bottom and collector was at 99 so started Genny to get some power to the solar system which soon bought the temperature down (gonna have a good hot bath tonight), then a look in the battery shed, shit it was wet, and inverter had been splashed after leak hit the wall and sprayed it a bit got spare lower power inverter so currently running on that, had enough now gonna have a good couple of whiskeys, ever had a bad day? But have to look on the bright side, had Sarah not been here the water would have been running full bore till around 5 pm so much more damage would have been done, ah well another day tomorrow, and looks like I will need another lappy ASAP, Rick

[AlexD333]

Jeez, or in the wrong hands, water and electricity don't mix well. :doh

Glad it doesent sound too bad atleast :thumb2

[solarman216]

If the inverter is goosed it a £2k bit of kit, so I am drowning my sorrows, Rick

[melissachels]

have you got a guest account on your laptop? Clive can get in without it tho :thumb2
I know my account is password protected & it locks me out, Clive has remotely sorted mine bout 3 times now :thumb2

[briggie]

Yes I am here but not on the lappy, given up with it for tonight, had other problems, as many of you know I live an alternative lifestyle, no services etc, luckily today had my winch bitch Sarah doing some gardening to take the load of the Mrs, she (Sarah) rang me in a panic about 3.30 to say she had no power so went to the battery shed and discovers water everywhere, and still flowing, I directed her to the shut off valve in the barn and said do not go near the battery shed again and initially leaft it at that but then realised the sun was still strong and no solar pump, so left the job and shot home to find hot cylinder at 60 top to bottom and collector was at 99 so started Genny to get some power to the solar system which soon bought the temperature down (gonna have a good hot bath tonight), then a look in the battery shed, shit it was wet, and inverter had been splashed after leak hit the wall and sprayed it a bit got spare lower power inverter so currently running on that, had enough now gonna have a good couple of whiskeys, ever had a bad day? But have to look on the bright side, had Sarah not been here the water would have been running full bore till around 5 pm so much more damage would have been done, ah well another day tomorrow, and looks like I will need another lappy ASAP, Rick

batteries ok rick ?

[solarman216]

batteries ok rick ?

Batteries are fine, inverter runs but kicks out on anything but very light load, will strip it down at the W E and see, gonna have a look round for a new lappy, when I get the chance, in the mean time can get away with this tablet and phone, Rick

[rustic]

Batteries are fine, inverter runs but kicks out on anything but very light load, will strip it down at the W E and see, gonna have a look round for a new lappy, when I get the chance, in the mean time can get away with this tablet and phone, Rick

Sounds like the output " Transistors' have gone.

I blew a small unit up, and when I checked the output transistors, they read differently on the multi meter on ohms, So I removed them and checked again out of circuit, as often other on board components can alter the readings. Sure enough a pair were faulty, so I ordered a complete set.
Arrived next day, fitted... inverter repaired.:thumb2

I bought the components from CPC Farnell, free postage too, on any on line orders.

Clearly your inverter is so much bigger than mine...:augie and they would have used larger and more expensive items in the output stage.

But the principle for each will be similar.

Good luck..:thumb2

Rustic

[solarman216]

Sounds like the output " Transistors' have gone.

I blew a small unit up, and when I checked the output transistors, they read differently on the multi meter on ohms, So I removed them and checked again out of circuit, as often other on board components can alter the readings. Sure enough a pair were faulty, so I ordered a complete set.
Arrived next day, fitted... inverter repaired.:thumb2

I bought the components from CPC Farnell, free postage too, on any on line orders.

Clearly your inverter is so much bigger than mine...:augie and they would have used larger and more expensive items in the output stage.

But the principle for each will be similar.

Good luck..:thumb2

Rustic

These Victron units are a bit more complicated than that, but I do have a spare that does not work so may be able to rob it, the area that got wet was the control part and I guess because it was live when it got wet, it will need cleaning of corrosion that will continue to provide an alternative path even when dry, time will tell but if I have to get another it will not be Victron more like Sterling power products, that way if I buy a 3 KW one that is what it will deliver continuously not like Victron which at 2.5 can only deliver 2 continuously, also
I no longer need an inverter/charger whilst convenient they are just too much in one box, I now have very reliable 4 stage high current stand alone chargers, bit this whole subject is in the wrong thread, so will stop here, Rick

[briggie]

any update on this rick mate ?:nenau

[solarman216]

any update on this rick mate ?:nenau

Not today been far to busy, had to run genny all last night to recharge the 12v battery that normally only runs the fridge but is now running everything via temp inverter, solar only charges 24v bank which is now only powering the water pump, so if I cannot sort the 24v jobbie then I have to find a way of charging 12v bank from 24 v bank, Rick

[rayf3262]

Not today been far to busy, had to run genny all last night to recharge the 12v battery that normally only runs the fridge but is now running everything via temp inverter, solar only charges 24v bank which is now only powering the water pump, so if I cannot sort the 24v jobbie then I have to find a way of charging 12v bank from 24 v bank, Rick
Centre tap off the 24V bank?

[solarman216]

Centre tap off the 24V bank?

Nice idea but not to be done as it pulls only one half of the bank down and recharging becomes unballanced, leading to long term failure, Rick

[rustic]

Nice idea but not to be done as it pulls only one half of the bank down and recharging becomes unballanced, leading to long term failure, Rick

Arrange to switch with a duty cycle of 50% .

Example, one hour on lower half, followed by one hour of upper half of 24 volt battery.

Or vary the time to suit....:nenau

[kitchenman]

I know nothing of this stuff but would it work if the 12V bank was temporily split in half then use half the 24V bank on each half:eek:

[solarman216]

Arrange to switch with a duty cycle of 50% .

Example, one hour on lower half, followed by one hour of upper half of 24 volt battery.

Or vary the time to suit....:nenau
Bb
Again nice idea but impractical one cannot tell what the load will be at any one time, so will still.unbalance the bank , Rick NYC

[rayf3262]

There are quite a few reasonably efficient switch mode converters available....

http://wsplc.com/sdc-20-20a-switch-mode-dc-dc-converter-24v-to-12v.html

[solarman216]

There are quite a few reasonably efficient switch mode converters available....

http://wsplc.com/sdc-20-20a-switch-mode-dc-dc-converter-24v-to-12v.html

Nice idea but no charge regulation etc, my particular 12v bank requires 15.2 to fully charge and more to equalise the 2 v cells Rick

[rayf3262]

Nice idea but no charge regulation etc, my particular 12v bank requires 15.2 to fully charge and more to equalise the 2 v cells Rick

The thought of using some form of SMPS was spawned by Rustics suggestion of modifying the usage duty cycle between elements of the 24V bank.
I was thinking the linked item(or something similar) would simply provide a reliable 12V source from your 24V bank for general purpose use. That unit was only an example of the type of SMPS that would be of some use, not a specific suggestion.

As for charging, if you have a charge regulator on the 12V, what is its input voltage range?
It ought to be possible to feed the 12V charge regulator from the 24V supply? or at worst something modified to less than 24V...

[Paff]

And again in English :nenau

[rustic]

And again in English :nenau

Quote:
Originally Posted by solarman216
Nice idea but no charge regulation etc, my particular 12v bank requires 15.2 to fully charge and more to equalise the 2 v cells Rick
The thought of using some form of SMPS was spawned by Rustics suggestion of modifying the usage duty cycle between elements of the 24V bank.
I was thinking the linked item(or something similar) would simply provide a reliable 12V source from your 24V bank for general purpose use. That unit was only an example of the type of SMPS that would be of some use, not a specific suggestion.

As for charging, if you have a charge regulator on the 12V, what is its input voltage range?
It ought to be possible to feed the 12V charge regulator from the 24V supply? or at worst something modified to less than 24V...


Clear to me...:thumb2

SMPS = Switch Mode Power Supply, might help though...


:lol:lol

AND... If you want it in Welsh, just add "Boyo" at the end of each sentence.. lol..
Makes more sense then.:lol:lol

[solarman216]

Well thank you all for your input, but repaired my existing inverter, the connecting block that got wet was showing signs of green corrosion as was the plug, plug was easy swapped it for a spare, could not swap the boards as models were different, and thought that there would be corrosion between the board and the plastic housing, so started to unsolder the 16 pins to remove it and check and discovered that it just slides off of the pins and yes more corrosion there, so cleaned it all up and put the board back and hey presto working to full power again, this is the culprit, sorry the pic quallity is not too good, Rick

[solarman216]

Now re the laptop, I am using it now, had to reinstall the C drive and start again from scratch, all working OK although I still have some keys that are playing up, so still looking for a replacement Banshee,Rick

[Paff]

Now re the laptop, I am using it now, had to reinstall the C drive and start again from scratch, all working OK although I still have some keys that are playing up, so still looking for a replacement Banshee,Rick

Lenovo :thumb2

[solarman216]

I will look at those, thanks Paff, but I am back on my tablet/phone set up as needed to restart and now it is forever and a day (OK 30 mins so far) telling me about configuring windows do not turn your computer off, does that mean it is downloading all the updates in one go, Rick

[Paff]

I will look at those, thanks Paff, but I am back on my tablet/phone set up as needed to restart and now it is forever and a day (OK 30 mins so far) telling me about configuring windows do not turn your computer off, does that mean it is downloading all the updates in one go, Rick

Your OS is Windoooze 8? Might be downloading the 8.1 update. But there will be a shed load of security and other updates for a fresh install...