Windows Vista
On my old PC I do not remember my name and password.
I can not log in. Is there a solution for my problem?
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Startup (Booting)
Started by
hilfe
, Apr 16 2023 04:20 PM
1 reply to this topic
#1
hilfe
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#2
lmacri
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Posted 20 April 2023 - 09:24 AM
Hi hilfe:
The Bleeping Computer forum rules do not allow users to provide advice on how to "defeat existing copyright or security measures".
Are you trying to recover personal data from this Vista machine that was not backed up to an external hard drive, or are you just trying to wipe the information on your hard drive before you recycle this computer? I gather from your other posts in this forum that you have a working Win 7 SP1 computer.
If you did not create a password reset disk for your Vista computer (which needs to be done before you forget your password) then Microsoft advises that you reinstall Vista - see Bill Smithers' 23-Mar-2023 post in How do I reset my login on my laptop as I am locked out? in the Microsoft Answers Vista board.
A reset to factory condition or clean reinstall of Vista would remove all your personal data and third-party software and isn't very practical (or safe, since support for Vista SP2 ended on 11-Apr-2017)) if you actually want to use this computer. Vista Service Pack 1 (KB936330) and Service Pack 2 (KB948465) are still available from the Microsoft Update Catalog but patching Vista SP2 back to end of support (11-Apr-2017) is much more difficult now because Microsoft deactivated the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista on 03-Aug-2020 (see the July 2020 Microsoft support article Windows Update SHA-1 Based Endpoints Discontinued for Older Windows Devices) and you will see an error message if you try to run Windows Update on a Vista SP2 machine now.
If you don't need to recover data from this old Vista computer then a better option might be to install a supported Linux operating like Linux Mint Cinnamon (see the system requirements <here>) that is still supported and runs on older hardware. See The Verge article How to Switch an Old Windows Laptop to Linux for more information.
Edited by lmacri, 20 April 2023 - 09:29 AM.
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