Re: More Network Password Issues
"Jay" <Jay@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9D06A5AD-1F3E-466C-B173-5992662303B6@microsoft.com...
| Thanks for writing back. These machines are in a school. They used to be
| networked, but the district de-commissioned them from the network when
they
| moved to XP. Now, they're all in a room being used as stand-alone
machines,
| for students to run tutorial programs, do word processing, etc. They're
not
| really worth the trouble of doing major reinstallation and reformatting,
and
| they're not going to be around much longer. The school administration had
me
| set them up for this year for some tutorial programs, but there are all
these
| silly details cropping up. My goal is to just be able to get the kids to
the
| usual Windows 98 desktop with no passwords or extra steps or other
| distractions.
|
| I saw a couple of KB articles dealing with this problem and the registry,
| but haven't read them in detail. Is there just some kind of quick thing I
| can delete or reset that will erase those networking prefs? It's hard to
| believe that once these machines have been on a network, they "think" they
| still are...
|
| Thanks again,
| Jay
Okay, your not going to like this much.
Fom what you have indicated here, the computers have apparently had Policy
Editor used upon them [or something similar].
This is and was the SOP applied upon networked computers which needed to be
protected from users modifying settings, hacking/messing up the computer, or
otherwise interferring with the other segments of the network. If this was
not important to the school, one could try the often failing manual removal
of user access policies, and some registration modifications. I do NOT
recommend this at this point.
FIRST - Search through the disks and materials left by the old
administrator / IT person. You're looking for the administator's policy
[logon] and password. A good administrator would have created a separate
administrative disk and *system hook* [policy] for access. The problem may
be, that the systems were to be re-configured/administered over the network
interface, which no longer exists.
IF [emphasis] you can find these [and were not to be applied over the
network], you can back out of [remove] the policies/restrictions, thereby
returning the computers to normal access [or less restrictive modified
access].
OTOH, if there is a local person familiar with the Windows registry and its
modification, and who is able to competently create a "reset" disk from the
registry entries [exported areas], files [removal/modifications], and other
required aspects; you may be able to return the computers to a more
acceptable access status. Perhaps someone in your locality might offer their
time and experiance to the school for free. Check with the PTA, Board,
computer group, or other like, to see if someone might help with the
situation.
As another potential: there are several parties here which, perhaps, ARE
capable of directing you through the process, however, that success would
depend upon your ability to supply *exactly* what they needed, and could
apply that direction, *exactly* as presented. That would, perhaps, be beyond
the scope of this forum/discussion, and better handled via email and
transfer of files.
Others may have differring opinions of course.
|
| "Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
|
| > I don't have a specific answer for you, but I would STRONGLY recommend
| > reformatting and reinstalling those machines. You've already run into a
few
| > problems, and I suggest that that isn't the end of the problems you'll
run
| > into while using those machines.
| >
| > If you aren't using the machines on a domain-controlled network, what
are
| > their newly intended purposes? You going to keep them, or are you going
to
| > distribute them to others?
| >
| > --
| > Gary S. Terhune
| > MS-MVP Shell/User
| >
www.grystmill.com
| >
| > "Jay" <Jay@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| > news:AF84D651-FDF1-47ED-BBCA-265D3FE50E76@microsoft.com...
| > > Greetings! I'm posting this after reading the thread started
07/21/07,
| > > and
| > > not having any success with those suggestions. I have several old
Win98
| > > machines which used to be networked. Now they're stand-alones, but
they
| > > keep
| > > asking for the username and password. If I type in anything or
nothing at
| > > all and click OK, I get a residual message from the old network days
| > > saying
| > > that the default desktop will be loaded. The previous "administrator"
| > > locked
| > > out the Control Panels, and now not only can't I stop the thing from
| > > asking
| > > for usernames and passwords, I can't adjust any settings or install
some
| > > software I need on them. Is there some way to reset it without going
| > > directly to the Control Panels? When I click on Start, then Settings,
I
| > > get
| > > a message saying the administrator has blocked access to this folder.
| > > Also,
| > > on another machine, someone put on the Windows Channels screensaver
and
| > > passworded it, so now I'm stuck there.
| > >
| > > Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
| > >
| > > Thanks,
| >
| >
| >
--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
________