Re: Off topic (Win2K stability)

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:

> Maybe SysInternals has something
> that will help you reset your Admin password? Maybe you just don't have -- and
> don't need -- a password any more? (I set up one of my machines to no
> password, and it works without complaint. I despise passwords.)

I did find something at

 http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

but haven't read the docs yet, so I haven't tried it. I have some doubts it is
even going to boot up on my system, because the SCSI support is kind of sketchy.
(There does seem to be a floppy-based option, though.) He says it is risky, but
that's irrelevent for a non-functional install . . . and I do still have the
partition images, which could just go back on again. I had no clue at all that the
Password could be optional, if that is indeed the case. If so, how do you set W2K
up that way ? The only option I was aware of was to enter the Admin Password one
time in the Net I.D. Wizard, *with* a checkbox saying, more or less, 'Always assume
the Admin is logging on and Enter the Password Automatically." That causes the
Logon screen to flash by very quickly, and you never have to deal with it. But
that is *not* the same thing as having NO password ! And it won't help you if the
built-in Security module gets compromised, which is what I gather happens when a
previously working Logon is now refused, and you get locked out. If you have some
_other_ No Password setup, I'd certainly like to hear about it.

> When something goes awry on my system, I swap in my backup Registry files
> (ERUNT does a Scheduled Task every day [if W2K is running] in the wee hours,
> backing up the Registry). I've used it a half dozen times, and it works --
> seems almost miraculous to get the old comfy system right back where it was.

I've used CONFIGSAFE for several years. It's a good product, but your approach may
be more conservative, and therefore safer. My suspicion is that I should have
uninstalled both Configsafe and CLEANSWEEP before the attempt to put on SP4. One
of these may have had some very bad interaction with SP4 that contributed to the
destruction of the W2K partition it was applied to. Nevertheless, I believe that
SP4 insisted on revising the MBR and the NT Boot Loader, which is what trashed my
multiboot setup.

> That won't help, however, if you've gone from SP3 to SP4 and encounter these
> problems on initial upgraded restart (probably a recipe for disaster, in fact,
> to swap in old SP3 Registry).

No, the locked-out W2K is from an image that was at SP1 level, and has not had any
Registry intervention.

> It won't be any comfort, but I've upgraded three dual-boot Win2K + OS/2 MCP2
> machines to W2K SP4 without problems. OS/2 boots fine (one of the machines is
> OS/2 FP 15, actually; the other two are MCP2 with LVM; all use Boot Manager).

And you haven't had to re-create Boot Mgr. umpteen times, when W2K ruins it ? I'd
say you've been very lucky, but then you likely have a lot more knowledge and
experience with these issues. I'm also more than triple-boot (real DOS, OS/2,
W2K), if you count the multiple iterations of the 32-bit OSes for Maintenance /
emergency use.

> Is it just my imagination, or faulty recollection, or do you actually
> experience more than your share of disruptive hardware and OpSys problems?

I don't think so. There were some intermittent hardware failures, after the last
system rebuild in 5/02, but they seem to have been resolved. If you read through
my previous post, it mentioned 5 years of stability with the prior generation of
this system (DOS + OS/2 + NT-4), and 1.5 years of stability with the current
configuration. The *only* system-wide problems I've experienced have come from
attempts to keep Win-32 up to date, which one has to do because of all the security
flaws, and because MS users must tote that giant neon bullseye around on their
backs, which every hacker in the universe is always aiming at.

I would also still like to hear if *anyone* has *ever* demonstrated any practical
use for the so-called MS Recovery Console.


Jordan