Windows Passwords for gurus...

Hi people, this is my second message, the fisrt one had no replys so i wish for good luck in this second post.
My question is quite simple; yet i havn't found any logical answer to it at the present moment.
The thing is, that i have set my new account password for windows (I'm on WIn XP prof ed) with characters that looks like ä, ö ë ï ü, and when accesing my box (that`s to say when i first log in with crl+alt+del), my password is accepted; yet when i lock my account (with Win+L for example or whit start/shut down/lock computer), and want to return, my password is not accepted; i 'm sure i typed the same password as when i first access to my account because i acces every day to it with no problems at all; problems only come when locking my PC.
So; i would like to know why is it, that I can use a password with "¨" characters for logging in but not to unlock my PC. Is it no the same process that compare your password the first time and when U lock your PC?. or can it be that the keybord settings when accesisng Windows are changed and the "¨" key is somewhere else?

Well thats all, thank you for your time...
ampm2003

It is supposed to be the same password. There might be a problem with special characters. Try changing your password to something basic with no special characters and see if that changes things.

:)

O.k... You are right; thanks for your reply; and i will eventually change my pass when my box asks me to do so (aprox a month form now...).. I just wanted to know why this "bug" (which I am not sure if it can be called a bug) happens; if it's a product of MS bad programming (nothing against MS; is just that sometimes their products are bug-full); or if it it happens because at some point when Windows XP starts it changes my keyboard settings and the key is somewhere else. If it does so; in the wordpad it changes again; and in MS Word as well; as i type my pass there and it is exactelly the same i type everyday to log in... If anyone knows the answer to this; i'll be glad to hear it; i'm not really looking for a solution; because as mmelby says; just changing the password works well enough...
Well; thanks again for your time...
ampm2003

More likely, the keyboard language set for the default user (these are the user settings windows uses at the login screen, when noone is logged in yet) is not the same as the one set for your user. This results in you typing the same keys on the keyboard but windows sending diffrent characters, especially with special/"dialect specific" characters. On w2k (dunno if XP shows this too), the login prompt shows the little blue box with the two letters representing the keyboard map loaded. You can compare this with the keyboard map loaded for your user (control panel, keyboard).

In short, just make sure the keyboard mappings are the same for the default user and your normal users. This can indeed be a pain; I've had to deal with it a few times: fixing this mostly implies hand tweaking the default user profile's settings in the registry.

Ammo

Thanks ammo for your help; i thought just the same; yet i believed that the "¨" character was the same in every keyboard. If i was to tweek the registry; wich key and brand showld i look for; could you please tell me more or less what to do (not asking for a tutorial on how to touch the registry or anything like that; just some help of what to look for and where to do so)...
Thanks a lot again...
ampm2003

login to your user and compare your profile's settings
hkey_current_user | keyboard layout | preload
with the default user
hkey_users | .default | keyboard layout | preload

Set the same key/values in default as those in your profile...

Ammo

Thanks a lot ammo, i could solve the problem by changing the key in the default profile (and changing my password as well; i had a password which i didn't quite know i had... so strange; and i could log in the same; it sound crazy)... well thanks for your help...
ampm2003

So everybody lock their computers like an military base ..... If you want a password try get a simple one 7-11 characters this are the best . Your password must contain numbers and letters . The long passwords are more unsecured .... Do what ever you want it is your computer and your data in it ... Good luck !

Cya

Sorry, but what the heck are you talking about??!

Ammo

Quote:

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Originally posted here by i386
The long passwords are more unsecured ....

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I did not know that :p