Security :: Windows 8 Lock Out After (Microsoft Call)
Mar 21, 2014
I have a customer that brought in his windows 8.1 machine because after responding to a "Call from Microsoft" he let them into his computer. I would like to preface this with the fact that in the pact he has indeed let the real Microsoft into his machine to assist with 8.1 setup so I don't think he realized until too late that it was a scam.
I haven't seen this type of lockout since the days of windows 2000. I cant even boot with a cd. I have checked and reset the bios to no avail.
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Mar 7, 2013
Initially on Win7, I was manually updating Security Essentials when was offline from this link:
How to manually download the latest definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials
You choose x86 or x64 and go from there.
What's not mentioned, is that you can use the same links to update Windows Defender on Windows 8 as well.
I've been doing this for quite some time without issues. So the two programs are very much alike.
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Dec 13, 2013
I've ran the Microsoft baseline security analyzer and it tells me the following:
Incomplete Updates A previous software update installation was not completed. You must restart your computer to finish the installation. If the incomplete installation was a security update, then the computer may be at risk until the computer is restarted.
I've restarted my computer several times and my computer says everything is up to date and completed?
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Mar 4, 2014
I have 2 Microsoft accounts. I have enabled 2 step verification for both of them. With one account, I was able to enter my cell phone number to complete the process, so I would receive a text message if a device I haven't set to trusted tries to log in to that account. I tried the same process on the second account, and whenever I try to enter the same cell phone number, I get an error page that the service is 'temporarily unavailable'. I have tried every combination of entering the cell phone number that I can think of, and nothing works for that second account.
With the first account, I was using the Opera browser to enter the information. With the second account, I was using IE 10. With the second account, I get an e-mail with a verification code if an untrusted device tries to log in. This is OK, but I would prefer to receive a text to my cell phone instead, as I do not always have such instant access to my e-mail account.
Or can you not use the same cell phone number for 2 accounts?
Edited to add: This is the exact message I get when I try to have MS send a code to my cell phone:
There's a temporary problem with the service. Please try again. If you continue to get this message, try again later.
I've been doing some research online this evening, doing a search with that message. It looks like this is pretty hopeless. Once people see this message in relation to any MS services, there seems to be no solution for it. I guess I should just be grateful that I at least haven't been locked out of my Windows Live account entirely, since Windows 8 is so tied to being able to connect to one's Microsoft account. Of course, the account I use for my throw-away Hotmail account works just fine.
The format I've used for the phone number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX . I've tried variations of that with brackets, spaces, and hyphens, nothing works, but at least e-mail verification still does.
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Dec 3, 2013
If I disable file and printer sharing for microsoft networks under network and sharing, will it make me safer?
Screenshot: Screenshot by Lightshot
Also would disabling NetBios over TCP/IP make me safer?
Screenshot: Screenshot by Lightshot
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Jul 21, 2014
My laptop is a
Sony Vaio - Model: SVE141R11L
Product name: SVE14135CXB
Pre-loaded with Windows 8 x64
Intel(R) Core i5-3230M CPU @ 2.60GHz
6GB RAM w/ 900GB HDD space
Purchased in Navy Exchange last year (around July 2013)
I have dropped it once or twice from at most a 3ft fall inside a padded case. I mostly use my computer for school work, some gaming, extensive video/photo editing, internet browsing. I've installed some debatable programs but have been installed long ago. Most of my programs included Microsoft Office, Adobe suite, Steam, iTunes, uTorrent, McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, Winrar, VLC, etc. But are now gone due to the refresh I had just done last week for prior problems, but still experience problems.
I recently been having issues with my computer where it just won't respond at all. Like today, I had it working for a few hours, but then went out and left my laptop on the lock screen, and came back to it being completely stuck. Completely stuck as in, no keys or clicks would unlock the screen to the login prompt. However, my cursor was fully able to move around the screen, and my caps/num lock buttons work as they display the lights enabling/disabling them. The time when it was stuck was 8:03pm, but the clock was stuck on 7:55. But on the bottom of the front of the laptop, the HDD orange light is not lit up at all, which I believe suggest that the HDD is not reading/properly reading. Oddly enough, when I unplugged the power cord, the HDD light flickered a little then disappeared, still no response - could be related to the PSU I suppose?
Another problem I faced before was the Windows 8.1 update failure, resulting in reverted changes, etc. I also had problems in the first few months of owning this, but found it was the incompatibility of an old antivirus that I guess didn't work too well with Windows 8 causing me to have to do a full wipe before. That was long ago. Moreover, the problems I have been experiencing have been unresponsiveness, from what I believe, are the fast boot Win 8 provides (but I turned that off), issues with Windows 8 not being able to load drivers from sleep mode upon opening the laptop (turned off automatic sleep), and now with the lock screen being stuck. I know my problems aren't detailed, but maybe these problems are linked to a bigger similar problem that people have been facing? My last bet would be to do a full factory restore/ repair, although I don't have a Windows 8 boot CD.
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Aug 28, 2012
I've upgraded to Windows 8 RTM this weekend and I'm having this problem: Every time I boot the PC (shutdown or restart), the Num Lock key is off. Since my password uses numbers, and I'm pretty used to type it with Num Lock, I'd like to keep it always on. It was fine on Windows 7. Now, I've searched for it, and there is the "InitialKeyboardIndicators" key on regedit. I have changed values for all of them to "2", and it didn't work. My BIOS say to keep it always on.
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Jul 4, 2013
I just started to receive this message whenever I try to open a PDF file. I even get this message when trying open a previously saved PDF file. I have never had this problem before.
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Jan 13, 2014
Having problems with facebook calling on win8.1 RTM? Sometimes I get " The software that powers video calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Other times I get " It looks like a program on your computer may have blocked your video calling software" reinstalled the plugin several times but i still get the same errors. Seems to be blocked by something inside Win 8.1 ...
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Jan 19, 2013
I just bought a new laptop with windows 8 on and I m a bit lost....
I installed the yahoo messenger for windows 8 and I noticed that everytime I open a chat window with my contacts, the video call and call button are disabled and it says something like the other person doesn t have the right settings to make a video call? I can still do video calls on yahoo. I also got skype but yahoo for windows 8 seems a bit more similar to the messenger for windows 7..
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Aug 4, 2013
I just upgraded our computer to Windows 8, but it crashes during a Skype session. I installed the Windows 8 desktop version of Skype, not the app version. I need the small window on top of the screen, and this is only possible with the desktop version, not with the Windows 8 app version!!
I already reinstalled Skype, but the problem persists.
I attached the SF file for analysis.
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Sep 2, 2013
Having problems with facebook calling on win8.1 RTM? Sometimes i get " The software that powers video calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Other times i get " It looks like a program on your computer may have blocked your video calling software" reinstalled the plugin several times but i still get the same errors. seems to be blocked by something inside Win 8.1....
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Sep 2, 2013
Having problems with facebook calling on Windows 8.1 RTM?
Sometimes i get " The software that powers video calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Other times i get " It looks like a program on your computer may have blocked your video calling software".
I reinstalled the plugin several times but i still get the same errors. seems to be blocked by something inside Win 8.1 ...
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Mar 3, 2014
I don't want necessarily to remove SKyDrive but it annoys the hell out of me when my files go to it and not to Documents which is where I want them. I do not know how to stop Skydrive being the first port of call for all my saved files or how to replace it with the good old fashioned Documents File. I am sure I am not alone in thinking that the Microsoft techies did a lousy job trying to better Win7 with this appalling Windows 8.1. I am about to buy a new laptop but what was once a real pleasure is now going to be a pain in the neck to have to get a new laptop with Windows 8 on it.
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Aug 19, 2014
I've had BSOD's before a clean install of Windows 8.1. Ran diagnostics and updated drivers and even did a memtest (6 hours 10 tests) no errors.
After clean install... no problems for 3 days and I've recorded everything I've added or installed in a journal.
As soon as I jumped on a Skype call I got a BSOD. Couldn't catch the error... it was overstack buffer of some sort.
Before the clean install I had BSOD's occur from Gaming and Skype.
All drivers are up to date and I don't seem to have any hardware issues because of all the tests I've run.
Could updating these cause problems:
PCI Simple Communication Controller
SM Bus Controller
Here's what was removed and now things work:
App name Publisher Version Audacity 2.0.5 Audacity Team 2.0.5 Camtasia Studio 8 TechSmith Corporation 8.4.2.1768 Catalyst Control Center AMD 1.00.0000 Dell System Detect Dell 5.9.0.5 Intel(R) Manageability Engine Firmware Recovery Agent Intel Corporation 1.1.0.36960 Intel(R) Management Engine Components Intel Corporation 9.5.23.1766 LAME v3.99.3 (for Windows) Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x64 Redistributable - 10.0.40219 Microsoft Corporation 10.0.40219 Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable - 10.0.40219 Microsoft Corporation 10.0.40219 Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64) - 11.0.50727 Microsoft Corporation 11.0.50727.1 Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) - 11.0.50727 Microsoft Corporation 11.0.50727.1 My Dell PC-Doctor, Inc. 3.5.6426.22 System Requirements Lab for Intel Husdawg, LLC 4.5.24.0 Tuesday, August 19, 2014 7:28 PM
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May 23, 2013
I Im getting an error when trying to add a components it says visual basic 6.0 object library not registered and underneath that it shows cwindowsyswow64mscomctil.ocx, how can i fixes this I have tried a lot of programs to fix the registry error fixes , but it still dose not work. What can I do to make my visual basic 6.0 work, I have installed and uninstalled the software and i still get this error.
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Jul 31, 2014
SKYPE needs an ID (usually a Microsoft ID). Now is there anyway I can test a connection from My computer to phone or the reverse. AS I have only a single Microsoft ID I can't test this. I don't want to wait until I'm over at someone else's house to set this up. Is there a way you can test a SKYPE video call between your own laptop and your mobile. I just want to see if the video works both way.
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May 8, 2014
I have been having a problem with Windows 8.1 Pro for a few months now. Every time windows, java, drivers, or anything updates and the PC is restarted, after login, it acts as though its a fresh install. When everything is loaded, the start window is blank and so is the desktop. When I press the windows key, to go to desktop, there is an error. I can not remember exactly what it says but next time I update i will edit it in. It basically says that, "The desktop cannot be found." along with it listing the directory for it.
So I searched for months and have not found a fix or a lot of people with the same thing. I did however get a clue about RPC (remote procedure call). I figured out a quick fix for this but every time there is a new update its back to the beginning. These are the steps I take
press windows key to view desktop
close all errors
Alt+Ctrl+Del
Services tab
Find RPC (remote procedure call) witch will be stopped every time.
Start the service (Witch appears to do nothing)
Details tap
Find explorer.exe and end the process
Click File
Run New Task
Explorer.exe
After all of that the desktop starts to load and everything is back to normal except the appearance settings. I then restart the PC and as long as there is not other update in that time, Everything is just the way its suppose to be, appearance and everything.
I tried just restarting Explorer.exe and it will just cycle and give the same error.
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Jun 14, 2014
Windows 8.1.1 and Bitdefender Total Security 2014
o.k. long story short before installing 8.1.1 in my real environment i tested it out extensively in vm. i found out that if you get past a certain point with the windows updates bitdefender will not install, if you install bd prior to a certain point it installs and works great even after you do the rest of the windows updates. How to get it installed and working correctly in a fully updated 8.1.1? i have eset smart security in, but i'd rather have my bitdefender.
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Mar 8, 2014
Which registry settings should I change to set the top two default Windows rules back to 'Unrestricted' ?
I set up some rules in the local security policy some time ago when there was fuss in the news about the cryptolocker virus. They looked a lot like the rules above (I found that screenshot online as I can't take one myself, read on..)
Today I was installing some software that wanted access to the areas I restricted. I temporarily disabled the rules, then re-enabled them. Being a dumbass I also set the top two rules (which are Windows default rules) to Disallowed!
Over the following 10 minutes various aspects of my PC stopped working, telling me that the local security policy prevented access. I couldn't even get into the Control Panel or the Local Security Policy screen to change it back, once I realised what I had done. I rebooted the machine - it won't come back up
I've tried a system restore by booting from the installer on USB (which did not work, it grumbled that it could not restore due a file locked by anti-virus) so I think I've got two options:
Refresh my system using the Windows 8 tools - but I suspect that might leave the LSP rules in place, as it retains my settings & preferences.Hand edit the registry to correct the settings.
Option 2 is looking best, I can get into RegEdit from the recovery console, but I'm not sure what to edit and what to set it to? This is on Windows 8.1 Pro...
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Mar 28, 2014
I came to some trouble installing CorelDraw software which apparently uses for it's setup launcher web active container performed by IE core. If I launch setup, the setup windows is evidently noninitialized showing the top warning band about active content being blocked for security reasons. Even allowing active content by selecting from the top bar menu doesn't make the setup continue. So now I'd need to temporarily bypass all IE's security checks, ie. allow everything. What I already did was browsing the security tab in IE options and allowing most of the choices in branches ActiveX controls and plugin modules + Scripting (Local Intranet). On Advanced tab I have checked in Security branch Allow execution of active content from CD discs on this computer + Allow execution of active content from files on this computer. Nothing of these affecting the installer to run (ie. I still see then active content blocking bar).
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Dec 9, 2013
I am running 8.1, and firefox 25. I can't download or run Avast, or download any executables, suddenly. I lowered my security settings to Medium and added Avast to the firewall permissions, but to no avail. My download settings were already at "prompt" anyway, so there's something deeper I can't figure out. I'm a reasonably competent generalist but not super computer smart.
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Sep 19, 2013
My number lock will sometimes be on or off at the password screen in win 8 on startup.
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Feb 11, 2013
I recently installed Office 2007 onto my Vaio. It said it was successful and needed a reboot, so I rebooted. Upon reboot, it simply won't let me get to the lock screen (where I enter my pass/PIN). I have control of the keyboard (I think) because I can still adjust the brightness. The track-pad won't register my click to get into the lock-screen.
I tried to get into safe mode, which I've read is done by holding Shift and pressing F8 repeatedly at bootup. No go on safe mode.
Is there some alternative way to get into safe mode or somehow get into the lock screen?
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Apr 29, 2013
How do I lock my windows 8 desktop? I leave my computer unattended at times so I usually lock the screen so that no one can access it while I'm gone, So how to do it in Windows 8?
Why Microsoft Have made it so difficult to use this OS.
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Nov 6, 2012
How to change Windows 8 lock screen image manually? Do not use the Control Panel.
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Jan 22, 2013
Windows 8. How does one go about disabling Windows 8 Lock Screen?
This simply does not work: How to Eliminate the Time-Wasting Lock Screen in Windows 8
My computer has absolutely NO IDEA what that is; it is completely impossible to navigate there.
Similarly, this does not no do anything whatsoever: How to disable the Windows 8 lock screen | ExtremeTech
When I put this in the start prompt: 'gpedit'
I get a message about SQL Server 2012 Administration
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Jun 5, 2014
I've been to hundreds of pages online to try and solve this issue and everybody seems to have the opposite problem I do. When I reach the login page num lock is enabled, which is perfect, but after I sign in the num lock key is disabled. I frequently hit the num lock key by accident so I used Sharp Keys to disable the key entirely and set the initialkeyboardindicators value in the registry to 2.
This was working perfectly until this week and I have no clue why. When I check the registry, the value is set back to 0. Every time I try to set it to 2 it is simply overwritten when I log in. I have also turned off fast startup as I read that on several forums but I have the same issue.
I've looked in BIOS (UEFI) and I can't seem to find any setting that would control this. I changed every entry in the registry for initialkeyboardindicators - I tried both 2 and 2147483650. I also created a new user to see if they would have the same issues but they did.
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Oct 5, 2013
I recently installed windows 8.1 pro x64 on my laptop which is acer 5755g.but i've a very strange problem with that. When I want to go afk before leaving laptop i press windows + l key and go to lock screen everything is ok now but when I'm coming back in few hours laptop is freezes and must shut it down from power button.
I tried:
installed windows again
updated all of drivers
using coolpad
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Jan 7, 2013
If I change the lockscreen to a different picture as the default ones, one of these default pictures goes away in the PC Settings Panel. Is there a way to restore them back so that only the default ones are there?
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Dec 6, 2012
Pc was running fine last night, woke up this morning and powered on pc. Windows 8 boot to the start/lock screen and does nothing more.
Some info keyboard and mouse don't work, keyboard num lock lights up but you can't turn off. Only change to pc was done 4 days ago when i brought 2 samsung 830 ssd drives and I installed a fresh copy of windows 8.
When pressing the power button pc boots down as it should (i dont have to hold the power button for a forced shutdown)
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