Password Changing

So my computer screen was locked at work today, and when I tried to unlock it it decided it was time for me to change my password. That’s not such a big deal – it’s just a case of trying to think of a password which isn’t the same as any of my last 30 passwords, contains upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and “special characters”, and which I can remember. However, I’ve done this before, and I seem to remember it wasn’t quite that simple…

The password for this account has expired. To change the password, click Cancel, click Switch User, and then log on. [OK]

Right, click on Cancel. Er, there is no cancel button. I guess you meant for me to click on OK?

XXXX Logged in. [Password] -> [Cancel]

Ah, is that the Cancel button I was supposed to click on. Ok, I’ll give it a go…

CTRL + ALT + DELETE to unlock this computer. XXXX logged in. [Switch User]

Right, what was next? Switch User, I think…

Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to log on

Ok, I pressed that to try to unlock the computer before, but I’ll try again.

XXXX Logged In. Other User. [Cancel]

It asked me to switch user. So should I click on the other user, or on myself again? I’ll try clicking on me.

XXXX logged in. [Password] -> [Switch User]

Hmm, there’s another switch user button. Perhaps I should click that? Or should I type my password? Or have I gone down completely the wrong track? I’ll type my password, see what happens…

Your password has expired and must be changed. [OK] [Cancel]

You don’t say? I was just doing all this for fun.

XXXXX ****** New Password. Confirm Password. [Cancel]

Aha! Now why couldn’t you have said that at the start?

Your password has been changed.

Finally. At least I don’t have to do that for another 30 days.

The first time I did this it took quite a few more than just these 9 steps, as I went wrong several times. And choosing a valid password is another story entirely.

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