changing administrator password? (1 Viewer)

[CWH]

I can't install updates on my Samsung laptop ... (it runs Vista) because ...
Administrator used to cope without changing password (required for installing updates) ...
It went to hospital ...
It now won't allow updates because administrator password is out of date... so...
[1] how can I change password & enable updates? (Java, Adobe etc)
[2] how do I get it to not need to update the password?
Any ideas gratefully received!!!

 

[TheBig1]

if your account has administrator privileges then go to control panel, user accounts and change (or set) your password. reboot and log in and it should be sorted

 

[CWH]

Ah thanks @TheBig1 , done! Link Broken
Do you know how often it wants the password changed before it tells me it's "expired"?

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[TheBig1]

if you do a reinstall of the operating system or replace certain system files the old password then pre-dates the files

 

[CWH]

I understand what you're saying but wouldn't have a clue how to start! So I think maybe I'll just change the password every week or so for now, & get it back to the hospital for a demo when I can...
Really appreciate your help, the laptop's been demanding to update various bits every 5 minutes for the last week or so & I can now expect a bit of peace! And I can catch it up again now thanks to your advice. Thanks again!

 

[TheBig1]

your description says to me that the "hospital" re-installed the operating system from disk, but didnt apply all the update patches. not something for you to worry about

it is good practice to change your password from time to time. i would say monthly, not weekly would be fine for most people

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[CWH]

I got a bit confused because the other 2 users I've set up don't need their passwords renewing, & the Administrator didn't used to, & it didn't warn me that it was running out (my work one gives me 10 days warning)
My Mr Fixit did re-install, he had some sort of a problem & he wasn't able to get it to use Outlook, and you're right, I seem to remember him saying something about patches but it went straight over my head I'm afraid!
At least my AVG does its updates no problem...

 

[CWH]

Sorry to bother you again @TheBig1
Adobe has updated OK but Java failed. Do you think it might work if I temporarily disable AVG? is this a safe thing to do?

 

[TheBig1]

Sorry to bother you again @TheBig1
Adobe has updated OK but Java failed. Do you think it might work if I temporarily disable AVG? is this a safe thing to do?

not something i would advise unless you understand exactly what youre doing. you need to download the installation file. then disconnect from the internet. then temporarily disable avg whilst you install the updated version of java. re-enable avg before reconnecting to the internet

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[CWH]

not something i would advise unless you understand exactly what youre doing

which I clearly don't!

download the installation file. then disconnect from the internet. then temporarily disable avg whilst you install the updated version of java. re-enable avg before reconnecting to the internet

ooohhh that sounds scary, maybe best left alone then, thank you for the warning Link Broken