Category: Windows 7

Task Scheduler error “The user account is unknown, the password is incorrect

Windows Scheduled Task Errors

I have an website up-time script that I need to deploy in a test environment.
The script has to be run as a scheduled task in Windows Task Scheduler and is designed to be run on a 15 minute interval.

I couldn’t seem to be able to set a scheduled task if my life depended on it because something was killing it every time I would try to create it. 

The error I got was something like…

Task Scheduler – The user account is unknown, the password is incorrect, or the user account does not have permission to modify the task”

After 30 minutes of scouring the various blogs and tech boards, I had found one little hint that pointed my in the right direction.

Check Your Antivirus Software

One  post, that had not even gotten a vote up stated that I should check my Antivirus to see if it was restricting writing of files to the System32 directory in Windows.

Sure enough, I temporarily disabled Avast Antivirus which had been blocking the creation of the scheduled task and now my Uptime script is working as designed.

The morale of the story is always remember to check your Antivirus settings when you run out of checking permission settings as a troubleshooting step.  

Hope this helps somebody!
~Cyber Abyss

How to Share files between a Windows 7 PC and an iMac

I recently purchased a new Windows 7 Ultimate PC and an iMac.   This being my first Apple computer that I’ve ever owned I was really worried that I would not be able to have them talk to each other on the same network.

I was pleasantly surprised  that with some setup on the Windows 7 PC and a couple of commands on the iMac the sharing of files was a breeze.

Step 1: Make sure you have a work group defined for your home network on the Windows 7 PC.

  • To do this right click over Computer or My Computer
  • At the bottom of the System Properties window under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings select “Change Settings”

Step 2: Setup file sharing on your Windows 7 PC.
If you need more help setting up Windows 7 file sharing check out this article from the How to Geek.

Step 3: Setup the share on your iMac.  Use  Command K then enter “smb:\\workgroup\pc_name”

Step 4: On the Network window make sure you have the same workgroup name entered here so that it matches your Windows 7 PC network workgroup.

Now when you open Finder on you Mac you will see your computer on left navigation bar listed under “Shared”.

You can also find some of this information on Apple’s support site.

Windows 7 Error: The user profile service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded

Background

I Came home today and tried logging in to my Windows 7 PC and got the following error: The user profile service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.

I initially felt a little panic as this was the first time that Windows 7 had ever given my any real trouble.

Steps 1-15 Below Fixed My Windows 7 User Profile Issue

If there is another administrator account that you can log into, then jump to step 7 after logging into that account. However, if you can’t get to any accounts at all, then start at step 1.

1. Restart your computer and hit F8 multiples times until you see a menu-like screen, if you see the Windows splash screen then repeat this step
2. Highlight and hit enter on Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Try logging in there. If it still doesn’t work, then go to step17
3. If you are able to login, once a command prompt pops up, type: net user administrator password /active:yes (you can specify whatever password you want for the administrator account.)
4. If you get a message saying “The command completed successfully”, then restart your computer by typing: shutdown -r
5. Boot up again pressing F8, but this time choose just Safe Mode.
6. You will be able to login as Administrator with the password you set in Step 3
7. Hit (windows logo)+R
8. Type regedit
9. Once the registry editor opens up, look for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
10. In the left pane, find the one that starts with S-1-5….. and ends with .BAK; if you don’t find one, skip to step 15
11. Right click it and click Rename, then change the .BAK to .BK
12. Right click the one with the same numbering but without the .BAK and add .BAK add the end
13. Right click the one that you renamed to .BK and clickRename, delete the .BK
14. Eventually, you have switched the .BAK from the end of the second entry to the first. That should probably fix your problem.
15. If you didn’t find a .BAK then try this: Open Windows Explorer to C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Application Data
16. If you find another Application Data below the one you’re on, then delete it. That should probably also fix your problem.
17. If you can’t login in Safe Mode, then reboot and hit F8 until you see the menu again, then hit enter highlightingRepair Your Computer
18. Wait until all Windows Files finish loading, then hitNext when it asks keyboard language.
19. Try logging in here also, choose your user from the dropdown menu, and type the password, then jump to step 23
20. If that still doesn’t work, then if you have your Windows Installation CD still, put it in and restart your computer.
21. Hit F12 until you see a menu of boot options, choose Boot from CD
22. Choose keyboard language then hit next. Find Repair Your Computer from a little below the center left.
23. Choose Open Command Prompt and type: net user administrator password /active:yes (here again you can specify a password)
24. Close the command prompt and click Restart and jump to step 5

To disable the administrator account, type this in an elevated command prompt: net user administrator /active:no

Thanks to Roi A. for posting this on answers.microsoft.com.