It looks like I may have reached my end. In order to check to see if these issues were in fact a result of a Windows Update, I did a system restore (like I've done dozens of times since about Windows 7 IIRC) and sure enough, immediately after the system restore was done, I clicked Play on Eschalon, and boom, right into the game. No problem. Proof Positive that it was the update that did it. I didn't really need proof positive as I've done this before and proven Microsoft updates screw up games.

But now I am royally fucked. I tried to revert back to today. Tells me there are no restore points. Huh? When I chose this one from before there were 7 to choose from. Now it insists there are none.

Go into my browser. Because I haven't had to type a password in months and because my old brain's memory function is shot to hell, I don't know a single, solitary password for the at least 3 dozen sites that I want to get to, many of which i HAVE to get to, including my email password(s). And for whatever reason Firefox sync is not working and wanting me to sign in. I DON'T REMEMBER THE PASSWORD.

Finally after about half and hour I got lucky with one of email accounts. And because this was the account that "backed up" the other email account, I was then able to click on forgot password for the other and have a code sent to this one so that both of my emails are now recovered.

Now I recover and reset my Firefox sync password, tell it to sync... and NOTHING. I've done this about a dozen times too as when I get a new laptop or computer the first thing I would do when using my browser was to go in and sync and it give that new computer all of my bookmarks and all of the passwords that I no longer remember.

THIS TIME NOTHING. NADA. And goddamnit I have NOT touched a GOD DAMNED THING in Firefox to cause this to happen. I haven't had to use since in a few months (when I got this laptop). I have changed NOTHING. But now all of a sudden there is NOTHING to sync. No bookmarks. No addresses. No passwords. Nothing.

So I can't remember any of my passwords and can't even remember which sites I need to get to pay my bills as they were all listed in my bookmark list, one on top of the other, and all I ever had to do was click on the bookmark, the password was already filled in, and pay my bill. Now I can't even remember how many there were or what they all were.

And I can't revert my system back to what it was today and have lost over two weeks of installations (and again, I can't remember what games I installed in the last two weeks to fix this as my memory is really, really bad). And when the Windows Update does it's thing (and it will, I can't stop it I already checked) I will lose the ability to finish my Eschalon game again because it will no longer be playable which means I fucked all of this up for nothing.

I am seriously at the end of my wits now. Never have I felt like just checking out like I do now.

The only thing I can think of that might help is that some sites where you have paid with a credit card might help you if you can prove your identity with receipts and/or ID.

If you have all your passwords on some Firefox account, try contacting Firefox and work something out if possible.

Other than that, your situation sounds terrible and I wish you all the best in recovering your passwords and accounts.

Sounds like bigger problems than Windows Update.

I know when i used firefox sync (purely for bookmarks) it wasn't great, and was a bit of a let down so i just went back to doing it manually.



But this is the problem these days, and it's easy to do, you get use to these little conveniences, but you forget how easy this shit is to blow up in your face, i have numerous accounts (over 30+) the majority of them have passwords over 24+ characters and some with High ANSI characters if they are accepted, but i'd never remember any of them.

I use a seperate program, with those files stored on storage devices, with a long ass password that i do have to remember, and if i lost that i would be as fucked as you are, but i make sure i have backups. And if it were stolen i'd know about it, besides the fact that accessing them would require the passwords or a year + brute forcing it, which gives me time to change everything if i needed to.

Is it easy? no, is it convenient? yes and no, it's safer as each password is random, but it isn't perfect, typing it in each time and stuff. But you have control, more than you ever will through firefox and the like.

Perhaps it's time to upgrade to Windows 10 and I suggest that you begin writing down passwords in a notepad stored in a safe and convenient location. If there is a reliable PC repair shop in your area I further advise you to see what help they can be in recovering some "lost" information from your hard drive. You may have some malware, spyware, adware, PUPs, and such exacerbating any other underlying problems with your rig. A good repair shop should be able to assist you with a comprehensive solution and even add some memory and upgrade your graphics card. I wish you the best in your endeavor to return to a nominal state of operation and perhaps you might end up with something even better.

It is Windows 10 he's using i believe, thats why the auto-update, which is known to screw systems and is why i prevent Windows from connecting out so i have never been updated automatically.


And yeah notepad is an awful idea, there are password manager programs that encrypt the file, which you need a key file for and a password to access.

He mentioned Windows 7 and I didn't see a mention of 10. It may be that I have been fortunate, but I havn't had any issues with Windows 10. I switched off as much of the Windows 10 invasive fluff that was possible which helps. Still, my suggestion to take the poor rig in to the PC doctor seems like sound advice.

EDIT:

When I said to store passwords in a notepad I meant pen and paper. They do still make those, right?

Oh Lol, yeah thats an old way but you can't really do long complex passwords so well with those, and if someone gets a hold of it, you're buggered, unless you back it up, which is still an open book and if they are quick will change the passwords before you do.

I used to use a language from an old game i played, since the font was avialable online, printed them out in that language, but i also mixed it up, and coded it, so you'd need to know how i did it in order to be able to read it, but it's a bigger pain in the ass than a password manager, and easier to lose, or even forget how to crack it yourself.

Yes, YES!
Pen and paper people. Keep it updated, keep it locked up somewhere safe.
I'm not trying to rub it in OFG, it's just that we've become so addicted to the ease of password managers, cloud storage, and constant cookie sessions that we've forgotten the simple advantages of keeping paper records of things,

As for Microsoft, they're a bunch of assholes. I had the nightmare of dealing with their tech support when their system decided to lock all my outlook email accounts for "abuse of their usage policy" and promptly ate all my available mobile phone numbers trying to unlock them.

"With regards to your account <redacted>@outlook.com, our investigation shows the account is blocked. We sincerely apologize but we are not allowed to disclose further information about the violation or the block. If Microsoft finds content that violates the Microsoft Service Agreement/Code of Conduct, Microsoft reserves the right to close your account without warning."

And my answering email when I lost temper:

"So the explanation is that if your automated security system comes up with a false positive, you reserve the right to screw over your customers. Nice of you to admit that. Nice also that a customer who can prove ownership cannot get an explanation as to why it happened and how to avoid it in the future except to point them to a vague document that seemingly doesn't describe any situation which would cause mass lockouts of their accounts in the first place. I wonder, how would you feel if you created some email accounts, tied them to digital assets of value and then had them locked with no explanation? "

The thing is password managers can be safer and more secure than your notepad.

I used notepads once it was pages and pages of passwords, for each i had to write down what it was for, which basically gave insta access to anyone who read it.

No, specific method is perfect, every single one of them is flawed in some way. The one i have doesn't require installation, and runs from anywhere i move it too.

I have a version with me at all times, so if the building goes up in smoke, i still have it, if i lose the one on me, i still have it at home, not of which can be accessed without a password, which is in my head and is the only one i need.

If one is stolen, i access the other change everything before they could brute force it which is probably well over a year, but a day is fine. :)

Firefox erases your sync data when you reset your password. Has been always like that as far as I know. Though nowadays, they do provide an alternative option for resetting:
The Recovery Keys, but only if you generate it prior to password loss.
It was meant to be used as a precautionary tool afterall.

In my entire life, nobody's ever broken into my home and stolen a thing from me. I've also never lost a notebook or any other book for that matter.

By contrast, software (that you can't ever audit for yourself because it's too big and complex) is in constant need of critical security updates, and we hear about leaks, compromises, malware, etc. all the time.

The way people use password managers, it's not very safe or secure. It's all too common for people to only have one copy of their password database, and then they curse the day when that device breaks or the file gets accidentally deleted and there's no backup. It's all too common that people have only one password database and one master password, so when that one critical unpatched vulnerability gets exploited on a bad day, your passwords are wide open. It's all too common that people use bad master passwords, so if their password database (or a backup or cloud copy of it) ends up in the wrong hands, it'll be cracked..

Yeah, it is all to common that people get lazy and use the same password.

Smaller passwords will get easier and easier to crack, requiring more complex passwords, each of them you have to write down and type in. Get broken into? it's gone. House burns down? it's gone. Notepad accidentally gets thrown away, it's gone.


Like i said theres a flaw in everything, and unless you have mega money you can't afford a big ass safe to put it all in, that someone can't just simply walk out with.


Nothing is perfect, you can't carry that notepad on you all the time, but you can carry a USB stick, which is far less obvious, easier to hide, and can be a back up of the original.

I believe restore points are automatically deleted by Windows every 90 days now. I know that some Windows Updates will turn off the service that is needed for restore points to be used, and turning that service off I think deletes them (Volume Shadow Copy). They might be visible in Safe Mode, but I'm not sure on that.

I had something similar happen to me. I registered for a Xbox Live account for the sole purpose of being able to properly play GTA IV. After playing it for a bit and finding out that performance is horrid, I put it down. A couple of months later, I decide to give it a shot on another PC. Only then I notice that I can't sign in through my Xbox Live account, which has been disabled for some unspecified policy violation. I then have to jump through all sorts of hoops, as if to say "Yes, assholes, this REALLY is my account!". When it came to the point that they wanted my phone number (like, what the hell is that going to prove anyway? They didn't have my phone number in the first place.) I said fuck it, I ain't giving you my phone number. I don't need savegames in GTA IV (which sux ass anyway) that bad, lol.