Old Gateway laptop

[granretire]

I was trying to get an old gateway laptop to accept updates and failed. So I used Microsoft suport to see if they could get sorted. The final answer was No (BIOS too old) and now I find that the keyboard has been messed up! Left-hand section (Q-y OK and rows down) but u is now 4, i is 5 etc. Any suggestions how I can get the keyboard to revert to normal? Another complication is that the laptop is setup for a user account only. Admin requires a password - which I haven't got!

[didds]

fix the admin password using this maybe - https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

is there a restore to factory defaults option? - https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how- ... y-settings

[Breelander]

... now I find that the keyboard has been messed up! Left-hand section (Q-y OK and rows down) but u is now 4, i is 5 etc....

On a keyboard that doesn't have a separate numeric keypad, holding down the function key enables those keys to be used as the numeric keypad. Looks like you have enabled the Function Lock and it's acting as a numeric keypad by default. Should be easy to turn off....

How to Turn Off the F-Lock on a Gateway Laptop...
...Search your keyboard for a dedicated "Function Lock" or "F-Lock" key. If such a key exists, simply press it to disable the F-lock.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/turn-of ... 49009.html

[Breelander]

..the laptop is setup for a user account only. Admin requires a password - which I haven't got!

This trick lets you set up a new account and make it an admin...

https://www.technibble.com/bypass-windo ... s-utilman/

[Breelander]

I was trying to get an old gateway laptop to accept updates and failed. So I used Microsoft suport to see if they could get sorted. The final answer was No (BIOS too old)...

I find that hard to believe (well, to be more accurate, I find it hard to believe MS support knows what they're talking about). My oldest machine is from 2009 and is running a fully updated copy of W10 20H2. What is the exact model of this Gateway?

[monabri]

My 14+ y.o. Dell is also running 20H2 W10.

viewtopic.php?p=268168#p268168

[didds]

I find that hard to believe (well, to be more accurate, I find it hard to believe MS support knows what they're talking about).

I have to concur with breelander here !

didds

[granretire]

Thank you one and all for your prompt replies. I will have a go at working through them.
The model of the Gateway is MT6223b according its label - but the label also states it is model no MA7.
The BIOS date is 2006.
It has been partly updated to windows 10. Some of your suggestion links refer to windows 7 or 8 for the approach.
I can't find an 'F-lock' key, but noticed if I hold the Fn key down and select the key with a blue number, I get the correct letter for that key . ie Fn key plus 'u' now gives 'u' instead of 4. 4 is the blue number on the 'u' key.
Practically every task to change anything seems to require the admin password - including setting up a new admin a/c. For example using the recovery option or rolling back on updates.

[GeoffF100]

Here is the spec:

https://gatewaycomputers.fandom.com/wiki/MT6223b

Maximum of 2 GB RAM. The processor has a Passmark score of 155. Not good. You could try Bionic Pup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJcWcQ8ew6Q

[Breelander]

The model of the Gateway is MT6223b according its label - but the label also states it is model no MA7.

It has a Celeron 440 CPU. This is a single core, single thread processor. As such it's going to be very slow running Windows 10. It's maximum RAM of 2GB is the bare minimum for 64-bit W10, but would be better suited to running 32-bit W10.

It has been partly updated to windows 10. Some of your suggestion links refer to windows 7 or 8 for the approach.

Most advice for W7/8 is equally applicable to W10.

I can't find an 'F-lock' key, but noticed if I hold the Fn key down and select the key with a blue number, I get the correct letter for that key . ie Fn key plus 'u' now gives 'u' instead of 4. 4 is the blue number on the 'u' key.

From what I can tell, the Function Lock on this model is toggled on or off by holding the Fn key and pressing a key that has a lock symbol on it. See this manual page for an illustration of what to look for...
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/25352 ... ml?page=30

Practically every task to change anything seems to require the admin password - including setting up a new admin a/c. For example using the recovery option or rolling back on updates.

You need to boot from a windows install disk or similar, anything that can get you a command prompt without booting from the installed windows will do. A linux Live CD would work too. Then you can use the Utilman trick to set up a new admin account.

https://www.technibble.com/bypass-windo ... s-utilman/

[Infrasonic]

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Gat ... 28538.html

[granretire]

Breelander, sorry to bother you again, but can you suggest a suitable linux live to write to a cd please. There seem to be loads to choose from!
Many thanks for your patience with me.
I have now managed to get the keyboard functioning properly.

[Infrasonic]

Breelander, sorry to bother you again, but can you suggest a suitable linux live to write to a cd please. There seem to be loads to choose from!
Many thanks for your patience with me.
I have now managed to get the keyboard functioning properly.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best- ... nux-distro

Best lightweight Linux distros of 2021

Go for a 32 bit version. Tiny core plus might enough for what you need to do - I've used it but not for your task so others like Bree might have other preferences that are more applicable.
You can try loads of Linux distros out first without installing /running a live CD/USB drive here to find one you like the look of...https://distrotest.net/index.php

[GeoffF100]

You can run 64 bit Linux with 2 GB. I use Xubuntu, which is a reliable choice and will run sensibly in 2 GB, but it will be slow with your processor. Linux Mint Xfce is very similar.

32 bit Linux will give you more elbow room with 2 GB. Most 32 bit Linux distributions will soon lose support. Certainly all the Ubuntu based ones will. An exception is the Raspberry Pi operating system Raspberry OS. That is 32 bit, and likely to stay 32 bit for some time. The Raspberry Pi Zero is 32 bit only. (It costs £5 and has about the same processing power as your processor. The £35 Raspberry Pi 4B has about seven times that processing power.) There is an Intel version of Raspberry Pi OS:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/ra ... i-desktop/

You could do worse than to give it a try. It is rather basic compared with Xubuntu, but it is very light on machine resources.

[Breelander]

Breelander, sorry to bother you again, but can you suggest a suitable linux live to write to a cd please. There seem to be loads to choose from!.

I am no Linux expert, I have a couple of Live versions ('Live' means that it can run from the boot CD/USB without needing to install it). I use them occasionally to look at systems that don't boot from their own HDD.

One I do get on quite well with is Knoppix, listed in Infrasonic's link...

...You can try loads of Linux distros out first without installing /running a live CD/USB drive here to find one you like the look of...https://distrotest.net/index.php

But for your purpose all you need is something (anything) you can boot from that would allow you to rename or copy a couple of files on the PC's HDD. The bare minimum would be to boot from a Windows install disk and use its 'repair this PC' option to get to a Command Prompt.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/288 ... ml#option1

If you happen to have a Macrium rescue CD, all the better. That has an equivalent of 'file explorer' to make the job easier.

[Infrasonic]

Just noticed there was another (more applicable) Linux list on Techradar, dedicated repair-rescue distros...https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best- ... ue-distros

[granretire]

I don't seem to be winning! I picked Rescatux to burn on a cd - seemed as good a better as any. But when I tried various items on the menu - such as make a user an administrator or reset passwords - I got 'Backup of SAM directory went wrong'. That doesn't mean a thing to me or what I should do. Tried their 'chat', but never got a response. I couldn't see anyway of getting a command prompt in order to try Utilman.