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Last week I had some serious problems with my PC, so I asked the shop from which I bought it to have it fixed. Today I got it back, and noticed two strange things:
- I have two user accounts. When I wanted to get into mine, I wasn't asked for a password (and I did have a password for it)
- Windows has notified me my license wasn't legal. And indeed, the license key was not the one I have been using (which is legal)
I called the shop, and they said they use their own hard drive when checking hardware problems, in order not to cause any loss of data for the customer. Since my system has indeed become extremely unstable prior to the fix, I assumed the problems were caused when I still had the PC.
Now, I've just noticed there's an unfamiliar folder on my desktop, with some hardware testing tools. The folder was created yesterday, before I got the PC back, but the files owner was my user... Sadly, I've already cleared the event logs, so I have no further proofs, but it seems to me the technicians have somehow reset my user's password, and have used it to log in.
I'm not interested in becoming a hacker, and I don't need the details. Just wondering if this is possible. Should I be extremely angry, or am I missing something?
(FWIW, they told me they've replaced my 4GB G.Skill RAM and AMD Phenom 945 CPU. God knows how those two would break while the motherboard survives. OS is Win7 x64)
6If someone has physical access to your machine they can do anything they want to it, resetting passwords is trivial. Calling them a hacker or getting mad is kinda silly. If you are worried about your data, don't give your computer to someone else to fix, and/or use full-disk-encryption like Truecrypt, so they cannot possibly access anything. – Zoredache – 2010-11-16T20:11:30.453
4Windows Passwords are like locks on your front door; they keep honest people out. – Chris S – 2010-11-16T20:24:58.697
This isn't something to get upset about they needed access to your account so they could fix it for you. As Randolph said below when you change hardware like the CPU you have to call Windows and have them re-verify your account. – 에이바 – 2010-11-17T20:01:19.907