I'm currently locked out of my Win7 laptop. I was allowed to take my work laptop with me when I left, but after 6 months away it started complaining that Windows needed to be activated. I tried connecting with my workplace over VPN, but now I am locked out.
CASE HISTORY
Received the Win7 Enterprise laptop from my workplace. I log in as WIN\myusername, and the login was independent of Internet access. (Edit: The laptop was joined to the workplace domain.)
When I left the IT office allowed me to take the laptop with me. (Not company policy, so a bit hush-hush.) I still needed to log in to use Windows.
6 months later Windows alerts me that it needs activation. Similar issues with the licensed copies of Photoshop and Illustrator.
Used the login of a former colleague and current employee (with his accept!) and establed a Cisco VPN connection with my former workplace. Windows complained that the VPN username was different from the Windows username. Was asked to log out and log in again (which I didn't immediately do).
Woke the laptop up from hibernation. Upon entering my credentials I just got: 'There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request.'
ATTEMPTED WORKAROUND
Booted from a Linux USB drive and salvaged all the really important files.
Swapped the Ease of Access button with cmd.exe, so I have a access to command prompt from the logon screen. However, I seem to be using a system account (localisation is not working, so most commands also yield lots of error messages), and most programs just won't start due to: '::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683} The server process could not be started because the configured identity is incorrect. Check the username and password.'
I have Internet access and can create a desktop (cmd -> explorer.exe -> some generic desktop is created).
I suspected Active Directory was the culprit. Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> User Profiles -> Settings... showed 3 accounts (Account unknown @ 27 gigabytes, Default profile @ 23 megabytes, and MACHINENAME\Administrator @ 35 megabytes), but all were 'local'.
Contemplating if TRK's (Trinity rescue kit) ability to reset the Windows password is the way to go, but I don't know what password is being reset and what it does for me. So now I ask you: How do I proceed from here?
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO
Since all accounts were local I suspect AD is not the culprit?! It seems like my login needs to be confirmed from a domain server at my previous workplace, but they surely must have deleted my profile on their end.
A. Gain access with admin rights.
B. Use admin rights to convert the machine from its domain server-seeking state to a 'local' state. Ideally I'd like to retain all the software; I can do without Illustrator and Photoshop, if needed.
Any ideas on how to do this? Windows' user account management is foreign territory to me, so I have no idea on how to approach this problem.