The FreeiPodGuide Forums

[JennyWren]

Why the fuck does Microsoft strive to frustrate its users in every way possible? How is it that when doing something with Apple, if you get stuck the solution is so easy to figure out, yet Microsoft seems to hire special staff just to obfuscate the solutions to the vast number of problems they have written into their software?

GRAR!

Anyhow, yeah, so I'm trying to install Windows Server 2008 on a spare system that I have, and I get to the part where it wants me to create a password but it refuses to accept any password I give it, saying "Unable to update the password. The value provided for the new password does not meet the length, complexity, or history requirements of the domain".

But of course, it doesn't ANYWHERE state what these requirements ARE so I'm left trying a bunch of stuff, googling, etc etc etc, getting increasingly frustrated. I find some forum threads which suggest that you must include 3 out of the following 4 categories:

capital letters
lowercase letters
numbers
special symbols

and I try this, but no luck. Finally I come up with some completely bogus password that includes all 4 of those categories, and it works. WTF, Microsoft? Would it be so hard to say "you need at least one of each of these in your password" SOMEWHERE so that your users know this?

Using a Windows system makes me unhappy, and makes me feel stupid.
Using a Mac makes me happy, and makes me feel smart.

MS YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG!

[phriq]

I actually am an Employee of Microsoft. and honost to god I can feel your frustration..... at the same time, MAC may be easier, but it does only work with about 10% of the software out there, .... so ease of use or compatibility. I actaully just work on Microsoft's Dynamics GP Accouting software, but i completely agree with you. it would be niceif there was a balance between the to monopoly's

[ILoveToys]

[phriq]

[ILoveToys]

I was just actually messing around....I got your point...

[TravMan162]

yeah if he was serious there were far more offensive grammar errors in that post than that one

[guelah75]

i think the password requirements are pretty standard for server edition of windows, though I feel your pain with microsoft in general

[JennyWren]

My problem isn't with the requirements, it's the fact that a) they don't state the requirements when you have to enter a password, b) they don't state the requirements AFTER you don't enter a password which meets their requirements.

I dunno, I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it seems like the more MS tries to make things better for their users, the more they lose sight of what people really want.

[Twon]

[JennyWren]

Example: I need to download the northwind database from MSDN to do some experimenting with tutorials. A quick search brings me to the MS page to download it:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e719ecf7-9f46-4312-af89-6ad8702e4e6e&DisplayLang=en

What's there to download? A PDF telling me that the source code has moved, and a link to the new location. Why the heck do I need to download and read a PDF to get this information? They should remove the download link.

[CollidgeGraduit]

From the page you pasted..

Overview
SQL Server code samples and sample databases are now hosted on CodePlex. Codeplex is the project hosting site for Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects. The portal page for SQL Server on Codeplex catalogs samples included with Product Releases, samples from the community, and independent SQL Server Community projects.

Visit the SQL Server Samples and Community Projects page on CodePlex at:

http://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples