I didn't know which forum to post this in , but I'm talking about W7 Home Premium 64-bit , so ..... As many will know , Admin is not the highest level in Windows . There are processes which run as "System " which the user ( probably the owner of the hardware ) has no control over. Look at Task Manager , for example , and check the box that says "Show processes from all users ". I noticed that to modify some of these processes requires a password which is 15 "asterisks" long. It is most certainly not one that I have ever set. None of the usual tools for extracting hidden passwords on your own system will reveal it ( eg. NirSoft ) I've been told that PsExec from Sysinternals can get around this obstacle ... but I haven't tried yet ! This is starting to bug me . It is my machine and M$ is merely a guest , and often an unwelcome one ! .... and probably not for much longer .... Can anyone supply further info on this ?