Password Denied/Email Address Not Recognized???

[Colin Law]

2009/10/5 Jim Kvarnberg <jimkvg at 3web.com>:
>
>   I pushed power button to turn PC on.  Then it booted up to GRUB
> list.  I clicked on Ubuntu 9.10 line and hit ENTER key.  It booted up to
> "welcome to ubuntu screen.  When "Log In List" box popped up on the
> screen, I clicked on my username and typed in password abcde123 and hit
> ENTER.  "Authenication failure" popped up and nothing I could go
> further.   I repeated this several times, but nothing happened.
>  Then I restarted my PC and when it came to GRUB list, I clicked on
> Ubuntu 9.04 line and hit ENTER.  Ubuntu 9.04 opened up ok.  It doesn't
> have a Log In List.  When I clicked Adminstation under System and I
> clicked Update Manager. It opened and I typed in password abcde321 (note
> that password is different  from the above). I hit ENTER and then the
> box greyed out - wrong password.  I then typed in the Ubuntu 9.10
> password - abcde123 and hit ENTER.  It opened!
>  Password abcde123 was made for Ubuntu 9.10 and password abcde321 was
> made for Ubuntu 9.04 when they were installed.
>  Isn't it weird?  I can't open Ubuntu 9.10 at all because of
> authenication failure.  I use only Ubuntu 9.04 to go into the system
> without problem.
>  Colin, am I clear now?  Jim

Right, got it.

Firstly on 9.04 the fact that it does not ask for a user and password
implies that you have set it up for autologin.  I cannot explain how
the password has apparently changed for that boot.  If you have
multiple users setup are you automatically logged in as the user that
you expect?  Are you sure you did not get confused about which boot
you were using at some point and change the passwords yourself?  You
can, of course, change it back to the original if you wish.

On 9.10 again I do not know why your previous password no longer
works.  To reset the password so you can use 9.10 again see
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LostPassword.  9.10 is of course
still at a Beta release and cannot be relied on to be a stable
platform.

Colin

Colin