Well....whoever said computers cannot think for themselves is a "expletive deleted".
I re-encountered a snag with my ForceFeedback joystick...so telephoned Microsoft helpline...EXTREMELY helpful...ran through "safe mode" got joystick working perfectly...then I mentioned the "password" thing.
Nice helpful man talked me through, button by button....restarted and ALL CLEAR - pressed some buttons to get original settings.....and I now have...A HUMONGOUS SYSTEM TRAY FULL OF SMALL ICONS.
Read message 1 of this thread .... and stop laughing.
Max - you may need medical help if you laugh at this as much as I expect you to.
(If I knew how to put one of those little laughing faces here, I would).