Google hoodoo voodoo

[GTP]

On Friday I updated a clients laptop to 1803.
Client was concerned that Skype wouldn't work afterward (sixth sense?) so I assured him all would be ok as long as the supplied info was correct.
So before the upgrade I logged in to Skype while he was there using his existing gmail address that he's been using for Skype for about 5 years, just to make sure the credentials were ok...all good!
Fabs'd his data and settings (including Skype) and did the upgrade.
All went smoothly, no issues at all.

Shutdown PC and put it on the shelf waiting for collection.

Today the client phoned to say he was coming to collect the PC, so just to make sure everything was working I switched the PC on to "warm up."

After several minutes I opened Skype. All his contacts appeared, some of them were online even. No issues. Exited Skype.

Client arrives, so I fire up Skype to show him it works.
Entered clients details...All his contacts appeared for about 3 seconds then closed to the Skype login screen.

After several seconds churning it asked us to login?? Entered the gmail address... "Skype address unknown" ???
Did the obvious and made sure all spelling was correct, all good.
Retyped the gmail address again and hit next..."This address is unknown"... WTF!

Client entered the details...same thing!

After some discussion, he decided to just create another Skype account, so I hit "Create new."
"We noticed that you are trying to create a Skype account with <gmail address here> would you like to use this address?"

I click yes to proceed and it asked for a password. So I entered the same password as before and clicked next. "We sent an activation code to your email address <gmail>.com. FFS!
Ok, fire up the browser and enter gmail.com. Enter the gmail address..."This account is unknown" WTF!!!


TL;DR
Google allowed us to setup another account with the same username and password as before without any complaints whatsoever!
Unfortunately all his email (forunately, mostly rubbish) was gone, but the account was created and working with the same credentials as before.

Had to go back to Skype and send another verification code.

Skype now working with the same credentials as he had before, but no contacts.
Gmail working with the same credentials as before but no mail.

I hate Google and Microsoft....

 

[GTP]

I agree, but on this occasion I logged in to both his gmail and Skype accounts on Friday before doing the upgrade.
Both accounts were active and working.
Both accounts were active and working today, until they weren't.

What I don't understand is why both his Skype and gmail accounts were suddenly "unknown?"
Or why I was able to create new accounts with the same usernames and passwords that he had had for the past 5 years?

Very strange.

 

[GTP]

I created both the Skype account and the gmail account with the same usernames and passwords as before.
After going through the verification steps, both accounts were presented as NEW accounts. Neither had any content from before.
We even received the "Welcome to" Google and Skype messages that you get after signing up for a new account.

 

[AlexCa]

That's odd. A Gmail account won't simply disappear (personally I haven't see that happening before). The simplest explanation is that the second time that you and the client entered the email, it was wrong in some detail. Hence the fact that it didn't existed and that
you were able to create a new one. Or maybe the client deleted the account meanwhile using his phone or another computer?

PS: not directly related, but the Desktop version of Skype can still be installed on Windows 10 (I download it from Ninite website). I had recently an user that couldn't activate the self-view on Skype for Windows 10. I googled about it and it turned out to be a Skype for Windows 10 problem. Installed the desktop version, fixed.

 

[NJW]

Okay, here's a left-field theory. Check the keyboard layout for something that looks similar to what you would expect, but is different. I had a similar problem with Windows and a Turkish keyboard layout – what looked like a lower-case i was actually a completely different unicode character, or something like that. When the client bought a new computer locally, he couldn't get into anything that included this character in its login name or password.

Also, don't underestimate how destructive a Microsoft account can be (I'm sure you don't ... ) as it will bring along all sorts of settings that you weren't expecting. I just had a client who bought a new HP laptop and was dismayed to find, on restart, that it had turned into his old Toshiba. (His MS account had set the desktop wallpaper – trivial in this case, but beware.)

Don't ask my why you were able to log in to Skype at first, but not later. Have you tried Customer Support at Gmail or Skype? Oh, of course, that's the price of free services. Tant pis, as we say in these parts.

 

[GTP]

The simplest explanation is that the second time that you and the client entered the email, it was wrong in some detail.

No. the details were correct in every respect.

Or maybe the client deleted the account meanwhile using his phone or another computer?

The client was standing beside me the whole time.

 

[GTP]

Check the keyboard layout for something that looks similar to what you would expect

Good theory, but no. The EXACT username was offered back to us by both Skype and Gmail for creation as NEW accounts. Spelling was checked and verified as being exactly the same. The username is the clients name, no punctuation, numbers or symbols, so pretty hard to not spot a spelling mistake when looked at letter by letter.

 

[NJW]

The EXACT username was offered back to us by both Skype and Gmail for creation as NEW accounts.

That's my point, that the character glyphs may look the same (may even be the same glyph), but the unicode is different.

 

[GTP]

I don't have access to the computer now as the client has taken it, but I will do what you suggest.
Rest assured that both the client and I checked the username and password very thoroughly,
especially when they were offered as suggestions for new accounts by both Skype and Google. We both slowly and deliberately checked each letter to make sure they were the same.
It's the clients name, so surely he knows how to spell it.
And as for the password it was the same password as well. The password is his daughters "pet or nick" name with a number on the end corresponding to her birth date.
We both were puzzled and amazed that they were even offered because AFAIK you could not use an old or already taken username or password.
They were exactly the same username and password that the client has used for the last 5 years.
I have them recorded in the clients file as well, which I checked to make sure they were the same. (They were).

 

[Larry Sabo]

It would be interesting to restore the system to immediately before it did the hokey pokie after signing into Skype successfully initially, but I doubt there's a suitable restore point, if any. Really weird case. It reminds me of something similar where changes I made were promptly undone because of a back-up/restore/sync scheme gone awry.

 

[Alexey]

I would bet on difference between login_name and lоgin_namе. <--- if unicode works, these two examples are different by two characters (in case you did not notice).

Another thing, if they store passwords in some kind of a Word document, make sure the word processor does not auto-capitalize first letter (seen that). However, this does not apply to logins which are usually not case sensitive.

 

[Metanis]

Geographical location? Google Australia somehow separate and distinct?

 

[GTP]

I would bet on difference between login_name and lоgin_namе. <--- if unicode works, these two examples are different by two characters (in case you did not notice).

Then why would the original login details that have been used for 5 years for Skype allow login and be able - for both of us - to see the listed contacts, even though it was only for about 3 seconds before it went back to the login screen?
And why would this also affect the Gmail account even though the gmail username and password are exactly the same for both gmail and Skype??

I don't understand how his gmail account could be suddenly "unknown" nor why it let us use the exact same username and password to create two new accounts? (1 for Gmail and 1 for Skype)
Even his phone number was "unknown" when entered on the gmail login screen.

Another thing, if they store passwords in some kind of a Word document, make sure the word processor does not auto-capitalize first letter (seen that). However, this does not apply to logins which are usually not case sensitive.

His username is his real first and last name, so I doubt he would forget it. So it was not copied and pasted if that's what you're hinting at.
The password is his daughters pet or nickname with the date of her birth so I doubt he would forget that as well.
Besides Iv'e had the login details stored for at least 4 years, and they hadn't changed. That is they matched exactly what was typed and shown.
If there were some screwy keyboard characters at play we would have seen them when both Skype and Gmail offered them as new accounts.

 

[GTP]

It would be interesting to restore the system to immediately before it did the hokey pokie after signing into Skype successfully initially, but I doubt there's a suitable restore point, if any. Really weird case. It reminds me of something similar where changes I made were promptly undone because of a back-up/restore/sync scheme gone awry.

The weirdest thing is that we now have new accounts for Skype and Gmail, created with all the original usernames and passwords and verification procedures working as normal except that both Skype and Gmail have no content from the original accounts.
Got me beat....

 

[GTP]

Sent two messages at 10.00am today, one using the "reply to" feature, (Test 1) the other as a new message where I typed the address in. (Test 2)

Edit: I typed the address exactly as it appeared in the old email which is exactly as i typed it into the new message.

It's now 10.56am.
I have the credentials so I just logged in to his gmail account. There is one messsage from Barcelona Comp...(Test 2)
Test 1 has disappeared into the ether and I didn't get an "undeliverable message" prompt either?

 

[Alexey]

Now get the email addresses old and new by copy paste, save them into a text file, load the file into a hex editor, see if the addresses match.

 

[GTP]

Then your client has two separate Gmail accounts with different names (and presumably two Skype accounts to match).

We can all relax now!

Ok?
So why did Skype allow me to login, make sure it was working before the client arrived, then allow me to login again while the client stood beside me (albeit for 3 seconds) then tell us that there was no account with that username in both Skype and Gmail?
We are using the same username and password he's had for the past 5 years?
And why would the username that he's been using for 5 years suddenly be unknown and offered back to us for creation as a new account on both skype and gmail?
Logging in with those details gives us the new account on both Skype and Gmail.
If he had "two separate Gmail and Skype accounts with different names" then what is the "other name?"

And surely the verification process would have alerted us that the account/s were already in use.

 

[GTP]

But that doesn't explain this.

"So why did Skype allow me to login, make sure it was working before the client arrived, then allow me to login again while the client stood beside me (albeit for 3 seconds) then tell us that there was no account with that username in both Skype and Gmail?"

 

[GTP]

 

[NJW]

... even though it was only for about 3 seconds before it went back to the login screen?

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