Machine troubleshooting

Fixes for the most common machine-setup problems on Windows and Linux.

Activate the "Administrator" user (Windows)

If the Administrator account is missing or disabled:

1. Log in with RDP using the credentials from your hosting provider.
2. Open Computer Management (Start → type it → Enter).
3. Go to Local Users and Groups → Users.
4. Right-click Administrator → Properties and uncheck Account is disabled.
5. Right-click Administrator → Set Password and set the password from your provider.
6. Sign out and log back in as Administrator to confirm it works.

Change the language to English (Windows)

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Set-WinSystemLocale -SystemLocale en-US
Set-WinUILanguageOverride -Language en-US

Then restart the machine. After the reboot the system is in English and ready to connect.

Change the language to English (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales   # choose en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
sudo reboot
# confirm after reboot:
echo $LANG   # → en_US.UTF-8

Machine won't connect

• Confirm port 22 is open on the machine firewall and reachable from the internet.
• Windows: make sure the preparation script ran and the machine rebooted (it enables SSH).
• Double-check the IP, username and password — re-enter them on the connect screen.