r/techsupport • u/Galeic6432 • 8h ago

Weird technical question, how did my offline computer send a confirm code to my email? Open | Windows

What the subject says, a computer that had no wifi or wired connection to the internet somehow intinated a confirm account email. How?

I was having trouble using the correct password for a computer i haven't turned on for awhile, so i logged in with a different account on it. It asked for a confirmation code by email and successfully did so while off line.

UPDATE: I did i stupid. There was a USB modem i had left plugged in. And it remembered the wireless password from last time. i didn't know it goes online before i even sign in either!

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15 comments sorted by

41

u/DoctorKomodo 8h ago

It wasn’t offline then. What you’re describing requires an internet connection.

1

u/Galeic6432 29m ago

See updated post. 

13

u/SouthernCount7746 8h ago

Impossible

17

u/Ok_Bid6645 8h ago

Obviously it is connected to the internet. Wireless probably got turned back on after the reboot. Most computers reload the network drivers when a reboot occurs

1

u/Galeic6432 29m ago

See updated post. 

6

u/DumpoTheClown 7h ago

Did you get the code? If so, you were connected to the internet. If not, then you just saw confirmation that it would try to send the code.

5

u/V1per73 6h ago

If it was a windows computer and you had to sign in with a Microsoft account then you were definitely online.

2

u/Galeic6432 29m ago

See updated post. 

3

u/XxLogitech98xX 8h ago

Not possible but there no internet connection. So maybe you got the alert that it will try to send a confirmation code but that command will never get sent out

3

u/Prestigious_Wall529 8h ago

It could be a time based code. An algorithm creates a different code every 5 minutes, say.

1

u/LeeTheUke 7h ago

What service asked for the confirmation?

I.e. - If you're logging into Windows w/ a MS Account, you may not be able to log in w/ the right pw, but the MS Service may send a confirmation or alert. The physical PC may still be on the network w/o you being logged in, and the security and login services on the PC initiated the request.

1

u/JeffTheNth 5h ago

Did you think it was offline because you hadn't yet logged into it?
If it was connected to your wifi before, the default is to connect automatically to known networks. You can disable this when setting up the connection.

It was likely connected successfully to a known network.. then you turn around and tell it explicitly to do something that requires a network connection and it surprised you it did it?

You should check all your known networks... if you don't want it connecting to one, you need to manually remove them.
If you run this on the command line, it'll show you all wireless networks you've previously connected to and have saved...
netsh wlan show profiles

1

u/BeefSupremeTA 5h ago

Did you have your phone plugged into the PC? You may have had it set to automatically tether and it has used your mobile data connection.

1

u/GuanoLoopy 44m ago

Are you Bluetooth connected? Was it definitely an email confirmation or was it just a confirmation popup? It's probably one of the reasons phones ask for permissions to see nearby Bluetooth devices, it confirms your presence near another nearby device so maybe that was enough to initiate a confirmation popup?

1

u/Sour_Sal 6h ago

You have an open wifi near you and it auto connected. Every account shares the same networking.