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NOTE: Very much of this question is part of the challenge, and exact wording sometimes matters. Please do not edit "For clarity" without ensuring that your edit does not disturb the puzzle.

When you log into your computer, an alert pops up. It reads, "Your computer has been hacked. The system Destroys." You shut off your computer, and it comes back on. It pops up with a huge blue screen that says 14E2N340. But you know about computers. You restart your computer. This time, you hit the safe mode button. But when you log in, the same thing happens. But this time, there are four buttons below it, a password box, and a bit of text, which reads

When you click the buttons, they have passwords. When you click the correct button and enter the correct password, your computer is unlocked. But if it is wrong, your bank account will be hacked and your computer will self destruct.

You wonder if the numbers do anything. You click the four buttons. When you click one, an alert box pops up with a password. Here is what they said:

Red: PASSWORD
Blue: 123456
Green: 3:43id:-_k
Yellow: x74bdnd78

You bring your computer to the store, and they try to fix it. But nothing works. They reset the computer, but the whole process just restarts. They backup the hard drive and wipe it, but then the backup transfers the same virus to your other computer. What is the password?

Hint:

Very much of the puzzle is dependent on the text 14E2N340

Extra Hint:

The system Destroys

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    $\begingroup$ I'm sorry, some of this isn't clear. When you click a button, what happens? Does "Red=PASSWORD" appear on screen somewhere, is the button red and the matching password is "PASSWORD", or something else entirely? When you enter text into the password box, do you then press one of these buttons? $\endgroup$
    – Ian MacDonald
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 16:48
  • $\begingroup$ To clarify, when you click a button, it pops up with a password, which you enter into the text box. For red, the password is PASSWORD $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 17:39
  • $\begingroup$ So are we looking for four passwords, one for each button? Or does only one button lead to the password we're looking for? $\endgroup$
    – MikeQ
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 17:55
  • $\begingroup$ Each button has a password. You now what those passwords are. You use the other codes and info provided to find out which one is the right one. It's PASSWORD, 123456, 3:43id:-_k, or x74bdnd78. $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 18:18
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, and when you say "You wonder if the numbers do anything", which numbers are you referring to? $\endgroup$
    – MikeQ
    Commented May 11, 2018 at 18:58

5 Answers 5

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I noticed the text

The system Destroys

But

Destroys is capitalized!

So...

destroys
14E2N340
CAERULUS

Okay:

Take the top text, and subtract the number/letter below it.

After that, you get

CAERULUS

Which is

Latin for "BLUE"

So you get

123456

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  • $\begingroup$ Good job! How come we always end up answering each other's questions? $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ @RedwolfPrograms - the language tag would have been appropriate here... $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 14:03
  • $\begingroup$ @Phylyp sure, if I wanted to give away half the question... $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 14:53
  • $\begingroup$ Plus, a machine can't solve it because it's not designed to look for latin! $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 14:53
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This not really an answer , but :

maybe the answer is:

Blue: 123456

because:

14E2N340

14E2 from HEX to OCT is 12342, But i don't know about N340 ,

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, incorrect $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 12, 2018 at 3:54
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The password is:

x74bdnd78

because

"When you click the right button and enter the right password, your computer is unlocked." Assuming that the buttons are aligned left-to-right in the order Red-Blue-Green-Yellow, the Yellow button is the one on the right, the right button.

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    $\begingroup$ Sorry, not correct. I will change right to correct. Good guess, anyway! $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 12, 2018 at 21:42
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The password could be

123456

because

When we first turn on the computer, we see a blue screen. So perhaps we should enter the password associated with the blue button.

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  • $\begingroup$ Hmm, interesting. Sorry, not correct. $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 13, 2018 at 23:39
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You click the red button because that's how you input the password. And then you input password

OR

You click the yellow button, because Red, Blue, And Green are the primary colors found in pixels so yellow is the odd one out, so you type x74bdnd78

OR

You click the green button because green isn't prime color, so you put in Green: 3:43id:-_k

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  • $\begingroup$ Or you choose blue since that's left out and feeling lonely :-) $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Commented May 13, 2018 at 17:48
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, none of your ideas were correct (Including yours, @Phylyp). But they are all good guesses $\endgroup$
    – rydwolf
    Commented May 13, 2018 at 23:38

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