Pin Sign in won't work, no option for using other sign in method or for changing pin

Question

Pin Sign in won't work, no option for using other sign in method or for changing pin

Anonymous

Hi, I cannot get into my account on my laptop. It said that my pin was incorrect (90% sure it was not incorrect). Now it has locked me out, there is no option on the sign in screen to reset my pin/forgot my pin, nor is there the option to use a different sign in method. This means that I am completely locked out of my laptop.

I saw a post on here advising to open the command centre and create a new admin account which I have done. It then went onto to say to delete a folder through the command centre however that is not working and comes up with an error. It has also said to go into settings and other users to change the password that way, however when I do that, there is no option to change the password/pin for other users.

I have tried many different command prompts in the command centre and scoured the internet for a solution to this as I really can''t/would like to avoid resetting the whole laptop and losing all my files.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

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Answer 1

Hello, this is Emily.

What type of account is the one you have trouble with? Is it a personal Microsoft account used for Windows login? If so, try this:

On the sign in page you are stuck on, click on the power icon on the lower right, hold down Shift key while you choose the restart option. This should boot the computer into WinRe environment.

Now, choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.

In the command prompt window, type in "regedit" to launch the Registry Editor.

In the Registry Editor, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

Now on the menu bar, click on File > Load Hive.

In the pop up file selection window, go to This PC > C: drive > Windows > System32 > Config > Software. (Very imporant, it is C drive, not X drive). This should trigger a pop up box. Please enter "1234" for the Keyname.

Back to the Registry Editor, Go to this path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\1234\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device

Now on the right pane double click on "DevicePasswordBuildVersion", and change the data to 0.

You can now restart the computer. And you will now find the "sign in options" to click on, and choose Sign in with Microsoft account, and please use the same Microsoft account you had been using and its credential to sign in.