Locked out of Hotmail, shut down the laptop, pin not working, now stuck on a recovery loop.

Question

Locked out of hotmail, to many trys to log in.

Now pin wont work.

Stuck in recovery loop.
Will a USB recovery drive help me get in to copy files to a hard drive? Don't want to take a chance on loosing any data.

Answer 1

If you are locked out of your Hotmail account and your PIN is not working, you may find yourself in a recovery loop. In this situation, a USB recovery drive can be helpful for accessing your files, provided that your system allows you to boot from the USB drive. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Create a USB Recovery Drive: If you have access to another computer, you can create a USB recovery drive using the Windows recovery media creation tool.
2. Boot from the USB Drive: Insert the USB drive into your locked laptop and restart it. You may need to change the boot order in the BIOS/UEFI settings to boot from the USB drive.
3. Access Recovery Options: Once booted from the USB recovery drive, you can choose options to troubleshoot or repair your system, which may allow you to access your files.
4. Copy Files: If you can access the file system, you can copy your important files to another external drive or cloud storage to ensure you do not lose any data.

Keep in mind that if your drive is encrypted with BitLocker, you will need the recovery key to access the files. If you encounter any issues with the recovery process, you may want to consult the relevant documentation or seek assistance from a professional.

---

References:

• BitLocker recovery overview
• BitLocker recovery process