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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Password and PIN hell....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Hi all. I have a very tricky problem. Laptop belonging to a resident at local retirement village, I needed to reboot the machine for something, but then it asks for a PIN to login to Windows. The resident insists they never needed to ever do that before, and they could well be right as the laptop is most likely setup to sleep when you close the lid or press the power button, so it ALWAYS remains logged in if you see what I am getting at. Anyway, tried heaps of different PIN number, none work, so we tried the "Forgotten your PIN?" option, which takes you away to login to the email address associated with that machine - for which the resident can't remember that either, so we are now snookered there also. Following the link from THERE to forgotten passwords, it wants to either email a code to her(not going to work, as can't get into computer, and can't login to her email anyway even if we could, cos that password is forgotten also), text a code to her cellphone - that she does not have anymore, so can't get a code that way either. The only option now left, is to follow a link to a complete reset using another email address that you CAN access, which is how I plan to proceed, but does anyone have any other suggestions before I have to go through all this drama? Perhaps people know of a tool to bypass the PIN or something like that? Many other residents at the village also have computers or laptops with PIN numbers or passwords, but they generally have that info all written down in a notebook so they don't forget what it is, but this resident has no idea what a PIN or password for Windows even is, cos she has never needed to enter it - as I said, the machine will just sleep when she closes the lid or presses the power button, so it never logs out of that account, but a full reboot means we're now stuck at this point. Also called her son in case he knew what it was, but he has no idea either. Anyone got any suggestions to try at this point other then the large lump hammer I am thinking of hitting the bloody thing with?  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Turbo46 Guru  Joined: 24/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1642 |
Hi Grogster, I used this program for a friend who forgot her password for the laptop and her Microsoft account: https://www.lazesoft.com/forgot-windows-admin-password-recovery-freeware.html It makes a bootable USB stick and allows you to set a new password. I set the logon AND password to her first name. If she forgets that then she's in trouble  Not sure if you can change the PIN without knowing it but you can create a new account with a PIN and delete the old one. I took a bit of mucking around to sus out exactly what to do but we got there in the end. Hope it helps. Bill Keep safe. Live long and prosper. |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Someone changed the password on one of my office PCs before leaving the company. Found some utility on the net and bypassed it easily. This was a few years ago and I don't remember the name of the app but I remember it being no big deal. Craig |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7937 |
I know it's possible because I did it for the widow of a friend who had recently died. It was some info I found on the web and it was remarkably easy (and spoiled my trust in Windows passwords) but it was a good few years ago now and I've slept since then. Sorry... Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5089 |
Try an empty pin ( just type enter when asked). When you set up W10 with an empty password, it does nor ask. Except when you need to do something that requires admin rights. But then still use the empty password. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| ryanm Senior Member  Joined: 25/09/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 203 |
I've got an IT business Grog, easily sortable. I use a USB stick with the Windows installer on it. Just google "Windows 10 ease of access password reset" and you should come up with good instructions. I'm assuming Bill's program does the same thing with less steps, but personally I can't run random software on other peoples' (or buinesses') computers. Probably fine though. Depends on your risk tolerance. |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7937 |
You can do it by booting with a linux stick/disk and hacking the registry, of course. :) Any use? https://pureinfotech.com/remove-login-password-windows-10/ https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/remove-password-from-windows-10/fea35c24-a4ca-4dd0-8a3a-5ae6798f096b Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Thanks chums.  Before I try any kind of Linux/registry hacking idea, I will try out the Lazesoft recovery tool linked to by Bill. YouTube has some good videos showing how that works, so thanks for making me aware of that tool, Bill.  I will also try just pressing ENTER for the PIN and if that does not work, just pressing ENTER for the password option first. If that gets me nowhere, then I will use the USB tool. PIN numbers on Windoze are a pain in the arse, frankly. Simply cos that links your PC, to a Microsoft account which just allows MS to lock you further into using only their products and services. I HATE sign-in with a MS account, and I note that pretty much ALL W11 machines now do it that way by default. I seem to recall reading how you can reverse-engineer that on W11, but the DEFAULT concept, is to always logon with a MS account. Bah.....   Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
I wonder if this is any good MS don't approve of it so it might be awesome  Craig |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7937 |
Something of a Babel fish. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1233 |
maybee this helps :-) Kon-Boot (aka kon boot, konboot) is an application which will silently bypass the authentication process of Windows based operating systems https://kon-boot.com/docs/ If there is no other tool, like Bitlocker encryption aktive, you boot from a USB Stick, this starts and boots windows, waiting in the background for the login dialog. When the login Dialog comes, you can type in evrey password you like and you are logged in. You dont even have to change the Password, if you want to keep the system untouched. Edited 2022-10-20 00:52 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Grogster said Big Brother and I hate it also. Edited 2022-10-20 06:48 by palcal "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2566 |
I used konboot once. Can not remember why but it worked on win ? can not remember |
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| Turbo46 Guru Joined: 24/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1642 |
I had a similar problem with my Surface Pro. I could not get updates because of a corrupted file. Windows could find it but couldn't tell me what it was  I refreshed windows from another source and ended up with "OTHER USER" at the logon. This means there is no user account so I couldn't log in The Lazesoft tool couldn't help because it didn't have the driver for the SSD I found this procedure on a Microsoft site: Was it that simple? Of course not! I had to enter the humongous bit locker code from my Microsoft account first But it did work out in the end. That may be useful in your case Grogster if you don't need a bit locker code. Bill Keep safe. Live long and prosper. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Just an update for those wondering what happened. Reset the Windoze password using the Lazesoft recovery boot USB tool thing to nuke the existing password. As the old account was Admin anyway(we just could not get past the PIN thing), now that I had access I was then able to DISABLE the PIN login thing without having to create a new account or anything, and wipe the password so the machine boots directly to the desktop. She told me the PIN was ALWAYS on the laptop since she had the machine, so I fully expect the PIN was set by whoever in her family setup the machine when it was new, cos that IS one of the steps in a new install - they try to force a PIN linked to your MS account on you at logon. As we all know, there are way to bypass that at the time, but if you enter a PIN number during Windozs setup, then Windoze will use that forever from that point on. So, everything is fine now, and no feckin' PIN's or passwords to deal with anymore. Special thanks once again to Bill for making me aware of the Lazesoft thing, as I did not know about it before it was mentioned here. I see they do a very good full suite of recovery type tools etc, and the price is very reasonable for business use, so I am seriously considering buying a copy of this for my PC service toolkit. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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