Windows 10: System Image Restore Is Not Recognizing My Password

Your signing in password and your Microsoft account password are different.
If you have a Skype account that is the same as the M$ password as they are integrated.

Type credentials in Cortana search box....it will reveal all saved passwords when you click on show.....assuming you have saved any.

TexasBandit said:

When I try to do a System Image Restore and enter my password, the message says the password is incorrect. It's the same password that I use successfully to logon to Windows. I do not understand why it is not accepted by System Image Restore when the very same password allows me to logon to Windows.

@TexasBandit At last! Someone else who has this problem (I was beginning to think I was the only one).

Let me expand on that for the benefit of other readers. One way to do a system image restore is to go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery and select Advanced start-up. When it reboots you can select Troubleshooting then System image restore. It's when System Image Restore starts that you are asked to choose an administrator account and give the password before you can continue.

I have had this problem of no passwords being accepted, also in 1511 (coincidence?). I never found out why, probably something corrupt in the recovery environment. In the end...

...The inability of the 1511's recovery environment to handle passwords I fixed by going back to the beginning and starting over. I restored the original Windows 7 image then upgraded it to Windows 10 (1511) all over again. This time round its recovery environment worked as it should have in the first place...

... I still have no idea how 1511's RE got corrupted and ceased to recognise passwords. I'd still be interested to hear if anyone else has seen this obscure problem, and if so could you fix it?

Multiple System Images using Backup & Restore - advice?

There is of course another way to start a system image restore. Make a recovery drive and boot from that. Unlike booting into the system's own recovery environment you will not be asked for an account or password.

I am hesitant to go to the Creators Update with this problem.

On the test PC in that thread I linked to I had upgraded the faulty 1511 image to 1607 before I realised it had a problem. The 1607 recovery environment then handled passwords successfully.

Of course, this in turn cast doubt on my 1607 image as that had been made by upgrading the old 1511 one. To be safe, it too had to be done again.

I tried to do system restore & got stuck with the incorrect password problem, same password accepted when logging into my MS account. I restored via Macrium image instead, logged in with pin & changed my password.