Locked Out - Login Screen

aeneas1 · 20 Apr 2021

I've always bypassed the login screen using netplwz, have done this forever, but I recently changed my password in netplwz (as i,ve done many times in the past) , rebooted, and now I get the login screen with a message that the incorrect password is being used.... when I enter my updated password it still reports incorrect, and when I try any past passwords I get the same incorrect message....

I'm staring to panic here, I simply can't get into my desktop PC (windows 10 pro, latest updates), I've been plugging in passwords for the last hour and have even tried a couple of "fixes" found on the net but no love...

Is there any hope? any help would be greatly appreciated..... btw, when I changed / updated my password in netplwz it seemed to have created another user account on the login screen, I now see two, my original with the original avatar and a new one with the stock / default avatar... both have the same name and when I reboot it defaults to the new account with the stock avatar.... I have acees to both accounts on the login screen and passwords do not work for either account, both report incorrect passworc

Try3 · 20 Apr 2021

aeneas1 said:

when I changed / updated my password in netplwz it seemed to have created another user account on the login screen, I now see two, my original with the original avatar and a new one with the stock / default avatar... both have the same name and when I reboot it defaults to the new account with the stock avatar.... I have acees to both accounts on the login screen and passwords do not work for either account, both report incorrect passworc

A brief aside - This part of your problem is a known symptom. It hasn't really created a new account, it just looks that way at the moment. If you were still able to log in then you could fix it by stopping the netplwiz login bypass then setting it up again.

1 I recommend enabling the Built-In Admin account,
log in to the Built-In Admin,
create a new, local password-protected Admin account & write the password down somewhere secure yet accessible] - see my detailed guidance,
returning to netplwiz and cancelling the login bypass [i.e. forcing all accounts to have to log in - Sign in User Account Automatically - TenForumsTutorials],
reboot to test the new account's login,
disable the Built-In Admin account.

2 This will allow you to get into your computer again. You can now investigate your password problem. I suspect that you will have to use your new Admin account to reset your normal account's password. This is unfortunate because it can remove internet automatic logins so you'll have a bit of work to do afterwards. When you have resolved all this you should be able to use netplwiz again to enable automatic login for your normal account.

3 That new, local password-protected Admin account can then just sit there ready for the next user-account-related difficulty.

Denis

aeneas1 · 20 Apr 2021

thank you very much for your reply!

I tried your first step but I can't access the command prompt using recovery options because a password is requested, even if I try a system restore I can't because a password is requested.

the new account that appears on the login screen offers signin options (my normal account doesn't), one of the options is using my Microsoft account credentials, but when I try I'm told the credentials are wrong even though I know for certain that they're correct

Try3 · 20 Apr 2021

The link should take you straight to Option 5 [enabling it at boot] and this does not need a password.

Denis

aeneas1 · 20 Apr 2021

Try3 · 20 Apr 2021

Those screen photos are not of a boot from an install USB. Booting from the Install USB does not require a password.

The procedure you need to follow is explained in the link I posted.

Denis

aeneas1 · 20 Apr 2021

yes, the screenshots were an effort to show what I've been seeing since being locked out, will look at the procedures again, thanks

TairikuOkami · 20 Apr 2021

What happens, when you click on Reset Password?

If it is MS account password, you can reset it.
If it is a local password, you can change ii again.

Bypass Windows Logons with the Utilman.exe Trick

Open Command Prompt at Boot in Windows 10

aeneas1 · 20 Apr 2021

so I'm still locked out..... successfully enabled the built-in admin using option 5 of the tutorial but now I have 3 accounts asking for passwords instead of 2, argh.... any help would be very much appreciated

- - - Updated - - -

TairikuOkami said:

What happens, when you click on Reset Password?

If it is MS account password, you can reset it.
If it is a local password, you can change ii again.

Bypass Windows Logons with the Utilman.exe Trick

Open Command Prompt at Boot in Windows 10

it asks that you insert a rescue thumb drive that contains your login credentials backup, something I don't have.

- - - Updated - - -

can anyone suggest another approach to get back into PC? it would be greatly appreciated.

Try3 · 20 Apr 2021

aeneas1 said:

so I'm still locked out..... successfully enabled the built-in admin using option 5 of the tutorial but now I have 3 accounts asking for passwords instead of 2, argh.... any help would be very much appreciated

The Built-In Admin password is empty so you can log in to it without entering anything in the password input box.

Denis