Passwords

There are two types of Windows Logon Profiles. There is a
1. Local Account, where you choose your User Name and Password. This account is not associated with the Microsoft Store, or Apps and other online activity. If you forget your password, you will have a hard time being able to login and reset it.
2. Microsoft Account, this is usually your Email address and Password, this associates with Microsoft and can Sync all of your other Microsoft devices, Email, Apps, Store etc. If you forgot your Password, you can try and login to https://account.microsoft.comTry to use your old password, if that fails, press the Forgot Password button. It will ask your security questions. If you linked your Smart Phone with your account, it will text you a code to login with
If the computer is offline and you type in the wrong or new password, the computer will say "Your Computer is offline, please sign in with your Last Password"
[FIXED] “Your Computer is Offline Please Sign In With The Last Password” Windows 10

James,

James1093 said:

If the Microsoft one and it's changed how does the computer know of the change? Especially if not connected to the net.

You will need to be connected to the internet in order to change an MSAccount-linked user account's password.
Change passwords of Local and MSAccounts - TenForumsTutorials

It can be useful to create an additional [spare] password-protected, local, Admin user account so that you can be certain of being able to get into the computer if password changes or user profile corruption ever inhibited your ability to log in to your day-to-day user account.
Add Local Account or Microsoft Account - TenForumsTutorials
Change to Admin account type - TenForumsTutorials

I always write down all passwords somewhere secure yet accessible. Writing down their passwords is as effective as & is a lot cheaper than making 'Password reset disks' [which are only for local accounts anyway]. I always write user account passwords down on a strip of paper that I keep inside one of those dog nametag cylinder things attached to my main keyring -

Here's a [UK] link for some example ID tags https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pet-Barrel-.../dp/B00DEB1JVQ There are lots of available choices but I bought ones that, like these, have a slot in the bottom for me to swing off so I can be confident they won't come apart accidentally while I'm out & about.

I get the impression that people who take this precaution just create one additional account.
- I created one and I use it routinely for fault investigation. This means that my day-to-day account does not have any unnecessary additional access permissions and this limits how far malware could spread if I was infected.
- I created the second because it occurred to me that, since I was using the first spare one sometimes, I might mess it up. I appreciate that this is probably overkill. I have never used the second one so its profile should never be corrupted.

James1093 said:

I know you can have a Windows password and a Microsoft Account which has one also.

User accounts have passwords not Windows itself. Other things can also have passwords.


Denis

James1093 said:

If the Microsoft one and it's changed how does the computer know of the change?

Windows Hello - credentials are stored offline, if it detects an online change, it will ask you to confirm it.
The advantage is, that you can login without knowing a password by simply using an authentication app.
I have 100+ characters long password, upon setup Windows asked me, if it is me, I said yes & that was it.

James,

If you do that it will overwrite the whole of the disk's contents.

Are you currently able to log into any user account on the computer?
What do you know about the user accounts that exist on this computer?

There are solutions that will achieve what you want but the current state of play needs to be understood before any valid advice can be given.

Denis

James,

You could boot from an installation USB [which you might have already or can easily make], enable the "Built-in Admin" account, use that to create another Admin user account [local, password-protected] that will enable you to make normal use of the computer and to retrieve its contents.

If you want to proceed then I can post the list of relevant TenForumsTutorials to guide you through each stage. I'll be back online later today [it's 01:30 here].

Denis

James1093 said:

Wow Denis that's amazing. I was almost certain it would be a lost cause....

You're in good hands with Denis, I'll leave him to lead you through the steps.

What I will say is that I was in the same situation with the laptop of my cousin's deceased spouse.

If the user account is a local account then its password can be reset. You can recognise a local account as it will just show an account name at the sign in screen (not an email address). Other accounts on the PC (if any) will be listed in the lower left part of the sign in screen. You can try signing in to them by clicking on them.

If you see an email address then it's using a Microsoft account. which won't be possible to reset. MS will be reluctant to let you reset the password of someone else's MS account, and without that it isn't possible to turn the MS account into a local account.

Unfortunately in my case there was only one account and it was a Microsoft account. My solution was to create a second local account and make it an administrator. From there I could gain access to the original user account's user files and retrieve everything important.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll end up saving all you need.
,