"Your password was changed on a different device"....

hsehestedt · 17 Feb 2023

This may be a little awkward, because it is not me running into this issue. It is a friend of a friend, which means it may take me a little while to get answers to questions and I currently have limited info.

Here is the situation:

This person normally logs onto Windows 10 using a PIN. Today, they are suddenly getting a message that reads like this:

"Your password changed on a different device. You must sign in to this device once with your new password, and then you can sign in with your PIN."

"Your password was changed on a different device"....-image1.jpg

He is not certain whether he logs on using a local account or his Windows account. Since it says that the password was changed on another device, we believe that it must be his Microsoft account. However, the odd part is that he can go to his phone, go to the Microsoft Live Web Site, and log onto his Microsoft account using his password, so the password has clearly NOT changed. Also, this is his only computer so he has nowhere else that he would have changed his password.

It does not appear that he has any other Admin level user account on this Windows 10 system.

Has anyone encountered this before and, more importantly, is anyone aware of a workaround to this issue?

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

Hannes,

It could, of course, be a symptom of user profile corruption. There's no telling.

I'm afraid that you cannot dismiss the idea that the problem is an MS glitch.
Only a few months ago they started telling many of us that they had detected several logins / failed login attempts and that we ought to change our passwords. This went on for a month before they realised that the incidents were an MS robot they had wandering around their systems doing something or other.

One possible workaround would be to create another account [a local, password-protected, Admin user account] so that the user can get suitable access to the computer.
- This would also be worthwhile on its own right since it would be there ready in case the user account ever does get corrupted in the future.
- The first step is to enable the Built-in Admin at boot, use that to create the new local account then disable the Built-in Admin again.
Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account - TenForumsTutorials
my ditty - Create two spare local, password-protected Admin accounts [post #2] in Windows 10, 11 - TenForums

All the best,
Denis

hsehestedt · 17 Feb 2023

Thanks, Denis. Only problem is that he cannot logon to the system at this point, so he cannot enable another account.

I have a feeling that he is going to be stuck. I'm about to ask that dreaded question: "How recent are your backups?".

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

hsehestedt said:

Thanks, Denis. Only problem is that he cannot logon to the system at this point, so he cannot enable another account.

H,

That's why you need to get him to use the 'at boot' option of the enabling Built-in Admin tutorial - Options 5, which my link takes you to. It's the only option that is available to him in his current situation.

All the best,
Denis

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

Hannes,

I did forget to suggest one possible course of action but he has probably tried it already.

Tell him to try the original password in that login screen i.e. play along with MS's lunacy.

Denis

Bastet · 17 Feb 2023

If the user hasn’t changed their password then then account may be hacked. If that is the case then they need to try to recover their account.
Yes, I would say the problem is with their MS account as it states the password was changed on another device.

hsehestedt · 17 Feb 2023

Bastet said:

If the user hasn’t changed their password then then account may be hacked. If that is the case then they need to try to recover their account.
Yes, I would say the problem is with their MS account as it states the password was changed on another device.

I think I agree with Denis that the Profile may be corrupt, because, as was noted, the password is unchanged and he can logon to that account from his phone.

In the meantime, I tested a workaround on a VM and it works beautifully. He just needs to get a Windows setup disk and someone he knows is dropping one off tonight since he does not have one.

I think we are going to be in good shape. I never knew just how easy it is to bypass the password on Windows.,

Bastet · 17 Feb 2023

Hopefully the problem is easy to fix