Windows 10 Windows 10 login problem

xlrtech · Apr 29, 2020

A customer has asked me to help him login to his PC (Lenovo IdeaCentre A340-22IWL); here's where I am:

At login prompt, customer's last known password not accepted. Customer doesn't know any other password.
Attempted to run password remover on USB stick - system will only boot to Windows.
Changed BIOS to legacy mode, immediately encountered Bitlocker screen - wants Bitlocker key
Don't have Bitlocker key, and in any case, text box for entering key won't accept alpha characters from keyboard (will accept numbers).
Back to login screen - "forgot password". This asks me to log into his Microsoft account; the email address and password he gave me doesn't work, and locks me out after too many attempts.

It seems as if I'm stuck. Can anyone suggest a way through / around this so that I can remove or reset his password? Otherwise I'll end up having to reinstall Windows, which of course will lose any installed software (I can remove the HDD to get a copy of the data).

Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated.

Neemobeer · Apr 29, 2020

If the volume is encrypted with bitlocker and they don't have the password or recovery key (this triggered because you made a change to the firmware) then a reinstall is your only option.

You won't be able to recover any data from that drive since it's encrypted unless they have data on a second volume that is not protected with bitlocker.

*Edit* just saw the Microsoft account mention, they will need to go through the recovery process of that account password
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026971microsoft-account-how-to-reset-your-password

Neemobeer · Apr 29, 2020

If the volume is encrypted with bitlocker and they don't have the password or recovery key (this triggered because you made a change to the firmware) then a reinstall is your only option.

You won't be able to recover any data from that drive since it's encrypted unless they have data on a second volume that is not protected with bitlocker.

*Edit* just saw the Microsoft account mention, they will need to go through the recovery process of that account password
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026971microsoft-account-how-to-reset-your-password

Windows 10 Windows 10 login problem

xlrtech

New Member

Neemobeer

Neemobeer

Cloud Security Engineer

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