Problems with sign in/pin on windows 11

Hello Nathan,

Thank you for using Microsoft products and posting to the community.

We fully understand the inconvenience the issue has caused and that the current situation can be frustrating.  But based on your description, there are some aspects of your current situation that I'm not quite clear about. Therefore, I'd like to confirm certain details with you first before providing specific steps to assist you in addressing this issue.

1. According to your description, 'now every time I try to interact with windows hello it crashes/hangs,' I'd like to know if this means that whenever you try to log in to Windows using a PIN on the Windows login screen, it results in a crash/hang? However, you could still log in to the system using your account password, right?

2. According to the troubleshooting steps you have tried, "Reset Settings, Delete NGC file", you can log on to Windows normally, but when you set the PIN in the Setup application, an error message will appear indicating that your password is not recognized, right?

3. If you can access the Windows system but are unable to set up a local account, does the same process still prompt you that your Microsoft account password cannot be recognized?

In general, when setting up a PIN or a local account, there should be no need to verify your Microsoft account password. If it's convenient for you, could you share your process and any relevant error message screenshots?

If you are currently able to access the Windows system, you could try the following command to delete the NGC folder and see if it allows you to delete it successfully.

You can search for CMD in the start menu and select Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Press Enter after each line to run:

takeown/f C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC 

icacls C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC /grant administrators:f /t 

Ren C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC NGC.old 

After the operation is completed, restart the computer, click Start - Settings - Accounts - Login Options - find the PIN and reset it. At this point, the PIN should be deleted normally.

Your understanding is highly appreciated! Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks. 

Sincerely

Mavis - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi Mavis,

Thanks so much for your comprehensive reply. I wasn't terribly clear in the original post, but you seem to have understood the gist. In answer to your questions:

1. According to your description, 'now every time I try to interact with windows hello it crashes/hangs,' I'd like to know if this means that whenever you try to log in to Windows using a PIN on the Windows login screen, it results in a crash/hang? However, you could still log in to the system using your account password, right?

Maybe best explained with some examples. I can get past the windows login with Microsoft authenticator app on my phone instead, so I can at least access my machine okay. (Although randomly it asked for and allowed my pin 1 time this morning). However, windows hello is now asking me to verify my identity in multiple other apps, and I can't get past it. Outlook (desktop) for example, asks me to confirm my identity when I open it with pin, or password, but when I enter this information, it continues to ask again and again, until it simply stops responding, I cannot close the windows hello dialogue box or outlook without forcing closed through task manager. The same happens within chrome password manager, and indeed the actual settings app when I try to change the pin or set-up a local account. In both circumstances, I cannot use the apps.

2. According to the troubleshooting steps you have tried, "Reset Settings, Delete NGC file", you can log on to Windows normally, but when you set the PIN in the Setup application, an error message will appear indicating that your password is not recognized, right?

Yes, that is what was happening, but in some (inconsistent) circumstances, it does accept my password, and certainly if ever the authenticator app is an option, that seems to work.

3. If you can access the Windows system but are unable to set up a local account, does the same process still prompt you that your Microsoft account password cannot be recognized?

Yes, that is correct.

Here's a couple of videos to show what is happening, if it helps:

Hi Nathan,

Glad to receive your detailed reply. From your description I noticed that through CMD commands you can delete the NGC folder and you can reset the PIN, it is just that this still occurs after setting the Windows Hello PIN.

Based on the second video you shared, I noticed that when you try to switch your Microsoft account to a local account, an error message appears when you enter your PIN, so if you click on "More Options" to enter your password when you are asked to enter your PIN on the pop-up screen, does the error message still appear?

Also, I would like to suggest that you try just creating a new local administrator account and setting the PIN in that new account to test if the issue still exists in the new account environment. This will help us to confirm if there is a corruption in the current user profile that is triggering the issue. You can refer to the following link to learn how to create a new administrator account.

Create a local user or administrator account in Windows - Microsoft Support

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks. 

Hi Mavis

I tried the "More options" and tried to enter my password instead, but the exact same thing happened - it said my identity could not be verified then it crashed and I could only move away from that screen using task manager. If I try to click anywhere on the screen, I just get the Windows System notification sound.

I successfully created a local user account using the instructions you provided. I didn't get as far as setting up a pin. The first thing I tried was to access a saved password in chrome, but I'm getting the same error. It asks for me to verify my local account identity using the password I set up, but then it won't actually let me through that identity check.

This makes me think it is the windows security system that is failing, rather than anything related to my account.

Look forward to your reply
Nathan

Hi Nathan,

If the problem persists after creating a new local account, then it is true that the operating system you are currently using may have some problems, as you said, you can try to perform an in-place upgrade first, which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without deleting files or applications. However, if you have important data on your computer, we still recommend backing it up in advance. Also make sure your system disk has enough free space, at least 40GB.

1. Download ISO

Visit Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com) and click "Download Now" under “Create Windows 11 Installation Media” to download MCT (Media Creation Tool).

Then run the program, select "Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO file) for another PC”, and then choose Language, Version, Architecture(if you are not sure about these, choose "Use the recommended options for this PC"), then select "ISO file" in the "Select Media to Use" interface, and then a windows ISO file will be downloaded to your disk (about 4-5GB in size, it is recommended that you choose a non-system disk).

2. Choose to override the system

After the download is completed, double-click the ISO file, double-click to run "setup.exe" in the open file explorer, and select "Change how Windows Installer downloads updates" > "Download updates, drivers and optional features", Select "Keep personal files and apps" after accepting the terms of the agreement, then click "Next" > "Install". Then the system will reboot a few times, and then enter the welcome screen.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Hi Mavis,

Sorry it takes me a few days each time.

I have successfully done a fresh install using the above instructions, with my apps and settings maintained.

Frustratingly, this still didn't solve the problem. However I have learnt a couple of things:

After this new install, and after ensuring NGC folder was cleared, I attempted to set up a new pin again. This failed again.

I tried all over again and just avoided setting up windows hello at all. The same thing happened, so I am still unable to access outlook or my saved chrome passwords, it's just asking for my Microsoft password instead.

I'm getting feelings of having to fully hard reset the PC which will be pretty annoying, but short of that another thing I have read about is clearing the TPM. My concern with this is the possible data loss, but I'm unclear what might be lost. Is that something that could be worth trying?

Thank you

Nathan

Hi Nathan,

I'm glad to hear from you and to know the results of your test.

Clearing the TPM will remove your Windows Hello PIN, smart card, and any other data protected by these keys, this is mainly clearing the data associated with the passcode from the device, please ensure that you have a backup and recovery method for any data protected or encrypted by the TPM. It is recommended that you export the relevant certificates for backup if you have any other encryption software. Since you are currently experiencing problems with password and PIN authentication, you may try this method if you are sure that all relevant information is backed up.

Also, it is important to note that because your TPM security hardware is a physical part of your computer, before clearing the TPM, you might want to read the manuals or instructions that came with your computer, or search the manufacturer's website.

For more information, please refer to the following article.

Troubleshoot the TPM - Windows Security | Microsoft Learn