I need to use startup repair on a crashed hard drive but I don’t know what password to use. My Microsoft account uses passwordless sign in and I don’t remember ever making a local password for the account on the PC. What password do I need to use and is there a way I can find it on another device?
April 10, 2025
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Startup repair password
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Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.
If you are blocked by a password in the Recovery Environment, then you will need to create a bootable Windows 10 USB on another working PC and boot your PC from that, then rather than installing Windows 10, select ‘Repair this Computer’ that will give you access to the Recovery Environment from there
In the Recovery Environment on the USB, try each recovery option, you will not be blocked by a password.
Click this link:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...
to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool
Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS)
___________________________________________________________________If you are blocked by a password in the Recovery Environment, then you will need to create a bootable Windows 10 USB on another working PC and boot your PC from that, then rather than installing Windows 10, select ‘Repair this Computer’ that will give you access to the Recovery Environment from there
In the Recovery Environment on the USB, try each recovery option, you will not be blocked by a password.
Click this link:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...
to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool
Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS)
Power to the Developer!
MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD
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Will I be able to keep all the files on the hard drive?
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The recovery options in the recovery environment on the USB will not affect your files, it is only if you select the option to re-install Windows that would affect your files.
___________________________________________________________________Power to the Developer!
MSI GV72 - 17.3", i7-8750H (Hex Core), 32GB DDR4, 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 256GB NVMe M2, 2TB HDD
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Last updated March 27, 2025 Views 24 Applies to: