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Win 10. Locked out, Only option is entering PIN which I have forgotten.

From Charity, an Independent Advisor.

Please try resetting thru Safe Mode.

o At the login screen, hold down the Shift key while selecting Restart from the Power menu. OK
o Your PC will restart and present the Choose an option screen. OK
o Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. OK
o After your PC restarts, you'll see a list of options. Press 4 or F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode.
o Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
o Navigate to Accounts > Sign-in options.
o Under PIN (Windows Hello), select I forgot my PIN.
o Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your account and create a new PIN.

Please keep me know if this worked for you.


Kind Regards,
Charity

At the part where PC stars in Safe mode, it boots into safe mode but the screen says

"You've entered the incorrect pin too many times. You PIN is disabled for 5 minutes"

Once that 5 min are up, it wants me to put in A1B2C3 and hit enter...then it wants my PIN

There is no option for password...just the PIN and I have tried all that I would possibly use and then some.

Nothing is working.

I use my outlook account on that computer as well as my Surface. Win 10 on desktop and Win 11 on Surface.

Help!!!

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Hello, Mark 62099

Welcome to the Microsoft Community

Thank you for your feedback. I read your description of the problem.

I understand the trouble this problem has caused you, please don't worry, in the current situation, I suggest you try to turn on the system built-in administrator to restore the normal use of the computer. The detailed steps are as follows. This method may seem cumbersome, but it is usually effective. Please be patient.

On the lock screen, hold down Shift and click "Restart" in the bottom right corner.

Your system will reboot into a special boot options menu. Choose "Troubleshoot" > "Advanced options" > "Command Prompt".

In the Command Prompt window, type regedit and press Enter.

In the Registry Editor, select "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", then go to the "File" menu and choose "Load Hive".

Find the drive where your OS is installed (usually C:), and navigate to "Windows\System32\config".

Select the file named "SAM" and click "Open".

In the dialog box that appears, name this file (e.g., REM_SAM).

Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\REM_SAM\SAM\Domains\Accounts\Users\000001F4" and double-click the entry named "F". In the table that opens, find the number 11 (first column, eighth row), right-click it, press Backspace to delete 11, and then type 10 in its place.

In the Command Prompt window, type exit to close the Registry Editor, and restart your computer.

After rebooting, you should be able to log in using the built-in administrator account. Once logged in, create a new Windows user account, set a new password, and transfer all your files from the old account to the new one. Detailed instructions can be found in the "Fix a corrupted user profile" section on the Microsoft support page:

Troubleshoot Problems Signing In to Windows - Microsoft Support

Best regards

Brian - Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Your 1st step I cannot do. "On the lock screen, hold down Shift and click "Restart" in the bottom right corner." I can hold down SHIFT... but the only bottons/choices I have in the bottom right corner is the options to turn on the assistive features... There is no RESTART button option there.

UPDATE:

Got past that.... On your steps, after opening SAM I cannot put anything there as the system tells me

Cannot load X:\Windows\System32\config\The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process

Thanks

Mark62099

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Last updated April 20, 2025 Views 150 Applies to: