Hi Martin Huntford.
Thanks for choosing Microsoft Community.
In your description, you need to enter the Windows Hello PIN when opening some applications.
I noticed that you patiently described for us when the problem appeared (after a clean install of the system). At the same time, you tried to disable Windows Hello and even tried the “Reinstall now” button in Settings. Thank you for your efforts and attempts to resolve this issue, I do understand the annoyance and frustration of having to enter your Windows Hello PIN when opening these apps.
We'd like to know more about this so we can help you better.
What are the apps that are having issues? Please let me know.
Below I will provide you with some steps to test the scenarios which will check this issue from different aspects.
UAC may affect the functionality in this area. We need to check the UAC settings.
You can refer to the following steps to adjust the UAC settings
1 Search for “Change User Account Control settings” in the taskbar and click on it to open.
2 Try to adjust the slider to the default position.
3 If it is already in the default position, please adjust it to the highest and then change it to default.
Errors in the security pop-up settings can also cause this type of problem. We also need to check the focus.
1 Right-click the Start button, select Settings, and then select Focus
2 Here, turn off all the options altogether.
3 Go back to the first page of Settings and then select System again
4 Select Multitasking and then make sure Snap windows is enabled.
(You can also try turning it off for testing purposes)
To rule out other third party software, I recommend trying a clean boot which starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It can be used to determine whether a background service or program is interfering or causing a problem.
These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by-step.
In a clean boot, open just one of the problematic apps and see if the problem still occurs.
Account profile errors can also have some impact. To determine this possibility, please create a new local administrator account by referring to the following link
Manage User Accounts in Windows - Microsoft Support
In the new local account, open the problematic application directly to see if the same problem exists.
Also, if you don't mind backing up your data and then reinstalling your system, then you can also try installing 23H2.
Currently the Download Windows 11 page does not offer to directly download the image file for Windows 11 23H2.
However, you can refer to the link below and download the system image of 23H2 through the link shared by Ramesh Srinivasan Volunteer Moderator and then clean install Windows 11 through it.
Download iso of windows 11 that is older than the newest update (a - Microsoft Community
For steps to do a clean install of Windows, you can refer to the link below.
Windows 11 Clean Installation
Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more.
The above methods are not the final solution, they are more like an examination of your problem, please let us know the results after you try them, they will help to narrow down the cause of the problem, and based on your results we will be able to determine what the problem is for you and provide further assistance (e.g. in terms of the system version).
It's an honor to provide you with some advice, and I hope my efforts can be of some convenience to you.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Best regards,
Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist
