I installed windows 7 on my mother's computer, she registered for the update and got windows 10.
she was using it for a while.. then two days ago I noticed her screen wasn't going to the blank screen saver anymore.
now instead, there is the time & date on top of a picture from inside a cave looking out to water as well as some rock formations.
upon clicking the mouse, a logon screen appears.
there's a purple logo
her full name
her email address
we don't know the password.
upon entering the wrong password it says.. 'you can't sign in to your device right now. go to account.live.com to fix the problem, or try the last password you used on this device.'
i'm only assuming this is a screen saver logon screen.. but really i'm uncertain because I've had less than one hour of use on the windows 10 operating system.
there's three options down to the right, one is the wifi connection, another is ease of access, the final one is a shutdown button.
restarting the computer, I hear the logon audio.. then the screen jumps directly to this same screen with the date and time on it - prompting for a password upon clicking the mouse anywhere on the screen.
could somebody tell me what has happened?
I don't know how I am supposed to go to a website when there isn't any option.. I've tried clicking the text for account.live.com but it isn't a link.
is there anything I can do besides erasing the hard drive and reinstalling windows 7 (then hope for the windows 10 upgrade again) ?
Hi and welcome to the forum ,
When you did the upgrade, you would have been prompted to enter in your Microsoft Account details or alternately to use a local account. Do you remember which one you used as they will have the login credentials?
If the above cannot be recalled properly, then it is possible to reset the password. Please let us know.
Also, please confirm if it is asking for login from an email type account or a local account name.
Edit: The screen you are talking about (with the cave and water) is a lock screen. It is not a screen saver. Are you also looking to activate a Screen Saver?
my mother upgraded her sister's computer in the other room first, then she did her computer in her room.
she doesn't remember if she entered Microsoft information or used a local account.
i'm not certain the difference between an email account type or local, but I am assuming it is an email account type because it is showing her yahoo email address.
if I could get to it, I would be able to set the screen saver.
I've already tried ophcrack as well as Offline NT Password & Registry Editor .. neither one of them helped with this 'lock screen' password.
thanks for the welcome to the forum.
How to Reset Password of Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10
Edit: Oh...almost forgot...You can also use Linux to clear the password via a live disk with chntpw command. You can then login to Windows without having to enter a password and can create a new one via Windows settings. I haven't tried it on Win10 yet.
I don't see how any of those options on the webpage you linked me to can help my situation.
I can't press any hotkey shortcuts because they go directly to the password input bar.
there is no access, as I said.. the computer boots up and goes directly to this 'lock screen'
the install disc is at my house, i'm already over here (but i'll bring the disc next time)
however, my mother has gone to run errands.. humor me with how Linux is setup and used to remove the password?
Hi you just create a bootable disk (either DVD or USB) in the same way as you would for another program. You don't need to install Linux on to the system. Just boot via the DVD or USB disk
You could get one from Ubuntu for example
Then do the research to find out how chntpw works. You enter the commands to clear the Windows password into a command line interface similar to command prompt interface. Here is one of the first guides I found in google for chnptw. There are other ones that are written better to make it simpler.
