Difference between revisions of "Windows 10 Windows Login Restore and Password Recovery"

Revision as of 23:37, 9 June 2016

Two things will be covered in this article. 1) How to recover the Windows 10 account password, even if it is a Windows Live account, and 2) How to revert back to a normal local system account when you ended up somehow with a Windows Live account.

How Do You Log Into Windows

A local account is a username and password combination that you have used to log into any of the Windows operating systems before Windows 8.

The Windows Live ID is a Microsoft account, which is tied into one or more of any number of products including Hotmail, Windows Live, Xbox gaming, OneDrive (their crappy cloud storage) and Outlook.

The push to change the way we've logged into Windows for many generations of the operating system began with Windows 8. Rather than having a simple username and password that was saved on the computer, Microsoft started pushing for Windows users to have an Internet based account. This gives Microsoft a way to be more up in your business about your computer activity and Internet habits.

Windows 10 has relaxed the push for users to have what is called a "Windows Live" Internet based account to access the computer, making it easier to have a good old conventional local username and password that doesn't require Internet connectivity or any association with a Microsoft email address.

Why the push for this Internet connected Microsoft Live ID? Because Microsoft wants to copy what Google is doing with their Android devices. Android users have little privacy and no administrative privileges on their devices. Microsoft is trying to move in that direction. However, when it comes to our computers, people seem to be more resistant towards the intrusiveness.

When you set up Windows 10 there is an option to "Skip this step" on the setup screen where Microsoft is trying to get you to create a Windows Live ID. You should skip the step. The screen in question has bold text at the top that reads, "Make it yours" when in all actuality as soon as you create a Windows Live ID then you make it theirs.

Switch Back to a Local Account if you have a Live ID

Open Settings in Microsoft Windows 10 and go to the Account group of settings. In the Your Account section, click "Sign in with a local account instead". Windows will make you verify your Microsoft account by entering your Live ID password. Click NEXT.

Now you can enter a name, a password, and a password hint to create the local account. You must use a username that isn’t already being used on the current system. Click NEXT.

Now choose "Sign out and finish." When your computer restarts you can select the account you just created and enter the password you set for it. Inside, things will be exactly as they were before for your user profile.

System Restore back to Local Account

If you are lucky then you have a restore point from before you accidentally changed yourself over to a Windows Live account. Restore your computer to that point before the change to regain your previous local user account. In many cases this is simply the default account "Owner"

From the Windows login screen: hold down shift key while clicking on the power icon in lower right corner. Keep holding down shift key and click on restart. See "Command Prompt, System Restore, and other Startup Settings at Boot w/o Boot Disk" on the Windows 10 Tips & Tricks page.

Windows 10 Password Recovery

If you are using a Windows Live ID you can go to the web site [continues...]

Password Recovery Utilities for Windows 10

These are third party software tools that can be used to "crack" or reset your Windows password.

• PCUnlocker Trial / PCUnlocker Enterprise edition

[continues...]

Password Recovery Method #1

If you have a basic password reset bootable media, however, you are using a Windows Live account, you can still make this happen.

1. Boot from the password reset media and clear the password.
2. Boot into Windows. With a blank password you will not be able to log into windows. Hold the shift key, click the power icon in lower right corner. Keep holding down shift key and click on restart. procedure does not work.
3. In the recovery menu choose Command Prompt. The system will reboot.
4. When the command prompt screen loads you will be asked for the account password. Leave blank and it will allow you to proceed to the command shell Changes made here only impact the recovery environment and do not apply to the regular windows environment!
5. At the command shell type: net user administrator /active:yes
6. You can optionally set a password: net user administrator <<password>> /active:yes (substitute <<password>> for your choice of passwords.
7. Exit and continue loading Windows 10

Command review: enable the local administrator account

net user administrator /active:yes

Command review: enable local administrator and set password

net user administrator mysecretpassword /active:yes

Password Recovery Method #2

If you are locked out of your Windows 10 machine and are using a Windows Live account or a regular system account, this procedure will work. It has been verified. It requires no boot media. It will allow you to enable the local administrator account, change the Windows Live account to a local account, and gain administrator access to the machine using the local administrator account. The caveat to this method is that you are required to change your Microsoft Live account back to a local account, even though you will be gaining access to the computer via the local administrator account. As long as one user account is configured to be a Microsoft Live account, the other login options are hidden at the login screen.

Summary of procedure:

1. Use the trick: "Command Prompt, System Restore, and other Startup Settings at Boot w/o Boot Disk"
2. from the command prompt execute the trick: "Available Command Prompt at Windows Login Screen"
3. after rebooting, and opening this command prompt, we will utilize a couple commands to a) enable the local administrator account and set a password for it, and b) change any Windows Live accounts to a local account.

The result is a Windows login screen with the option to login as administrator. Once you are logged in as administrator you can modify any other user account you like, or even (if you're a fool) change the local account back to a Windows Live account. But don't do that until you figure out how to properly set a Windows Live account password. Keep in mind that there is a synchronization process between Microsoft and your PC when you use a Windows Live account. You might find your password being set back to whatever it was when you were locked out.

Now to elaborate on the process...

I will come back to this when I get time.

As I am logged in as the local administrator I use netplwiz and note that I am unable to change the password on my normal user account even though it is no longer a Windows Live account.