Something happened and your PIN isn't available. Click to set up your PIN again.

Els,

I am assuming Microsoft is reading this thread. That's why I'm asking people to say how they got into this pin loop.

That's wild that you were just trying to fix a printer problem, following some diagnostic suggestions there, and got into this problem.

In my mind Microsoft has 3 immediate takeaways from this for a future release

• the method that is saying "something happened and your pin isn't available" needs to realize the user is in a dire straight and offer another login option, not just offer to reset the pin and then fail.
• both pin and user login options should ALWAYS be offered to the user on the first login screen. They are a backup for each other.
• When a user says "Turn off All Services" Services having to do with the login should be exempted unless there is a deliberate override from the admin user.

I'm 100% sure that the problem surfaced due to going into windows diagnostic mode, which was part of the procedure suggested. This is the post I followed in order to try and correct the Epson printer issue https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-hardware/how-do-i-get-my-epson-artisan-835-all-in-one/6bcabd8f-c87c-4e17-b42f-804cbb30f725

I agree with your suggestions for Microsoft. It is a hazard that many may inadvertently fall into. Until it is resolved by Microsoft, the best thing to do is to make regular images or clones of the hard drive.

BTW: After I reset my workstation, most of my apps came back but not all and the ones that did come back had issues (Including my Microsoft 365). I ended up restoring the drive by using a cloned copy prior to this pin issue. If I didn't have that clone, I would have needed to rebuild my whole system from scratch.

I'm not sure, but the main cause appears to be with the diagnostic mode disabling the services which include network access. I may try to troubleshoot this in a controlled environment at some point. It completely caught me off guard.

Truong, You have to force another sign on option when you boot your machine. This is what worked for me:

-> click the power button on the login screen

-> When you see the Restart option, hold the shift key down and click on Restart

-> the next prompt will say Restart Anyway, click on it

-> select Troubleshoot from the next set of options

-> select Advanced Options from the next set of options

-> select Command Prompt from the next set of options

At Command Prompt you will be asked for a user login, login. maybe do something in command prompt and then get out and reboot the machine. The next login screen should prompt for a user login, not a pin. Once you login with your userid, you have 1 windows session to fix this pin loop problem. So make sure you fix it. Most people here seem to know what they did to get into the pin loop. Some fixes for the pin loop are turning all services back on, resetting any booboos you did in the bios and turning Windows Hello off (Settings -> Accounts -> Sign in options on the left). Turning Windows Hello off is particularly effective, because in my opinion turning Windows Hello off forces your login screen to always offer a "userid" login option (and for some reason, it gives you the option of signing in with a pin anyway). If this doesn't work for you read other posts on this thread. Sometimes the "Repair" option works, sometimes people successfully restore a restore point, etc.

Hello there! I'm sorry that didn't work. You can try this steps instead:

Turn off your PC

Start your PC, just as Windows attempts to load (spinning dots), press and hold Power Button on the casing of your PC for 5 - 10 seconds to perform a Hard Shut Down

Do this twice

On the third start Windows will boot into the Recovery Environment and from there you can access System Repair, Safe Mode, Command Prompt . . . etc.

Please try each option one at a time, then see of Windows will boot . . .

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Repair
See if Windows startup can repair itself

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - System Restore
Check to see if you have a restore point you can go back to

If you do not have a Restore Point, go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Settings and click Restart
Upon restart, press 4 to enter Safe Mode
Once in Safe Mode, backup your data if you do not already have a backup
Open Device Manager and check to make sure all your Drivers are up to date
Reboot to see if Windows will start Normally

If the above fails, go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Options - Reset this PC
Choose to keep your files and apps, just your files or to keep nothing
Then start the Reset

Hope this will do the trick

Regards,
Louie

Thank you so much. Worked perfectly

Ty so much