Logon intermittently bypasses Windows Hello Fingerprint

Hello Jan,

Good to see you in Microsoft Community.

Firstly, could you let me know the specific system version? You can check it by pressing the Win key + R key, and typing "winver", then press Enter, please take a screenshot/photo of it, and only send the relevant information without PII in the next reply.

Then you may follow the steps below:

1. Disable and re-enable the fingerprint scanner

1. Select the search box on the taskbar and type Device Manager and select it in the search results.
2. In Device Manager, expand Biometric devices, right-click your fingerprint scanner, and select Disable device.
3. Right-click the scanner again and select Enable device.

2. Check power management settings

1. In Device Manager, expand Biometric devices, right-click your fingerprint scanner, and select Properties.
2. Select the Power Management tab, and uncheck the box, Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
3. Then in Device Manager, expand Universal Serial Bus controllers, right-click USB Root Hub and select Properties.
4. Select the Power Management tab, and uncheck the box, Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

3. Restart services

1. Select the search box on the taskbar and type Services and select Services in the search results.
2. Locate and right-click Credential Manager within the list of services and select Restart.
3. Then locate and right-click Windows Biometric Service within the list of services and select Restart.

4. Reset Windows Hello

• This will completely reset all Windows Hello configurations, before making sure your account password login is normal. Please run Command Prompt as an administrator ("Win" logo key + "Q", enter "cmd", select "Run as administrator"), and enter the following commands one by one.

    net stop WbioSrvc
  
    cd C:\Windows\System32\WinBioDatabase
  
    ren *.DAT *.DAT.BAK
  
    net start WbioSrvc
  

Additionally, please check if there is any available optional driver update in Windows Settings. Win + I to open Windows Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > View optional updates > driver updates (if there is available).

If anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Best Regards,

Mosken_L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hello Mosken,

Thank you for your reply. I have a few questions/issues about the steps you have provided.

First, I have Windows 11 Home, version 22H2 Build 22621.2134 (not sure what the 'without Pll' is in your reply).

1. Completed
2. Completed, with the exception that in step 3 I had 2 USB Root USB entries. Unchecked the box on both.
3. Completed, with the exception that in step 3 Windows Biometric Restart is greyed out, only Refresh available, so left it as is.
4. Win+Q there was no option to "run as Administrator". After entering Win+Q, the Command Prompt box opened and provided the path C:\Users\user name>. I ran the steps and received some responses like "Access is denied" after the "ren *DAT..." However, after the "net stop WbioSrvc" I received "The Windows Biometric Service service was started successfully."

Finally, no updates available (in previous tries to fix this issue I have already checked for updates, disabled the existing driver and downloaded one from the LG website. Doing this didn't help the issue).

I was left with the command prompt C:\Windows\System32\WinBioDatabase. You didn't say what to do at this point, and it's been a long time since I've had to use a Command Prompt. I just typed Exit and the box closed...hope that was OK.

As you haven't provided any other steps, I'm not sure how to proceed. Do I now re-setup the Windows Hello Fingerprint in Settings\Accounts\Sign in Options? If so, it may take a couple days before I'll know if your steps worked. As I mentioned in my initial post, this is an intermittent problem. I didn't say in my initial post that I had already disabled the Fingerprint and have been using just the PIN for the past two days. So far it hasn't been an issue and works each time. It has just been the Fingerprint that works intermittently.

Please advise what the next step is.

Jan

Hello Mosken,

When I didn't hear back from you I went ahead and re-set my Windows Hello Fingerprint. Three logons (with shutdowns in between) worked perfectly yesterday. But the first logon for today it was back to its old intermittent self to bypass Windows Hello and go straight to the desktop, with no security.

So, just like all the other 'fixes' I've tried over the past 2+ weeks, your four steps can be added to the list of all the things that don't work for this Windows Hello intermittent bypass and proceed straight to Windows Desktop issue.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jan

You can run Command Prompt as administrator by the steps below:

Additionally, as the feature related your computer hardware, you may update the chipset driver and BIOS firmware. You can go to the official website of your device manufacturer to download the corresponding model driver and install it manually. After the installation is completed, reboot and see if the device works properly.

Mosken,

Does your last message, the visual portion on the Command Prompt, mean that you think I need to complete step 4 of your original instructions again? And, only step 4?

As to the second part of your last message re: BIOS firmware: Thank you, but I respectfully have to decline your suggestion concerning the BIOS. Mucking around with the BIOS is way out of my comfort zone, especially without detailed instructions on what I am doing. I would be at a loss at what to do, or where to turn, if something happened and my brand new, expensive laptop became inoperable.

If you believe that my first run at Step 4 might not have been successful due to the fact I may not have run it as Administrator, given the responses I received, even though when I completed the step the the cmp prompt did say "The Windows Biometric Service service was started successfully", then I will run that step again, when you confirm that is your intention by sending the visual.

Otherwise at this point, given the fact this is an intermittent problem and not one of Windows Hello simply not working (or having stopped working completely) along with ALL the time I have spent on various 'fixes' that don't fix the problem, I think I just need to resign myself to not being able to use the Windows Hello Fingerprint Biometrics. And disable it. Maybe at some point in the future someone will read this post that has experienced the same issue and/or has the solution to this problem.

Again, let me know if I need to 'redo' step 4. Thank you for your time,Jan