Problems: At the Windows login screen the message "Something happened and your PIN isn't available. Click to setup your PIN again." appeared. Clicking this did nothing, it would just return me to the same login screen. There was no alternative option to Sign in with Password like there normally is. Effectively, login is impossible and the PC appeared bricked. Process to get error: I went to msconfig (Win+R>msconfig) and selected Diagnostic Startup with all default settings. I immediately restarted my PC to find that I could not log in. (Unrelated?) I tried diagnostic startup b/c one of my mice started randomly highlighting stuff - as if Click Lock or sticky keys were on (all were off). Research: I found reports of this back to 2018. I also ran into System Restore errors which I found instances of back to 2017. The dozens of other forums usually dead-ended or resulted in a "Refresh your PC" or "Do a clean install of Windows." Unacceptable! I was about to give up until I pieced this solution together. Solution: Force boot mode back to Normal via command prompt and restart. Skill level: Intermediate Time estimate: 10 minutes Solution notes: I did this with a bootable USB drive plugged in - I don't think that was necessary but try plugging one in if this fails without it. If you can successfully boot into safe mode with command prompt (option 5 from Startup Settings blue screen), then try Steps 14-17 below and see if it works. If it does, you're good to go. If not, go through all steps. Tested on Windows 10 and 11. Steps: Get into Recovery Mode (blue screen): At the login screen, click the bottom-right corner Power Button. Then, before doing anything, hold down the Shift key. While holding Shift key down, click on Restart. This should reboot the computer and take you to the “Choose an Option” Recovery screen. If this doesn't work, see alternate later in post. If prompted, press F1 to enter Recovery Environment. If not, proceed to next step. Select Troubleshoot and/or Advanced Options until you get to a screen with a System Image Recovery option. Click System Image Recovery. Click Cancel on the "Re-image Your Computer" window. Ensure "Select a system image" is selected and click Next Click Advanced, then select Install a Driver and click OK. This gets you access to a Windows Explorer-type folder structure. Click This PC on the left side and find which drive has utilman.exe in the [drive letter]\Windows\System32 folder. The drive letter may not match your normal letters - this doesn't matter. Only one drive will have utilman.exe so you know you are in the correct one once you find it (my letters happened to match, except I had an X drive that wasn't useful). Rename Utilman to Utilman1. In this folder mode, you'll need to right-click and select Refresh to see the changes. Rename cmd to Utilman (refresh view to confirm both files are named properly). Close/cancel all of the open windows (close the Open window, click Cancel on the Add a Driver window, then close the last window) Click Continue from blue screen to reboot to your login screen. Click the Accessibility button on the login screen. A command prompt should open. (icon is a dashed clock at 3 o'clock for Win 10 or a person for Win 11) Type: "start msconfig" without quotes and press enter. The msconfig window should now appear. Select Normal Boot from the first tab and click Ok. Confirm restarting your system. At the next login screen, you should be able to enter your PIN and everything should be back to normal!! Now, you need to go back and rename Utilman to cmd and Utilman1 to Utilman (I had to follow steps 1-12 since Windows wouldn't let me edit the files while logged in). After re-completing step 12, you should be done. Other useful info: The default command prompt directory should be C:\Windows\System32. If that's not what's displayed, type "cd /d c:" without the quotes and press enter. Then type "cd c:\windows\system32" without quotes and press enter. Step 1 Alternate: Shut down your PC. Once powered off, boot it back up, then as soon as you see the Windows loading dots or windows logo, hold down your power button 5-10 seconds to turn off your PC. Repeat this at least once until the Recovery menu appears (big blue screen). Unsuccessful attempts before discovering solution: Restarting 5,000 times. Startup repair numerous times, with and without bootable USB (no repairs were found) Tried options 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 from the Startup Settings blue screen (available by holding shift while selecting the power button and the restart button from the login screen) System Restore (failed because it failed to extract WindowsApps, error code 0x80070026) - this seems like a permissions error? I tried using using Safe Mode with Command Prompt and using takeown to get permission. Most operations listed as Success, but I received an error as the last output line from step 3 of this<a href="https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/lync/en-US/3ca0980f-a345-453f-b3e4-5bcf82a5f5c7/system-restore-not-working-in-windows-10-system-restore-failed-source-appxstaging-error?forum=win10itproapps" title="https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/lync/en-US/3ca0980f-a345-453f-b3e4-5bcf82a5f5c7/system-restore-not-working-in-windows-10-system-restore-failed-source-appxstaging-error?forum=win10itproapps" rel="ugc nofollow">Archived Forum I used . I tried Step 4 anyways but it didn't work. Booting from Windows usb (nothing worked except I could install a fresh version of Windows - no thanks) Booting into safe mode (same PIN error in all three modes - safe mode, SM with command prompt, and SM with networking). None of the modes looked different from the Diagnostic Mode except the command prompt option obviously displayed a command prompt.

Almost worked for me but an ai helped me where your method failed in my case. msconfig didnt work but with the command window open i was able to run this to fix it. bcdedit /enum {current} Look for: bootmenupolicy (should be Standard for normal boot) safeboot (should not be present if in Normal Boot) If safeboot is active, disable it: Run bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot Reset Boot Configuration to Normal Run bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy standard then restart

I was trying to use not_a_bot1001 above post months ago. My problem was trying to make the boot drive from UUP dump. For some reason when trying to unzip the file I would get a lot of errors. Was unable to figure out why. I don't want to use MS's. Some other issues came up so I had to postpone it for awhile. Haven't given up yet. May have to Google it more. I'm stuck in that loop and can't pull up MS config in safe mode to change from diagnostic and need the boot drive. I'll be back....

Hi everyone, I have a windows 11 24h2 installed and had problems with the GPU drivers so I wanted to safe mode and use DDU but apparently I am stuck with a very common unfixed windows bug. In safe mode I get to the login page and get this error : Something happened and your PIN isn't available I cant set my pin again and I apparently cant un change my safe mode either so I'm in this loop. The problem is that in the recovery screen the command prompt is basically doing nothing because it seems it isn't connected to any disk because even using : bcdedit /deletevalue {default} safeboot I get this error : boot configuration data store could not be opened the requested system device cannot be found And I even tried to locate any drivers but diskpart list volume shows me nothing. I really cant afford to re install windows because I have some really needed info on disk C. And it seems I dont have accesses to it which I do not know why. I even tried to copy my files with a bootable windows USB but still my Partitions dont show up there either.

It was working well, all the way up to the point where when we tried to get the settings switched over to get the computer to boot into normal windows, it said: msconfig cannot save changes" and mentioned something about me not being logged on as the administrator. And didn't let me change it to normal boot on the msconfig window either because of it. So, i'm still stuck at that part now. Any ideas? I am at the point where I am thinking that it is a prudent course of action to do a full system restore at this point. And this will destroy all the work that has been done to get the computer to somewhat work properly from not working properly at all due to a lot of hurdles that I had to do on the computer.

Diagnostic Mode "Something happened and your PIN isn't available" Boot Loop - Cannot Login (SOLUTION)

Anonymous

Problems:

At the Windows login screen the message "Something happened and your PIN isn't available. Click to setup your PIN again." appeared. Clicking this did nothing, it would just return me to the same login screen. There was no alternative option to Sign in with Password like there normally is. Effectively, login is impossible and the PC appeared bricked.

Process to get error:

I went to msconfig (Win+R>msconfig) and selected Diagnostic Startup with all default settings. I immediately restarted my PC to find that I could not log in.
(Unrelated?) I tried diagnostic startup b/c one of my mice started randomly highlighting stuff - as if Click Lock or sticky keys were on (all were off).

Research: I found reports of this back to 2018. I also ran into System Restore errors which I found instances of back to 2017. The dozens of other forums usually dead-ended or resulted in a "Refresh your PC" or "Do a clean install of Windows." Unacceptable! I was about to give up until I pieced this solution together.

Solution: Force boot mode back to Normal via command prompt and restart.

Skill level: Intermediate

Time estimate: 10 minutes

Solution notes:

I did this with a bootable USB drive plugged in - I don't think that was necessary but try plugging one in if this fails without it.
If you can successfully boot into safe mode with command prompt (option 5 from Startup Settings blue screen), then try Steps 14-17 below and see if it works. If it does, you're good to go. If not, go through all steps.
Tested on Windows 10 and 11.

Steps:

Get into Recovery Mode (blue screen): At the login screen, click the bottom-right corner Power Button. Then, before doing anything, hold down the Shift key. While holding Shift key down, click on Restart. This should reboot the computer and take you to the “Choose an Option” Recovery screen.
- If this doesn't work, see alternate later in post.
If prompted, press F1 to enter Recovery Environment. If not, proceed to next step.
Select Troubleshoot and/or Advanced Options until you get to a screen with a System Image Recovery option.
Click System Image Recovery.
Click Cancel on the "Re-image Your Computer" window.
Ensure "Select a system image" is selected and click Next
Click Advanced, then select Install a Driver and click OK. This gets you access to a Windows Explorer-type folder structure.
Click This PC on the left side and find which drive has utilman.exe in the [drive letter]\Windows\System32 folder. The drive letter may not match your normal letters - this doesn't matter. Only one drive will have utilman.exe so you know you are in the correct one once you find it (my letters happened to match, except I had an X drive that wasn't useful).
Rename Utilman to Utilman1. In this folder mode, you'll need to right-click and select Refresh to see the changes.
Rename cmd to Utilman (refresh view to confirm both files are named properly).
Close/cancel all of the open windows (close the Open window, click Cancel on the Add a Driver window, then close the last window)
Click Continue from blue screen to reboot to your login screen.
Click the Accessibility button on the login screen. A command prompt should open. (icon is a dashed clock at 3 o'clock for Win 10 or a person for Win 11)
Type: "start msconfig" without quotes and press enter.
The msconfig window should now appear. Select Normal Boot from the first tab and click Ok.
Confirm restarting your system.
At the next login screen, you should be able to enter your PIN and everything should be back to normal!!
Now, you need to go back and rename Utilman to cmd and Utilman1 to Utilman (I had to follow steps 1-12 since Windows wouldn't let me edit the files while logged in). After re-completing step 12, you should be done.

Other useful info:

The default command prompt directory should be C:\Windows\System32. If that's not what's displayed, type "cd /d c:" without the quotes and press enter. Then type "cd c:\windows\system32" without quotes and press enter.
Step 1 Alternate: Shut down your PC. Once powered off, boot it back up, then as soon as you see the Windows loading dots or windows logo, hold down your power button 5-10 seconds to turn off your PC. Repeat this at least once until the Recovery menu appears (big blue screen).

Unsuccessful attempts before discovering solution:

Restarting 5,000 times.
Startup repair numerous times, with and without bootable USB (no repairs were found)
Tried options 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 from the Startup Settings blue screen (available by holding shift while selecting the power button and the restart button from the login screen)
System Restore (failed because it failed to extract WindowsApps, error code 0x80070026) - this seems like a permissions error?
- I tried using using Safe Mode with Command Prompt and using takeown to get permission. Most operations listed as Success, but I received an error as the last output line from step 3 of thisArchived Forum I used. I tried Step 4 anyways but it didn't work.
Booting from Windows usb (nothing worked except I could install a fresh version of Windows - no thanks)
Booting into safe mode (same PIN error in all three modes - safe mode, SM with command prompt, and SM with networking). None of the modes looked different from the Diagnostic Mode except the command prompt option obviously displayed a command prompt.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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327 answers

Anonymous

2025-04-26T19:59:32+00:00
Almost worked for me but an ai helped me where your method failed in my case. msconfig didnt work but with the command window open i was able to run this to fix it.

bcdedit /enum {current}

Look for:
- bootmenupolicy (should be Standard for normal boot)
- safeboot (should not be present if in Normal Boot)
If safeboot is active, disable it:

Run

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
```
 Reset Boot Configuration to Normal
Run
bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy standard

then restart
```
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1 person found this answer helpful.

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Anonymous

2025-04-27T08:05:21+00:00

I was trying to use not_a_bot1001 above post months ago. My problem was trying to make the boot drive from UUP dump. For some reason when trying to unzip the file I would get a lot of errors. Was unable to figure out why. I don't want to use MS's. Some other issues came up so I had to postpone it for awhile. Haven't given up yet. May have to Google it more. I'm stuck in that loop and can't pull up MS config in safe mode to change from diagnostic and need the boot drive. I'll be back....
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Anonymous

2025-04-27T08:06:19+00:00

I wish.
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Anonymous

2025-04-28T09:25:43+00:00

Hi everyone,

I have a windows 11 24h2 installed and had problems with the GPU drivers so I wanted to safe mode and use DDU but apparently I am stuck with a very common unfixed windows bug. In safe mode I get to the login page and get this error : Something happened and your PIN isn't available
I cant set my pin again and I apparently cant un change my safe mode either so I'm in this loop. The problem is that in the recovery screen the command prompt is basically doing nothing because it seems it isn't connected to any disk because even using :
bcdedit /deletevalue {default} safeboot

I get this error : boot configuration data store could not be opened

the requested system device cannot be found

And I even tried to locate any drivers but
diskpart
list volume

shows me nothing.
I really cant afford to re install windows because I have some really needed info on disk C.

And it seems I dont have accesses to it which I do not know why. I even tried to copy my files with a bootable windows USB but still my Partitions dont show up there either.
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Anonymous

2025-05-19T22:16:24+00:00

It was working well, all the way up to the point where when we tried to get the settings switched over to get the computer to boot into normal windows, it said: msconfig cannot save changes" and mentioned something about me not being logged on as the administrator. And didn't let me change it to normal boot on the msconfig window either because of it. So, i'm still stuck at that part now. Any ideas? I am at the point where I am thinking that it is a prudent course of action to do a full system restore at this point. And this will destroy all the work that has been done to get the computer to somewhat work properly from not working properly at all due to a lot of hurdles that I had to do on the computer.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments