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

Anonymous
2021-06-29T20:44:40+00:00

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:

  1. 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.
  2. If prompted, press F1 to enter Recovery Environment. If not, proceed to next step.
  3. Select Troubleshoot and/or Advanced Options until you get to a screen with a System Image Recovery option.
  4. Click System Image Recovery.
  5. Click Cancel on the "Re-image Your Computer" window.
  6. Ensure "Select a system image" is selected and click Next
  7. Click Advanced, then select Install a Driver and click OK. This gets you access to a Windows Explorer-type folder structure.
  8. 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).
  9. Rename Utilman to Utilman1. In this folder mode, you'll need to right-click and select Refresh to see the changes.
  10. Rename cmd to Utilman (refresh view to confirm both files are named properly).
  11. Close/cancel all of the open windows (close the Open window, click Cancel on the Add a Driver window, then close the last window)
  12. Click Continue from blue screen to reboot to your login screen.
  13. 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)
  14. Type: "start msconfig" without quotes and press enter.
  15. The msconfig window should now appear. Select Normal Boot from the first tab and click Ok.
  16. Confirm restarting your system.
  17. At the next login screen, you should be able to enter your PIN and everything should be back to normal!!
  18. 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.
Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-03-01T17:38:59+00:00

    Hey! I am having the same problem on Win10, followed all instructions exactly, but am getting stuck on step 13 - nothing is happening when I click the accessibility icon. Ideas?

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-01-08T20:16:21+00:00

    I was stuck in the missing pin loop of hell for about three days and at one point my boyfriend found me face down on the floor of my office, defeated and giving up on trying to fix it, I spent two nights up until the wee hours of the mornings trying to fix my laptop to no avail.

    I tried everything on these posts and googled solutions like a mad woman but nothing worked and I was still locked out of my computer.

    How I originally got myself into this mess was by trying to fix my printer, I had deleted the drivers and had changed my boot mode to boot in safe mode to catch anymore problems, big mistake because I landed in the missing pin loop.

    Here’s what I did to get out of it, there was an update pending to upgrade from windows 10 to 11 and I had tried to click update and install under power options but it wasn’t doing anything until I went into my Microsoft account on my phone and changed my security settings for the account, I took off the two factor authentication and tried to update and restart option again, this time it worked and it went through the whole installation process then upon restart it asked me to enter in my pin, which I did and my laptop was finally unlocked.

    This might not work for everyone but it’s the only thing that worked for me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-12-18T18:50:41+00:00

    Here are some things to check.

    =>The file may not have the extension and show up as "Utilman" instead of "Utilman.exe".

    =>You don't give much info about how far you got with the process. If you have gotten to the System32 folder, the Utilman file should be there.

    =>You have to scroll way, way down, past all the folders into the (alphabetical) list of files. Then keep scrolling until you see files starting with "U". Look closely. I had trouble finding it the first time.

    =>Also make sure you have gotten to the right Explorer/Windows/System32 folder from the System Image Recovery button (on the blue system repair window).

    =>Do you feel comfortable that you have followed the instructions or is there some confusion? More detail could help. Are you running Windows 10 or Windows 11?

    Let us know if this helps or send details and I will try to respond again.

    The WizardGrimm

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-12-07T15:10:53+00:00

    not_a_bot1001,

    You are a genius! I have tried forever to find a way around this logon loop. In past When I or friends tried to boot in diagnostic mode, we had to reset Windows then reinstall all apps and settings. Huge pain!

    I cannot believe MS has not fixed this. It's been around for several years. Or at least put a warning in msconfig so users would know, when selecting "Boot in Diagnostic Mode" & before they click on OK, there is strong possibility this will happen.

    I used this to fix a Windows 11 Preview installation. Some of the steps in Recovery Mode have changed slightly. I will add an update to your post later with those. (For both current Windows 11 & Preview versions.)

    Many thanks!

    Davis

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-12-04T21:46:48+00:00

    Reading all of that was intimating.

    : )

    I'll try not to bore you with the:

    "I just spend 400-600 hours & 6 months updating my studio computer, only to be told to flush it", as any/all solutions "offered" didn't work using Dell, Microsoft & Gheek Squad.

    In my case it was a simple adjustment.

    Getting INTO this lovely little (blue screen):

    HOLD SHIFT/Click on Power/ Keeping shift down, then click on RESTART, while CONTINUING to hold shift, as the computer restarts, you will then see the blue screen.

    In the 1 of 4 dell/trouble shooting options, I think that was F12/Diagnostics (head is spinning with nonsense from the past 12 hours), [also accessed it holding down power - trick is to keep it held down even with the power button going off], also was required a full 10 seconds, also gave me an option to get into the 1 of 4 Dell Troubleshooting options, there was an OPTION TO UPDATE the Dell Troubleshoot software; you can't miss it, up at the top, also it draws attention - the ONLY thing orange - to click to update.

    I attempted to download using the ethernet cable, the Dell Update/Troubleshoot at least 10 times and it didn't work!? Even thought my computer was connected directly, the code/communication between computer and connecting online wasn't functioning.

    a) the options are clear from a glance as to "alt options" by looking at it,

    b) you have to click adjust or "hardwire" option, or click the dots in the upper right hand corner.

    I, then simply had to change to wifi, enter wifi code, click box connect, it downloaded the update (as of Dec, 2021), restarted, and ON THE NEXT RESTART it worked!

    So, before you flush your system, give that a try.

    I've also contacted Dell back to help specifically communicate AND I'm also posting this to "attempt" address the level of complete nonsense by all parties involved.

    Hope this can help save someone from an emotional roller coaster, and just adjust the wifi settings.

    Needless to say, a huge nightmare I fixed myself, it was a connectivity issue.

    Happy to share.

    Be Well!

    ☞ :John-Michael: Clees.

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