Windows 10 Update corrupted Windows - Cannot repair?

Rezident · 6 Jun 2023 at 20:48

When Windows Update installed some search bar in the taskbar it must have corrupted the OS (no other hardware or software lately). BSOD saying 'memory management' a load of times, but I cannot do most of the repair options as Windows is looking for a password. I deliberately never have a password on this PC but MS must have forced me sometime and I have no idea what it is and there seems to be no way to recover it as there is no password reminder question.

I can't believe there is no way to reset the Windows password on a Local account. I've tried the MS 'help' and seemingly there is no way, which seems bizarre.

Any workarounds?
Thanks,

Rezident · 6 Jun 2023 at 22:34

Finally got back in to Windows but it's messed up. Can't get in to Windows Update - "Something went wrong. Try to reopen Settings later"

Can you even repair Windows 10 without the password?

darael · 6 Jun 2023 at 22:34

Have you tried just pressing Enter when prompted for a password?

Rezident · 6 Jun 2023 at 22:46

sfc /scannoe and DISM not working either.

Rezident · 6 Jun 2023 at 22:47

darael said:
Have you tried just pressing Enter when prompted for a password?

Yes I tried leaving it blank but that didn't work.

darael · 6 Jun 2023 at 23:03

Rezident said:
Yes I tried leaving it blank but that didn't work.

I'll install Windows 10 on a VM with a passworded local account and see what works for me.

I recall that any BitLocker encrypted files will be lost when you remove the password, so bear this in mind.

Rezident · 6 Jun 2023 at 23:18

OK thanks, I don't think I have any Bitlocker encrypted files.

drakulton · 6 Jun 2023 at 23:32

Download Offline NT Password & Registry Editor - MajorGeeks

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is for advanced users who want to reset the password of any user that has a local account on your Windows system.

www.majorgeeks.com

darael · 6 Jun 2023 at 23:48

Rezident said:
OK thanks, I don't think I have any Bitlocker encrypted files.

Right this worked for me, but you'll need a Windows installation to boot from, such as a USB stick.

Don't use the USB stick yet, boot Windows normally. At the login screen, click the power icon on the bottom right, hold shift and click Restart, Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Start-up Settings, then finally Restart. Now on the next reboot, boot from your USB stick.

With the Windows installer loaded, press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt. Find which drive letter your install is (type C:, D:, etc and type DIR to do a file and directory listing - from there, see if you recognise anything you know). For me, Windows was installed on D:. So I typed D: to change to D:.

Now type the below:
CD windows\system32
copy sethc.exe ..
ren cmd.exe sethc.exe
shutdown -r -t 0

When the computer reboots, remove the USB stick and Windows should give you a Startup Settings menu - choose option 4 (Enable Safe mode).

Now press Shift on your keyboard about 5 times and a command prompt window should come up. For me, this went away after a few seconds so I opened another command prompt the same way. In the command prompt type in the below command and you should be able to login to Windows:
net user Rezident *

Replace Rezident with whatever the username is. When asked to set a password, just press Enter (or enter a password if you wish).

If you want to see a list of usernames used in Windows, in the command prompt type in the below command:
net user

Good luck!