A "Login Block" situation I've never encountered before . . .

[britechguy]

Just got a call from a longtime client who's trying to log in to a Lenovo laptop that he had not used in a long time, and for which he'd set up a PIN that he cannot remember. He has entered a wrong pin enough times that a message saying to enter A1B2C3 to try again comes up, which I've also never seen.

I had hoped, once he did that, that the login screen would then have the link I mentioned the other day that allows you to activate it to choose a different login method, and in this case that would be his Microsoft Account password.

But even after entering the prescribed string to allow trying again, the resulting screen does not have anything that allows you to choose an alternative login option. We've hard powered down, restarted, etc., and there seems to be no way to break out of this screen to get to allowing login by password.

Rather than spending hours trying to research this, I thought I'd turn to the wisdom of the cohort, as someone's likely traveled this road before.

If something can be done via the Microsoft Account that would make this particular machine "happy again" as far as presenting other login options, I'll happily do that, but I'm unaware of any options on that end, too.

He's got his tax information on the machine and does not want to nuke and pave, and I completely understand why. He also shouldn't have to, as we should be able to use his Microsoft Account password to log in.

Any assistance most appreciated!

 

[britechguy]

Well, the issue is solved, and here's what solved it.

When I was working with the client, the machine was not connected to the internet because he has recently gotten a new ISP and had never set up the WiFi stuff on that box. I didn't think he'd need to, either, as Windows 10 does retain a local copy of the last functional password from the Microsoft account. I also didn't know that you could still get in to configure WiFi from the login screen whether you are as yet logged in or not, which is what he ended up doing.

Once connected to the internet, the link I expected and the choice of login options that go with it once you activate it automagically appeared, so he was able to log in using his password then reset the machine PIN to a new one that he can remember.

Very strange, as logging in to Windows 10 is not dependent on internet connectivity, and I've logged in plenty of times using my MS account when not connected to cyberspace. What stopped "the usual options" from presenting remains a mystery.

 

[Sky-Knight]

The locally cached information has an expiration timer, I don't know what it is... and it's at least 90 days long but there is indeed an expiration timer. Because AD tombstones everything, and I cannot fathom this mechanism being any different.

So you're only likely to run into the mess he was in when you store a unit.

 

[britechguy]

The locally cached information has an expiration timer, I don't know what it is... and it's at least 90 days long but there is indeed an expiration timer.

Well I sure as H*** hope that doesn't include the PIN, which is local to the machine only. That wouldn't have helped in this case, as he'd forgotten it, but local-only access should not expire.

It makes no sense to me to have any expiration on this, really. Machines do get stored, and they often come out of storage in settings where internet access is not present. There is no logical reason to make it impossible to log in to a Microsoft Account linked user account on a machine stored over 90 days. As it so happens, I have a machine I can actually test out this theory on. I haven't touched two of the old laptops here at home for many, many months. I need to fire one up with WiFi turned off at the sources to see what happens.

Addendum: Just fired up the ancient Toshiba Laptop with both hotspots for the house turned off, and it did not connect to the internet. I was actually surprised to learn that I had to have fired it up somewhere around May 2021, as it had Windows 10 Version 21H1, Build 19043.928 on it. But .928 was released in the May 2021 timeframe. And I know I haven't touched it since then.

Was able to log in with the cached password. And I'm certain of that because I couldn't remember whether I'd used a capital letter or not, and when I used one I got the message, "Device is offline, please sign-in with the last . . .," message. When I typed the correct password, straight in.

My mother passed away last August, and I am absolutely, positively certain that it has been untouched since then, so I'm a minimum of 5 months since last login and probably more like 7 or 8 months.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Not sure if this was a valid test. The lock down described in your OP was because of multiple failed pin Login attempts. It’s very likely that the pin has a timer because it secures a cached password login. Im sure any machine will let you offline login. It’s multiple failed attempts that trigger required internet access to verify access. Simply put if you keep pounding on the login and fail it will lock you out.

 

[britechguy]

Simply put if you keep pounding on the login and fail it will lock you out.

That makes sense.

What I was saying is that it would be insane to put any time limit on the cached password or PIN if one entered the correct one straight out of the shoot if the machine had been in storage for any period of time.