My son's desktop PC suddenly wouldn't boot to Windows 10 tonight. It just hangs at the motherboard logo screen. Eventually I got it to go to the Windows recovery options (took a long time). Didn't want to resort to repairing Windows yet, as it said it would delete all his apps, even if it does keep all his personal files, so I chose "Startup Recovery."

It asked for which account and there was only one - his name, no e-mail address. We entered the password he uses to log in to Windows and it didn't work. Tried a different one, nothing. Tried his Outlook account password, nope (again, his Windows login is not his Microsoft/Outlook account - it's just a local account). Tried his password for his school OneDrive, nothing.

Nothing works. Is there a way around this? The Googling I've done is useless. There is a link to click if you forgot your password, but it just tells you some useless crap.

I tried booting to a USB stick - I have a copy of Windows media from two different PCs - but that doesn't work, either. The Windows logo comes up and then after short bit, the screen goes black and that's it. The light on the USB drive stops flickering, which makes me think there's no activity.

I'll get back to it on Monday when I have time, but figured I'd post here to see if anyone had any ideas.

try one of these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGu_...TechHelpSourav

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8Q...hannel=ipMalik

Thanks, I'll give them a shot. I really wonder why I can't even boot from USB - I even created a new Windows media this morning on a freshly-formatted stick.


Looks like it will have to be the first video. Second one assumes I can actually get to the Windows login screen, which I can't.

you don't, all you need is to get to the system recovery blue screen app (pc goes there after 3+ restarts)
and access command prompt from there

Finally got it to start a Windows installation from a USB stick. It was hit and miss - took lots of tries. From there, I could open the command prompt without needing a password. I went through the regedit steps like in one of the videos, but my process diverged and didn't work. My computer didn't have an option to reboot or continue to Windows, just shut down completely. As such, I never got back to the command prompt to change the password.

I'll keep trying, but might have to just reinstall Windows so my kid can use his computer.


Doesn't even make it to auto repair all the time. Lots of times it just hangs on the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen.

Booted to USB again and tried every repair option given. All of them basically said they couldn't do anything. I may be SOL.


(options I've tried are Startup Repair, System Restore, and Uninstall Updates)

idk, sounds like file corruption / infection
i.e. virus
there's more stuff that you can try but idk if there's any point
if you can successfully repair windows and the kid just has to re-install his apps, I'd do that

actually mby first you should post on https://forums.tomshardware.com/ ,in the appropriate section
way better chance you get good computer advice there

If you have no personal info to recover, this is a snap re-install windows for me

And after doing that, test your HD meticulously for errors

I actually did somehow get to the point where I could delete his password in the command prompt. After that, the PC got to the Windows desktop, but it was one-time deal. Can't get back there.

While in the command prompt, I was able to see the hard drive and navigate through the directories (thankfully I'm old enough to remember a few DOS commands), so the drive looks ok. Also ran chkdsk.

Finally got back to the automatic repair menu (lots of tries and lots of waiting) and tried Startup Repair, but it said it couldn't (deleting the password worked, though, so I'm not getting the "wrong password" error). I did the option to uninstall the latest quality update, and while it did it, I still can't get to Windows.

Interestingly, on some of the reboots, it does some sort of repair to the D: drive, which is a secondary HDD for games and what-not. It's not a boot drive, so I'd be surprised if it was causing this problem, but perhaps I'll try disconnecting it.

Certainly seems like some sort of Windows corruption. I'm probably heading to Microcenter tomorrow (I was able to snag an RTX 3060 and a motherboard combo via Newegg Shuffle, so I'm building myself a new system), so perhaps I'll grab an external drive enclosure, rip out his C: drive, see if anything needs to be backed up, then reinstall the drive and Windows.


EDIT: I think I got to the desktop by entering Safe Mode via the "Startup Settings" option in the automatic repair menu. I'm going to try it again to see if I accomplish anything. Now that I think of it (this was two nights ago), I think I made progress in the command prompt via Safe Mode. I would not be shocked if there was a virus. He's a 13-year-old kid. He says he's responsible, but he's likely full of ****.

We all got our tentacle porn
let us know how it goes

Got it fixed!

Looks like it was a virus (plural). I was able to boot into Safe Mode again and ran a full system scan with Norton. It found 4 viruses and cleaned them. It's been fine ever since.

I'm going to do some more scans and general cleanup when I have a chance. So far, so good, though.

Thanks for all the help - the video showing how to clear the password in the command prompt was key.

while you're at it, run tronscript
nice little tool, runs several anti virus/malware, cleans up stuff in Windows, disables some telemetry, clears old update files

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf1Y...=NicoKnowsTech