Windows forgot it, not the user. I am helping an older neighbor with this. Not as adept at tech, but he is not forgetful or is this a case of a "senior moment."
a) His windows 10 all-in-one (HP 7320) won't recognize his password. (He has not changed it, had it written down. Th keyboard works OK - I tested it - so it is correctly relaying the keyboard input).
b) The computer also "forgot" his wifi network. If you look at available networks, it cannot see his home 5g network, though my tablet or cellphone clearly can.
This is maddening. I connected the computer to my cellphone hotspot, and the password typed ok - so I was able to rule out a keyboard issue. We tried the prior password or two, also (he has a notebook with all passwords he has used back years; very organized) with no joy.
According to the help info from Microsoft, if you hold the shift key while restarting, you get a Win 10 reset menu, but that does not happen. It just restarts all the way to the sign-in screen regardless of holding the shift key. I do get an HP start screen along the way, at which I can hit "esc" and get a windows/HP recovery screen. Then I can wipe it and reinstall the original Windows 7. Not an appealing option.
Has anyone had any experience with something like this? I can only imagine it is a glitch from a Microsoft forced update, or could it be malware? This is really frustrating and frankly kinda scary that it could happen.
a) His windows 10 all-in-one (HP 7320) won't recognize his password. (He has not changed it, had it written down. Th keyboard works OK - I tested it - so it is correctly relaying the keyboard input).
b) The computer also "forgot" his wifi network. If you look at available networks, it cannot see his home 5g network, though my tablet or cellphone clearly can.
This is maddening. I connected the computer to my cellphone hotspot, and the password typed ok - so I was able to rule out a keyboard issue. We tried the prior password or two, also (he has a notebook with all passwords he has used back years; very organized) with no joy.
According to the help info from Microsoft, if you hold the shift key while restarting, you get a Win 10 reset menu, but that does not happen. It just restarts all the way to the sign-in screen regardless of holding the shift key. I do get an HP start screen along the way, at which I can hit "esc" and get a windows/HP recovery screen. Then I can wipe it and reinstall the original Windows 7. Not an appealing option.
Has anyone had any experience with something like this? I can only imagine it is a glitch from a Microsoft forced update, or could it be malware? This is really frustrating and frankly kinda scary that it could happen.
