Category: Windows

If you forget your Windows 10 login PIN, you won’t be able to retrieve it. However, you can change it. If you don’t use a PIN, normally you would signin using a Password. There are other signin options, but the PIN and Password are the most commonuly used.

Using the PIN makes it much easier and faster to login. Before resetting you PIN, I advise you to create a Password Reset Disk.

I was using the guidelines in this post to reset my PIN. I canceled out of the process. That prompted Windows 10 to delete my PIN. I attempted to login with my PIN, but it was gone. Then, I tried using my Password, but I had the wrong Password. After spending an hour or so trying to login and reading help guidelines on my iPhone, I finally entered the correct Password and got past the Windows 10 login screen. In resetting your PIN, DO NOT CANCEL the process.

Even though this post is about resetting your PIN, you should create a Password Reset Disk to avoid the above nightmare.

Windows has a built-in application called Forgotten Password Wizard. This Password recovery tool is what you would use to create your Password reset disk.

This is for Windows 10 devices. To follow this blog post, you will need your Microsoft account Password and Windows 10 login Password.

Creating a Password Reset Disk

• In the Cortona search box, type in Control Panel
• Open the Control Panel
• Click User Accounts
• Click User Accounts. Refer to below image:

• Insert a flash drive
• Click the link Create a password reset disk. This will open the Forgotten Password Wizard. See below image:

• To start, click Next. The wizard will walk you through the process. You will be asked to select the flash drive from a drop down menu where you want to store the reset disk. Click Next to proceed.
• Then you will be asked to enter your current Windows Password. Enter your Password and click Next. See following image:

• You will be presented with a progress bar; once it reaches 100%, click Next, then click Finish. Refer to below image:

At this point, you can check for a file called userkey.psw on your designated flash drive. See below image:

You can now remove the flash drive, label it and store in a safe place.

Using the Password Reset Disk

The next time you are locked out of your PC, plug in your USB flash drive and click Reset Password link. You may have to attempt your login a few times before you see the link. Select your disk from the drop down menu and click Next. You will be prompted to type your new Password and a Password hint. When you are done, click Finish.

You should now be able to sign into Windows with your new Password.

Reseting Your Windows 10 PIN When Not Signed In

This assumes you already have a PIN for your Windows 10 login. If not, refer to the section below about adding a PIN. Its best to change your PIN while you are logged on. If you are locked out of your PC and you have a PIN, you should see I Forgot My PIN link on the login screen. If so, click the link. You will be asked to enter your Microsoft account Password and how to send a new code. Once you have the code, input it and click Verify. Enter your new PIN twice and now you can use the new PIN when logging into your device.

Resetting Your Windows 10 PIN When Signed In

• Click the Start button
• Click the Settings tile (the one with the gear icon)
• Click Accounts
• Click Sign-in options. Refer to below screen:

• Click Windows Hello PIN. See following image:

• Click I forgot my PIN link

You will be presented with an Are You Sure screen. Please read the info about resetting you PIN. If you are sure about doing this, click Continue. Refer to following image:

At this point, DO NOT CANCEL the process. Next, you will be asked to enter your Microsoft account Password. Enter your Password and click Sign in. See following image:

Now you will be asked to enter your new PIN twice. then click OK. Refer to below image:

You now have successfully changed your PIN. Simply use it the next time you login into Windows 10 on your device.

Adding a Windows 10 PIN When Signed In

Remember my nightmare story about losing my PIN. I finally got back into Windows through my Password. Adding a PIN is similar to resetting your PIN while signed in. Follow the steps preceeding the first screenshot above, then:

• Click Windows Hello PIN. See following image:

• Click the Add button
• Enter your Windows 10 login Password and click OK. Refer to below image:

Now you will be asked to enter your new PIN twice. then click OK. See following image:

You now have successfully added a PIN. Simply use it the next time you login into Windows 10 on your device.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

It is quite common that one user owns both a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs. Each device has its merits.

If you have both a laptop and a desktop or two or more computers, you may want to sync the two or more devices for following reasons:

• Use the same Windows 10 settings on two or more computers without spending time manually entering theme customizations, browser options, etc.
• Keep frequently-used files up to date on two PCs without the repetitive work of copy and paste.

Choose from Settings such as Language preferences, Passwords, and color Theme. If you turn on Other Windows settings, Windows also syncs some device settings (for things like printers and mouse options), File Explorer settings and notification preferences. 

Since it’s beneficial to sync a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs, how is this done? First, you’ll need to use the same Microsoft account to log into each Windows 10 device that you wish to sync.

This is for Windows 10 devices

Sync Your Windows 10 Devices

• In your Cortana search box, type in Settings
• Select Accounts
• Select Sync your settings. You will be required to sign into your Microsoft account, especially, if you are syncing your Passwords which requires a verification. Refer to below image:

• Turn off or on your syncing preferences
• Repeat the above steps for each Windows 10 device

Once the feature is on, the synchronization will take place across all your devices that are running on Windows 10 and where you’re logged in with the same Microsoft Account.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Do you want to save electricity? Shutting down your Windows 10 Desktop or Laptop at a specific date and time is one answer. Normally, we walk away from our computer at the end of the day. At some point, your PC will slip into hibernation or sleep mode, which saves power consumption but we are going to save even more electricity plus reduce heat buildup.

The Windows operating system has a Task Scheduler which allows us to setup a shutdown at a specific date and time. This Scheduler has been around since Windows XP. By setting up a scheduled task, we are going to shut down your PC at a specific time. I am going to walk you through the setup process screen by screen.

The steps are for Windows 10 operating system. The Task Scheduler is for Windows XP through Windows 10

• In the Cortana search box, type in “task scheduler“ (without the quotes)
• Open the Task Scheduler. See following image:

Create the Auto Shutdown Task

• Select Create Basic Task. See following image:

• Give the Task a name and a description. I am using Auto Shutdown at 10 pm as the name. See following image:

Set the Task Triggers

• Click Next at the bottom of the screen to open the Task Trigger screen
• Select Daily (the default). See the following image:

• Select Next
• Select a Start: date and time
• Set Recur every: 1 day (the default). See below image:

Set the Task Action

• Select Next. You will see the Action screen
• Select Start a program (the default). See below image:

Set the Task Arguments

• Click Next
• In the Program/script box, enter “shutdown” (without the quotes)
• Enter -s -f -t 60 in the Add arguments box. See following screen:

These arguments are part of the shutdown.exe program. The -s tells Windows to shutdown, you could enter -r for a shutdown and Restart. The -f forces all running programs to close and is implied if the -t argument is greater than 0. The -t 60 adds a 60 seconds countdown, if you want an immediate shutdown, change to -t 0. See following image:

View Your Task Summary

• Click Next and you will see your Summary screen. See below image:

• Click Finish
• Close the Task Scheduler. For our example, we are initiating a daily shutdown starting on 2/5/2020 at 10pm by closing all running applications with a 60 seconds countdown.

View, Edit or Delete Your Scheduled Task

• Open Task Scheduler
• Click on Task Scheduler Library
• Find your task under the Name column and highlight it. You can view your Triggers and Actions under the appropriate tab. See following image:

• To Edit your task, highlight the task and select Properties. I recommend you go through each tab and make any necessary change(s). Click OK to apply your change(s).
• To Delete the task, highlight the task and select Delete. Click Yes to complete the deletion.

• Close the Task Scheduler

You are finished. At the designated date and time, watch your computer automatically shutdown. In our example, the auto shutdown occurs every day at 10 pm..

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.