WINDOWS 10 Experts Please

[DD716TED]

Last week my New HP Desktop computer AGAIN installed an all to frequent update.. I have the computer set up to when turned on to start without entering a password. After the last update, 2 out of every 3 times when turned on, the computer prompts the wife for a password which we don't have.. I then have to turn the computer off for about 30 seconds and restart it again and it starts/signs on without entering a password and works fine. Not a pleasant experience for the DW or me who she summons every time it does this. Anyone else experienced this problem, and if so.. what corrective action did you take?

[Gdetrailer]

pauldub wrote:
You really don't need to turn your computer off.

You shouldn't "need" to leave your computer turned on 24/7 to avoid the problem that a MS update caused (in this case a random logon screen which should never be happening).

Gosh, that is like trying to turn the radio up louder in your vehicle to hide very bad noises from your engine when you forgot to check the oil level too long..

No one should have to leave their computer on to mask a problem that wasn't there originally.

[pauldub]

You really don't need to turn your computer off.

[Gdetrailer]

AsheGuy wrote:
I don't believe any of the "experts" that have commented on this thread so far have addressed the fact that current Windows 10 versions default to the user of a new PC signing up for a Microsoft account with password. If the user of a Windows 10 PC is using a Microsoft account on their PC, they have to login with its password or they will not be able to access their content that is in the MS cloud rather than on their PC. Many new users are not aware enough of this to reject the MS default of using a Microsoft account and instead setting up a local account on their PC that will allow logging in with or without a password at the user's choice, and result in their documents being on their PC and not the MS cloud.

That leads to the question to the OP, which kind of account was set up on your PC. A PC can be setup with both account types and if that is the case for the OP, maybe that is what is causing the confusion.

OK, to refresh, I will also quote the original post..

DD716TED writes "Last week my New HP Desktop computer AGAIN installed an all to frequent update.. I have the computer set up to when turned on to start without entering a password. After the last update, 2 out of every 3 times when turned on, the computer prompts the wife for a password which we don't have.. I then have to turn the computer off for about 30 seconds and restart it again and it starts/signs on without entering a password and works fine. Not a pleasant experience for the DW or me who she summons every time it does this. Anyone else experienced this problem, and if so.. what corrective action did you take?"

OK, so, according to the info that DD716TED has given, they HAVE setup their new PC WITHOUT THE NEED TO ENTER PASSWORD.

It OBVIOUSLY WAS WORKING the way the OP wanted.

AFTER the PC received a WINDOWS UPDATE it NOW asks for a password 2 out of every three times the PC is turned on or rebooted.

OP says that THEY DO NOT HAVE A PASSWORD, in other words, when they did the FIRST bootup, they SKIPPED the portion where Windows asks for a "memorable password" that you won't forget.

To skip the password setup, you simply leave the password BLANK, in other words you hit the ENTER KEY and OS will continue on without any password.

This SHOULD work regardless if you setup as a "local" or Online MS account and obviously the OP DID have it working.

Setting up with local account is easily accomplished by not giving Windows the password to the WiFi or having the PC connected via Ethernet while setting up. Just simply tell it to continue on without Internet. In other words, no Internet access until AFTER Windows has finished the first boot process.

MS has forced their online account on folks but you can work around it during initial setup but well worth it. You can always joint it to an online account afterwords if you like.. But it can be difficult to setup a local account after the fact short of reinstalling. Not everything in life must or should be part of the online steamroller 24/7.

It is nice to have the local account installed for those times where something online with MS Account gets borked..

Obviously, the OP did not want to have to enter a password at bootup, it was working, then quit working AFTER a Windows UPDATE.

Obviously, the UPDATE CHANGED SOMETHING to bring up the password screen.

With no password setup, the password screen should NEVER popup.

OP could try hitting an ENTER at the password screen (leaving the password empty or blank) and see if it logs in..

[AsheGuy]

I don't believe any of the "experts" that have commented on this thread so far have addressed the fact that current Windows 10 versions default to the user of a new PC signing up for a Microsoft account with password. If the user of a Windows 10 PC is using a Microsoft account on their PC, they have to login with its password or they will not be able to access their content that is in the MS cloud rather than on their PC. Many new users are not aware enough of this to reject the MS default of using a Microsoft account and instead setting up a local account on their PC that will allow logging in with or without a password at the user's choice, and result in their documents being on their PC and not the MS cloud.

That leads to the question to the OP, which kind of account was set up on your PC. A PC can be setup with both account types and if that is the case for the OP, maybe that is what is causing the confusion.

[Gdetrailer]

wa8yxm wrote:
Once you get in use a PIN.. for example 1342

Many on the forum (Mostly older men) will know where I got that one from
(NOTE that is NOT my PIN)

Jeeze folks, get off the OPs back for not using a "password, a PIN, secret code, secret handshake, photo ID, perhaps their blood"..

Believe it or not, their are MANY ways to defeat those feeble attempts of "security" and there are times where there is no need for such measures.

A USB flash drive with Linux or even Windows PE can and will get you right past the Windows logon password. You can also remove the drive from the PC and using a external USB adapter be able to read EVERYTHING on that drive.. I have had to do that for forensic purposes on returned company PCs in order to get past passwords to determine if it was hardware failure or software failure of the company products.

Obviously the OP and their DW do not "want" or "need" a password on their PC, they did not setup a Password and something with the latest Windows update has messed with the PC settings that is now intermittently no longer logining on automatically without a password prompt. And now it takes several "attempts" at booting the PC to clear this issue.

They are attempting to correct the issue of this random logon screen showing up when booting..

Setting a password or pin will not "fix" their issue..

Some of use are not scared or needing to hide what we do on our PCs from others.

[wa8yxm]

Once you get in use a PIN.. for example 1342

Many on the forum (Mostly older men) will know where I got that one from
(NOTE that is NOT my PIN)

[Gdetrailer]

AllegroD wrote:
Use a password.

If your PERSONAL PC is at home or secured in your RV, WHY?

Your password CAN be easily defeated and ALL of your data CAN be accessed just by removing the drive from your PC and plugging it into any HD to USB drive adapter and plugged into ANY PC that can read NTFS.

That is how insecure your OS password is.

To make a OS password "secure" you have to use Bitlocker or any drive encryption software and encrypt the ENTIRE DRIVE.

Not everyone is scared of the boogyman getting access to their PC that they password everything.

Now if you are talking a Company PC where you might have company secrets or trade information that could cause damage to said company then that IS a much different animal, most companies now days are using drive encryption and encrypting the entire drive..

[AllegroD]

Use a password.

[Gdetrailer]

Latner wrote:
While logged into your computer, pull up the Run window by pressing the Windows key + R key. Then, type netplwiz into the field and press OK.
Uncheck the box located next to Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.

Click the OK button toward the bottom of the window. This will prompt an automatically sign-in box to appear. Enter your username and the new password you created earlier into the fields provided.
Click OK and choose to restart your computer.

OP said they do not have a password setup.

W10 is supposed to ignore and automatically login with the first and default user.

It is possible the user must enter password may have gotten checked, if this is the case, I would think it would be asking for the password everytime.

It is also possible that the default user profile may have been corrupted.

In the case of no password, just try an Enter and see if logon completes..

In the case of multiple user profiles on the same PC, those may have gotten scrambled with the update..

Sounds like a bug, er "feature" in the latest update :M

OP, if you are not doing backups via imaging, I would highly recommend you do so. Image backups give you a fighting chance if a updates makes scrambled eggs out of your system.

A 1 TB external drive right now is under $50 and is a cheap way to protect your Win10 computer from MS's own versions of a virus (updates).

There are free hard driving image software programs available, Macrium free, Acronis may have a free version also.

Imaging software makes a compressed backup file which can be used to restore your PC.

If what Latner mentioned does not work, I would recommend checking the Win10 forums (not part of this forum)for assistance..

TENFORUMS.COM

Something else to consider, MS has relaxed the forced updates some, in some versions this can be deferred for 30 days or more. I would highly recommend deferring the updates. This allows some time for MS to recall and fix their mistakes before your computer downloads and installs a time bomb bad update.

[Latner]

While logged into your computer, pull up the Run window by pressing the Windows key + R key. Then, type netplwiz into the field and press OK.
Uncheck the box located next to Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.

Click the OK button toward the bottom of the window. This will prompt an automatically sign-in box to appear. Enter your username and the new password you created earlier into the fields provided.
Click OK and choose to restart your computer.

[Second_Chance]

Have you tried just hitting "Enter" with a blank password field?

Rob