windows 10 - locked out

Steamy Tom said:
Hi all,

I need some advice, i am sitting with a family members pc that they cannot log into.... the logon email address on the logon screen doesnt match the microsoft account they have given me and logging in online to that doesn't show this device, so i cant see how that password is lynced but they think it is, i am guessing they just used the same password at some point.

If i try to reset the password it tells me there is no microsoft account matching that email address. To add to this the machine has bitlocker encryption and the password is of course also unknown...

is there any possible way to get in so that we don't lose all the data without having to format the drive and reinstall?

any advice appreciated.
Click to expand...

Have you asked them about this address and what do they say?
 
Steamy Tom said:
at very least before lockdown so not ages, were you thinking expired microsoft account?
Click to expand...

I was thinking how they cannot remember their password for that account, I was thinking they must not have used it for a while for forget it (unless they tried to change the password and got it wrong)

About this bitlocker encryption... you're getting to the Windows logon screen? I thought one has to enter bitlocker on PC startup, very confusing.
 
supersunbird said:
I was thinking how they cannot remember their password for that account, I was thinking they must not have used it for a while for forget it (unless they tried to change the password and got it wrong)

About this bitlocker encryption... you're getting to the Windows logon screen? I thought one has to enter bitlocker on PC startup, very confusing.
Click to expand...

I am also used to getting bit locker before anything else... it is somehow tied to the microsoft account.

I really dont get how this happened, the registry even looks a bit odd so i am suspecting some foul play here
 
My system, which I have used several times for other people

Take the HDD out the machine
Attach it to a SATA to USB adapter
Copy the documents, email, music and pictures to another HDD
Reinstall Windows on the old HDD, doing a fresh install
Restore
 
Steamy Tom said:
I am also used to getting bit locker before anything else... it is somehow tied to the microsoft account.

I really dont get how this happened, the registry even looks a bit odd so i am suspecting some foul play here
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Is the laptop a Dell? Dell has this horrid habit of autoencrypting drives. Happened to my mom. If it does, it saves the bitlocker key in their online Microsoft account.
 
ghoti said:
Is the laptop a Dell? Dell has this horrid habit of autoencrypting drives. Happened to my mom. If it does, it saves the bitlocker key in their online Microsoft account.
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it is exactly this... the big kicker here is that the microsoft account can't be found for the email that was used.... so yes much odd
 
chrisc said:
My system, which I have used several times for other people

Take the HDD out the machine
Attach it to a SATA to USB adapter
Copy the documents, email, music and pictures to another HDD
Reinstall Windows on the old HDD, doing a fresh install
Restore
Click to expand...

this is a vostro, so it is mostly sealed there isnt easy access like some laptops. Besides for that the drive is encrypted...
 
Steamy Tom said:
it is exactly this... the big kicker here is that the microsoft account can't be found for the email that was used.... so yes much odd
Click to expand...
Try all emails associated with that person, not just the one they think they used. Your only chance of getting in is figuring out which email address they first logged in with.
 
ghoti said:
Try all emails associated with that person, not just the one they think they used. Your only chance of getting in is figuring out which email address they first logged in with.
Click to expand...

yeah i have tried the ones they know :( I am not a desktop support kinda guy so i am not that current on microsoft happenings but it is quite weird, i can't change accounts when trying to login and the email there is not linked to a microsoft account. I was under the impression origionally that you have to use a microsoft account, but i beleive you can use a local account...but if you did why would it say your email address as a username. very strange.
 
Steamy Tom said:
yeah i have tried the ones they know :( I am not a desktop support kinda guy so i am not that current on microsoft happenings but it is quite weird, i can't change accounts when trying to login and the email there is not linked to a microsoft account. I was under the impression origionally that you have to use a microsoft account, but i beleive you can use a local account...but if you did why would it say your email address as a username. very strange.
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It would need to be someones email address (perhaps a previous IT guy or something?) if it did the auto encrypt thing. Otherwise you would never be able to recover your bitlocker key.
 
ghoti said:
It would need to be someones email address (perhaps a previous IT guy or something?) if it did the auto encrypt thing. Otherwise you would never be able to recover your bitlocker key.
Click to expand...

i hear you....you know what this kind of situation is like and logic...
 
Steamy Tom said:
this is a vostro, so it is mostly sealed there isnt easy access like some laptops. Besides for that the drive is encrypted...
Click to expand...

The whole drive? Surely only the Windows login. The computer was assembled, therefore it can be disassembled. The HDD and battery are always reasonably accessible since they are the most likely to fail
 
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