Joined May 2004
L6: Expert
Forum Thread
MS Profile Issue - How do I log in and.. what went wrong?
April 18, 2025 at
01:56 AM
Hi
My main computer is a Dell 3880 running Windows 11. It's an old machine, but has relatively few miles on it... I bought it years ago and it was in its original box for like 2-3 years lol.
It has a 128 GB SSD and a 1 TB HD. I tried to move as much data as possible into the HD, but somehow, I kept getting messages that memory was full. But I'd click OK to dismiss and everything still worked. (In retrospect, maybe Windows was trying to download an update and was unable to do so due to lack of space?).
1. Recently, if the PC times out... I was unable to get back in. I would enter my PIN and it would give an error. Only way to get around it was to restart (afaik).
2. Just now... same issue, but restart did not work. I enter pin and it just spins and spins. I restarted again and tried hitting Forgot Pin, but... it says unable to load profile. I do not see a way to log in differently or to choose a different profile (not that I have one set up??).
I vaguely remember you could restart in safe mode? I held down F1 key while restarting, but it did nothing. I was taken to PIN entry page.
Help! How do I get back into my PC?
Thanks!!!
My main computer is a Dell 3880 running Windows 11. It's an old machine, but has relatively few miles on it... I bought it years ago and it was in its original box for like 2-3 years lol.
It has a 128 GB SSD and a 1 TB HD. I tried to move as much data as possible into the HD, but somehow, I kept getting messages that memory was full. But I'd click OK to dismiss and everything still worked. (In retrospect, maybe Windows was trying to download an update and was unable to do so due to lack of space?).
1. Recently, if the PC times out... I was unable to get back in. I would enter my PIN and it would give an error. Only way to get around it was to restart (afaik).
2. Just now... same issue, but restart did not work. I enter pin and it just spins and spins. I restarted again and tried hitting Forgot Pin, but... it says unable to load profile. I do not see a way to log in differently or to choose a different profile (not that I have one set up??).
I vaguely remember you could restart in safe mode? I held down F1 key while restarting, but it did nothing. I was taken to PIN entry page.
Help! How do I get back into my PC?
Thanks!!!
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if you have another PC you could pull the 128 GB drive and see if it is out of space, once you do get back in create a local account with admin rights and a password.
To enter Safe Mode in Windows 11 from boot, you can either use the Advanced Startup Options menu or the Startup Settings menu. The Advanced Startup Options menu can be accessed by forcing a restart of the computer. Alternatively, you can use the Shift key while restarting from the Start menu to access the Startup Settings menu.
Method 1: Using the Advanced Startup Options Menu
Turn off the computer completely: and then turn it back on.
Force a restart three times by holding down the power button: to interrupt the boot process each time.
On the third restart, the Choose an option screen will appear, offering Startup Repair.
Select Advanced options from the screen.
Choose Troubleshoot.
Select Advanced options again.
Select Startup Settings.
Click Restart.
After the computer restarts, you will see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start the computer in Safe Mode.
if you have another PC you could pull the 128 GB drive and see if it is out of space, once you do get back in create a local account with admin rights and a password.
To enter Safe Mode in Windows 11 from boot, you can either use the Advanced Startup Options menu or the Startup Settings menu. The Advanced Startup Options menu can be accessed by forcing a restart of the computer. Alternatively, you can use the Shift key while restarting from the Start menu to access the Startup Settings menu.
Method 1: Using the Advanced Startup Options Menu
Turn off the computer completely: and then turn it back on.
Force a restart three times by holding down the power button: to interrupt the boot process each time.
On the third restart, the Choose an option screen will appear, offering Startup Repair.
Select Advanced options from the screen.
Choose Troubleshoot.
Select Advanced options again.
Select Startup Settings.
Click Restart.
After the computer restarts, you will see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start the computer in Safe Mode.
Thank you.
Unforrtunately, this did not work as expected. There is no option for Startup Repair that I can see. It DID say to run Startup because "date and time not set" but there was no option for that either.
It offered 3 buttons... Continue, BIOS Setup and Diagnostics
I tried Diagnostics first. It ran a scan for 5 minutes and said all tests passed. When I hit continue... the screen went blank and the PC shut down!!
I did the shut down/power up/hold power button sequence again
Tried Continue... it took me to Windows login screen! Tried entering PIN, but got same issue, forever spinner.
Shut down again. Power/hold power and this time tried BIOS setup. Got this screen, not sure I should mess with this. When I hit exit... it again took me to Windows login with PIN screen. Auuuuugh.
What are the other specs of this computer? CPU? RAM? How much free space on C: drive?
Time not set is interesting. Could point to other issues. Could just be a CMOS battery but they often last longer than that. Any recent lightning?
Short of pulling and cloning the drive, you could make a bootable USB with windows install media or use Hiren's Boot CD and attempt some diagnostics, moving files off C or repairing your windows installation.
PC was purchased Nov 2020. But it sat in its box til 2023. It has i5-10400 and 16GB RAM. I would not have chosen a 128 GB SSD but that was the only option. I figured SSD better than non SSD... in retrospect, maybe shoulda opted for HDD only model, I have not noticed any difference... I only use it for Excel and browsing (E-Mail, Facebook, YouTube, tracking my Fantasy Team and of course SD)
Never replaced a CMOS battery before. Tried to look at Dell details to confirm its a CR2032, but their parts list is both extensive and comprehensive... and mostly gibberish. The SSD info is:
Part Number/ Description/ Quantity
2HMFM/ INFO,C DRIVE,PCIESSD/ 1
9946M/ SSDR,128G,P34,30S3,TOSHIBA,BG4/ 1
Anyway.... what should I get? When I look up CMOS battery, I see CR2032... some are just the watch battery by itself. Some seem to be wrapped in plastic with twisted colored wires coming out to some sort of connector?
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https://www.dell.com/support/manu...lang=en-us
pretty simple to replace.
Windows Installation Media [microsoft.com]
Note that you will need your Windows key to reactivate or you will need to obtain a new one.
PC was purchased Nov 2020. But it sat in its box til 2023. It has i5-10400 and 16GB RAM. I would not have chosen a 128 GB SSD but that was the only option. I figured SSD better than non SSD... in retrospect, maybe shoulda opted for HDD only model, I have not noticed any difference... I only use it for Excel and browsing (E-Mail, Facebook, YouTube, tracking my Fantasy Team and of course SD)
Never replaced a CMOS battery before. Tried to look at Dell details to confirm its a CR2032, but their parts list is both extensive and comprehensive... and mostly gibberish. The SSD info is:
Part Number/ Description/ Quantity
2HMFM/ INFO,C DRIVE,PCIESSD/ 1
9946M/ SSDR,128G,P34,30S3,TOSHIBA,BG4/ 1
Anyway.... what should I get? When I look up CMOS battery, I see CR2032... some are just the watch battery by itself. Some seem to be wrapped in plastic with twisted colored wires coming out to some sort of connector?
Search youtube for the model of your dell and replace cmos battery to find a video. If in doubt post a picture. If a computer sits unplugged a long it will drain the CMOS battery faster.
If you want to upgrade, you can get Samsung or WD 1TB SSDs for $80-100. A 500GB is around $60.
Windows Installation Media [microsoft.com]
Note that you will need your Windows key to reactivate or you will need to obtain a new one.
But it did not solve the problem. I got to Windows login page, entered my pin and... nothing. It just spun and spun, as before.
I held power button down, got to Troubleshoot screen and tried to "Reset this PC", opting to keep personal files but re-install Windows. But... I got "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made."
Tried System Restore... but apparently I never set up any "restore points" and so nothing happened.
Should I do Factory Image Restore? It means I'll have to re install MS office, which I recall was a pain. That's assuming I can find the MS Office code. But this is probably my best bet at this point, right?
But it did not solve the problem. I got to Windows login page, entered my pin and... nothing. It just spun and spun, as before.
I held power button down, got to Troubleshoot screen and tried to "Reset this PC", opting to keep personal files but re-install Windows. But... I got "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made."
Tried System Restore... but apparently I never set up any "restore points" and so nothing happened.
Should I do Factory Image Restore? It means I'll have to re install MS office, which I recall was a pain. That's assuming I can find the MS Office code. But this is probably my best bet at this point, right?
I'd probably just buy a larger SSD and do a clean OS install on that.
Tried different option, ended up in Dell OS reset...went through the steps.. scan/ repair (which failed).. backup, reset (which failed).... retry... ;which failed again. Tried to go into Safe Mode, but ... that also failed. Any ideas what the issue is?