Computer Password Bypass Possible?

Topic

New Reply

I received an HP laptop to use if I can get it to work. It boots to the Welcome screen but  the password I was given is incorrect. “Reset the password” brings up the Password Reset Wizard that says I must have a password reset disk in order to continue. Of course, I do not have one for this computer.

OK. We have passwords expecting them to keep others out. However, there are claims on the web of ways to do this without a password reset disk. They include software and command line solutions. These would not seem to be options for me to even try since I cannot access the bios to change the boot order, or to open a CMD window (F12, etc.). Bad computer. 🙁  Before I trash the laptop can anyone recommend something that I do about this?

Reply | Quote

Replies

try some of the methods in this epic askwoody thread:
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/win-7-administrator-password/
good luck!

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

Wow, Microfix. That thread has 293 replies, 25 voices.  I will try everything I can so it may be a while before I report success or failure. Thanks.

Reply | Quote

Free  https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

Paid (and it works like a champ) https://www.recover-windows-password.net/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAjc2QBhDgARIsAMc3SqSp1O8nG1zLuTK_UtW1e-u6ZFGoRn-cirxiTirdsKzx5mid6k2kFrwaAib0EALw_wcB

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

This is one of the “solutions” that I had seen, along with several others like PCUnlocker, etc. I certainly will pay for this one if necessary – your recommendation is all I need. But I am concerned that a flash drive will not work. I tried using one to do a fresh Win 10 installation but it wouldn’t boot. Therefore, I must look for way to confirm that problem is solvable or not. Suggestions anyone?

Reply | Quote

Booting from a flash is the hard part.  I typically have to google up what key combo works/or boot into the bios and change it so that it boots from flash first.

Since you don’t care about the OS or the contents, right?  What if you reset the OS?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Why can’t you access the BIOS?

If you don’t know the key sequence google your make and model for the information.
Usually ESC, F12, F2, or some combination. Remember most of these single entrances require you to repeatedly press the key while the computer is booting.

Here’s a link to my favorite tool: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/offline_nt_password_and_registry_editor.html

You can google it for step by step instructions.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

None of the keys work. So no bios, no CMD. Nada. Before you ask, the person who gave me the computer swears it was working fine and has no idea why it is not now. If it were not for this, I would feeling dead in the water and move on. I am trying to solve this because I suspect that the password he gave me is wrong. Hence, how to get around it is my mission.

Reply | Quote

One of the most commonly used keys to get into the BIOS is the Delete key. I didn’t see it mentioned so I thought I would.  Hold it or any other keys down even before you press the ON button to make sure.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

If you have a blank hard drive around,  you can swap it in and see if you can then boot from your windows install USB, since it may search other locations if the main is not bootable.  Also cold boot before trying the keys to enter bios.  Cold boot means hold power button for 10 seconds to shut down, then try.

Reply | Quote

From the User Guides for —
==> 2011 HP laptop:
“To start Setup Utility, follow these steps:
1. Turn on or restart the computer, and then press esc while the “Press the ESC key for Startup Menu” message is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
2. Press f10 to enter Setup Utility.”

==> 2021 HP laptop:
“Turn on or restart the computer and quickly press f10.
– or –
Turn on or restart the computer, quickly press esc, and then press f10 when the Start menu is displayed.”

My practice is to press Start, then rapidly tap F10 until something is displayed.

Also, be aware of the possibility that accessing some of the BIOS ‘pages’ may require you to supply an Administrative Password that previously has been set. (This is a BIOS password, not related to any OS PW.)

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

Even if you know the right keys to press to get to the BIOS or Setup Utility, the hardest part can be the timing. For example, if it says “…then press esc while the “Press the ESC key for Startup Menu” message is displayed at the bottom of the screen”, sometimes the message goes by very quickly making it easy to not actually press the esc key when the message is displayed. My point is that if you try a key combination and you don’t get into the BIOS, it doesn’t necessarily mean you used the wrong key combination; try it again a few times and it might work.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Charlie, JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

Apologies. I am so stupid (I have a BS degree, Bachelor of Stupid, that I use daily). The Esc key DOES work. I must have pressed it incorrectly when I tried it before. The Setup Menu appears. The Boot Device Options look to be in order. FYI, the BIOS shows the Administrative password is clear. The System Recovery option started out correctly, asking first for the keyboard layout language, but then the Continue button went back to the Welcome screen again. The System Diagnostics screen is frozen.

If I can boot from a USB now, I can try installing Windows from my boot USB, but if it demands the password that is not working, then I guess I am back to buying Susan’s Windows Password Key software. Unless I find a freebee solution before I do that. If I could access a CMD screen, there are a couple of things I could try. Oh well.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DrBonzo

Reply | Quote

JohnDeaux wrote:

then I guess I am back to buying Susan’s Windows Password Key software. Unless I find a freebee solution before I do that.

Both Susan and RetiredGeek recommended above the same free tool which has worked well for many years for thousands of people (including me).

Reply | Quote

I get that this is the best solution. I know I rambled a bit in that post making it sound like I was downplaying it. Sort of summarizing some thoughts, and not well and not in a good order.

Reply | Quote

I’m reporting that I still am unable to access the laptop. I purchased Windows Password Key Professional, installed it to a USB drive, inserted that into the laptop and booted it only for the Welcome screen to appear again. I uninstalled and reinstalled the program three more times but got the same result. I formatted the USB, installed WPK and again it failed on the laptop.

I must be doing something wrong but after much research I just cannot figure out what. Or there is something wrong with the laptop despite having been told that it was fine when given to me. Any help will be appreciated.

Reply | Quote

Try the free Hiren’s BootCD PE.

Resetting Windows Password
Boot your computer with Hiren’s BootCD PE.
Goto Start Menu -> Securiy -> Passwords -> NT Password Edit
Open your SAM file (It is usually located in C:\Windows\System32\config\SAM).
Click your username and the click ‘Change password’. To set a password, type your password both ‘New password’ and ‘Verify’ fields and then click to ‘OK’. To remove the password, leave both ‘New password’ and ‘Verify’ fields blank and then click to ‘OK’.

Reply | Quote

It sounds to my as though you are not booting from the USB, but from the laptop’s drive.
You can’t just stick the USB drive and press the power button – that will default to the laptop’s main drive.
You have to change the boot drive to the USB port and boot from there.
Is the USB drive bootable on another computer? It has to be bootable as well as have the program installed.

Reply | Quote

Try pressing <F12> as soon as you see something on the screen after power-up. I usually do a constant “peck” on the key, something like twice a second. With luck, you’ll get the boot menu screen, where you can choose to boot to your USB drive.

That may not be the right function key, or it may not be enabled on your laptop, so it may not work. It’s worth a try, though. Good luck.

Reply | Quote

@PKCano, I have access to the BIOS and had changed it to boot from USB. @zat_so, F12 does not work but ESC does. That is how I have been able to access the BIOS. @Alex5723 I have downloaded Hiren’s BootCD PE and am working through using it.

[Moderator edit] removed html

Reply | Quote

I got into the laptop. I could see everything and even ran some apps, but others didn’t work. Among other things, I got a warning that it is in Hibernate mode which apparently is causing some of the problems. I can not figure how to change that. Next, I could see the list of users, including Administrator and the user name of the previous owner. I chose that and removed the old password entirely hoping that would allow booting directly in.

I changed the BIOS back to booting from the OS, booted and it said “Preparing Automatic Repair” followed by the steps being done. It got to Automatic Repair but said that Windows couldn’t load correctly. Then it initiated Restore but there was no sign that worked, and brought back the Welcome screen again. I was able to bring up the Password Reset Wizard but it again said that the USB is not a password reset disk although it is. Then back to the Welcome screen. I am going to try Window Password Key again when I have time.

Reply | Quote

If the data on the computer is not useful to you, booting a Windows install usb and doing a full destructive install would be the step I would take next.  But, that is only true if you like Microsoft drivers – if you like HP drivers and software, do not do it.

Reply | Quote

Good idea. However, I tried that and it did not work. That was long enough ago that I do not remember precisely what happened. I will try it again.

Reply | Quote

As it now boots to USB you would be best served by making a full backup to external USB hard disk, then a non-destructive reinstall of Windows.
Even if you have to start from scratch you will have all the data and the old installation.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I didn’t think to try to backup. Dumb me. Now it is on my list.

Reply | Quote

It is in hibernate mode due to fast startup. One of the reasons I disable hibernation/Fast Startup as one of my first things when setting up Windows. Elevated command prompt/PS “powercfg -h off” Or control panel > Power Options > Choose what power buttons do and uncheck Fast Startup

2 users thanked author for this post.

windbg, Microfix

Reply | Quote

anonymous wrote:

One of the reasons I disable hibernation/Fast Startup as one of my first things when setting up Windows.

What is that one reason? What are the other reasons?

Reply | Quote

Data recovery on a hdd that came out of a machine with hibernate on is a chore at times. I’ve had multiple clients over the years that called up with goofy issues which a reboot fixed by flushing the hiberfil file. Seems they never restarted the machine using power off always. Have had a few programs over the years that went wonky with hibernation. In my experience with SSD drives the boot time difference is negligible. All our machines we maintain are up 24/7 for backups and other chores. Hibernation makes no sense for our use.

Reply | Quote

Yes. If the default Fast Startup is retained, users should definitely Restart (or Shift + Shutdown, but not just Shutdown) about once a week.

Reply | Quote

I am not familiar with Fast Startup. I see it helps start a computer faster after shutdown. I will try to turn it off on the laptop to see what happens. I’m wondering how having this option on would cause a problem with Hibernate. I’d appreciate learning more about this if you have the inclination.

Reply | Quote

Fast Startup is a type of hybird hibernation file. As Windows shuts down all apps and users are logged off and closed. Windows uses its hibernation functions to copy the kernel, divers, etc. that would be in place after a bootup and before a login. When Windows boots next time, Windows loads the file it saved rather than load from Windows files which loads faster. Trouble with this method is a corrupt driver or other problem is copied back into the system when this file was loaded. Without stopping Fast Startup you are doom to keep loading the same problem.

Pressing the Shift while rebooting tells Windows to not make this file. Next bootup will take longer.

The above instructions about using the Control Panel to turn off Fast Startup may have changed. This setting is not available on any of my current home versions of Windows 10, so you may not have that setting on your system. If you wish to turn off Fast Startup for every reboot (disable it), it requires a Registry edit.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power
"HiberbootEnabled"=dword:00000000

If you don’t have that value you will have to create it.

or you can download the Registry file that will add the value to your key.
The download site is a free hosting so popup ads may occur …just close as they don’t affect the download.

No Fast Boot.reg

Download
Right click > Merge
Yes to UAC
Yes to Registry edit warning
acknowledge the value was added to the Registry.
Reboot required to take effect.

If you decide you want Fast Startup on again, go to that key and change the Dword value to 1 (which turns Fast Startup on).

HTH, Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux

Reply | Quote

Drcard:)) wrote:

The above instructions about using the Control Panel to turn off Fast Startup may have changed. This setting is not available on any of my current home versions of Windows 10

Still works for me on 21h2, OS build 19044.1526.  “View by” should be set to small (or large) icons, “choose what the power buttons do” is in the upper left corner.

Win 11 home - 24H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

Reply | Quote

Drcard:)) Using Hiren’s BootCD PE I have full access to the computer. Many things do not work, however. Programs, links, etc. I found that the OS is Windows 10 Enterprise, although it puzzles me that a couple of things said it is Win8. There is no Fast Boot option. Your explanation really helps me to understand what is going on. I will look into your suggestions.

Reply | Quote

After testing:

I don’t have those settings on my 21H2 systems and need the Registry key value to turn Fast Startup off because I have Hibernate turned off. Those options are removed when Hibernate is turned off.

If I turn Hibernate back on those settings reappear. Makes sense since Fast Startup is an offshoot of Hibernate. Maybe that registry key value is not needed if Hibernate is turned off. Since Fast Startup is connected with Hibernate I wonder if turning off Hibernate turns off Fast Startup.

I don’t like Hibernate due to the large files it creates, so I turn it off. I don’t see any delay when I wake it from sleep, so I don’t miss it.

Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

2 users thanked author for this post.

JohnDeaux, mledman

Reply | Quote

anonymous wrote:

One of the reasons I disable hibernation/Fast Startup

I always use hibernate on my machines. When I power on I return to where I left off in 20 seconds, brilliant!

The only issue I’ve ever had is leaving Brave playing an audio stream when I shut down. Sometimes Brave will lock up the machine after a few minutes. As I like Brave I just stop the stream before shutdown.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I also like using hibernate. After what I have been going through maybe I should swear off of it. And Sleep has its own problems, doesn’t it.

Reply | Quote

Even though I can access the laptop, I still cannot get it to work properly. Some things work, some do not. There is a System Restore directory which appears almost full, but I cannot do a restore.

The main problem still seems to be the hibernate thing. I searched all over but found nothing to help getting out of that mode. Right now I am looking at the Windows Login Unlocker tool. This allows for resetting/unlocking user accounts and essentially is what I did earlier (see #2427710 Feb. 25) when I used NTPWEdit to check the password folder (SAM). None showed, but I got it to move forward to reset the user’s password, albeit coupled with a strong warning I might hose the computer. It didn’t, but neither did it work.

So now I’ve gotten the warning (again) that because the computer is HIBERNATED (its emphasis) it could be dangerous to attempt changing the password. I’m stopping right there to ask if anyone can tell me the right move. There is one thing that puzzles me: it shows the date of the last incorrect password entered (me?) to be 3/26/22, exactly one month from now. Probably not significant, but…

Reply | Quote

I wonder if turning off Hibernate and deleting the Hibernate file (C:\hiberfil.sys)
will free the PC up.
To turn off Hibernate run the following command in a Command prompt with Administrative privileges:

powercfg.exe /hibernate off

You can turn it back on once you have the PC running again.

HTH, Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

If I’m not mistaken, Fast Startup uses the hiberfile, so turning off hibernation and removing the hiberfile should disable Fast Startup as well. It has removed the Fast Startup option in my Win10 Pro Build 19044.1426 Control Panel\Power Options and the Registry value for HiberbootEnabled = “0” too.

2 users thanked author for this post.

wavy, Paul T

Reply | Quote

That’s what I love about this forum. While trying to help someone else, I learn new things that help me.
A truly Win! Win! situation.

Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

Did not work. It says “Hibernation failed with the following error: The request is not supported .” And “The following items are preventing hibernation on this system.”  “Windows does not support Hibernate during the upgrade process.” And “Windows Preinstallation Environment does not support Hibernate.”

I am unaware that there is an upgrade going on. Maybe this has to do with how Hiren’s BootCD PE works?

Reply | Quote

You can’t change the hibernation state if you’ve booted from Hirens.
What you can do is delete the hibernation file and then reboot the PC.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Drcard:)) and Paul T, I know that hiberfile is there, but I cannot find it, let alone delete it. Brain freeze. A program like Everything locates it and allows it to be deleted, but there is no program like that on the laptop.

Reply | Quote

The hiberfile is a hidden system file on the root directory of the Windows install and is named hiberfil.sys. In File Explorer, it must be set to see system files.

It usually at C:\hyperfil.sys.

Do you have the option to reset the PC to original factory settings using a recovery disk?

Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

Sigh, I have gone through the computer with a fine tooth comb (maybe not fine enough) without finding hiberfil. And unfortunately I do not have a recovery disk. What to do, what to do.

Reply | Quote

Do you have access to a PC running Windows 10? If so, you can make a recovery bootable USB stick and use it to get to the recovery or reset options.

HTH, Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

Yes, I have recovery disks, and have backed up the laptop to my external HD. I tried two of them with the same result. Windows Setup asks for a product key and I click “do not have”. Is that right? If I put in mine, wouldn’t Microsoft refuse to validate the installation later?

Next , I chose from a list of Widows versions, which in this case is my W10 Home, right? I hate  installing Home over Enterprise, which is on the computer now. OK, but both install attempts failed with the message that the Update Upgrade isn’t available (incompatible). Then clicking Close shuts down the computer. So back to Hiren’s for now. Frustrating.

Reply | Quote

I agree, first step should be boot a backup utility and backup.

Sorry for vagueness but to delete hiberfil.sys –   Make a ubuntu bootable USB key.  Boot from it in live mode not install.  Mount the hard drive.  In a files/file explorer window view the hard drive and delete the hiberfil.sys, then shut down ubuntu.

Reply | Quote

Ouch. As comfortable as I feel around computers, I have zero knowledge about Linux. Not sure this is something I want to tackle now.

Reply | Quote

Backup your system. Now.

Next, make sure hidden and system files are showing.

Then, hunt for the file and make sure it is spelled correctly.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

Reply | Quote

Yep, backed up. And I made sure that hidden files should be shown. I have hunted for hyberfil extensively. I don’t see how I may be doing it wrong. It puzzles me that there does not seem to be a file/folder search app on the laptop or provided by Hiren’s (unless I missed it).

Reply | Quote

It’s not just the “hidden files,” you have to show the “protected system files” as well to see the hiberfile.

Control Panel
Folder (File Explorer) Options
On the View tab:
Hidden files\folders – Check “Show hidden files”
Uncheck “Hide protected system files and folders” – this should show the hiberfile.sys in the root of the C:\ drive if it exists.

When you finish, go back and check to hide the protected system files and folders b/c you will be seeing things you do not need to see (desktop.ini files for example)

1 user thanked author for this post.

b

Reply | Quote

JohnDeaux wrote:

I found that the OS is Windows 10 Enterprise

I think this is the issue.  Resetting the login password may not help.  Those with enterprise edition knowledge could give you better advice (well above my  pay grade).

Win 11 home - 24H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

Reply | Quote

Yah, above my pay grade, too. Ain’t this fun?

Reply | Quote

To find hiberfil.sys

Open a Command Prompt
Type: dir c:\ /ah
You will see a list of hidden files, one of which is hiberfil.sys.

To delete the file.
Open an admin Command Prompt (to be sure)
Type: del c:\hiberfil.sys
If that doesn’t work, remove the attributes: attrib -s -h c:\hiberfil.sys
Now delete.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Directory of c:\ does not show hiberfil.sys. This is a serious setback considering our focus on hiberfil in order to bypass booting to the Welcome screen, and having the password rejected. I’ll tackle this tomorrow. Thanks for your confirmation advice.

Reply | Quote

Since you can get into the PC and use a command prompt with Admin privileges, the following command with get the original product key.

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Your description of what you see from these disks doesn’t sound like a Recovery disk so let’s try another way to reset the PC.
When the PC boots to the login screen where the password is entered:
Hold down the Shift key while pressing the power button that is in the lower right corner of the screen. From the popup menu select Restart.
This will open the PC in recovery mode without a recovery disk.
From the Choose an option screen select Troubleshoot.
From the Troubleshoot menu select the Reset this PC
Select what to save and reset the PC

HTH, Dana:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

I could not get the original product key on the laptop, but rather got “ConERROR: Description = Not Found”.  Confession: I now see that I was not using Recovery USBs, as I was advised way above to do, but rather Windows boot drives. I use different terminology for some things that I see here. I was calling these Recovery drives because in my mind I only use them to “recover” when I need to reinstall Windows (something that happened several times last year, a whole other story). I see that this caused a lot of confusion here.

So, I used Macrium Reflect to make an actual Recovery drive, then booted the laptop to it. Running Reflect again, I tried the option “fix Windows boot problems” but that did not work. I discovered that the laptop has Win8, not Enterprise as I mentioned earlier (#2427865).

Since than I have done numerous things. I tried the Repair Drive option again, but got “… couldn’t start properly” 0x00000001. Back to Reflect, again, to ReDeploy Windows to the laptop. It said “…process complete”, but after restarting I got “…ran into problem, needs restart, collecting error info – INACCESSABLE BOOT DEVICE”, and then it froze, showing 0% done.

By now I am so confused that I need to take a cold shower.

Reply | Quote

Paul T, THIS time dir c:\ /ah DOES show hibersil.sys, with 3 1/3 GB dated 03/28/2022. (I remain puzzled about this date whenever I see it.) However, when I tried to delete it using del c:\hiberfil.sys, it did not work; “could not find…”. Then, attrib -s -h c:\hiberfil.sys got “Access denied – c:\hiberfil.sys”.

As I just posted to Drcard:)), I am confused. Much to think about. Later.

Reply | Quote

Try taking ownership of the file before removing the attributes.
takeown /f c:\hiberfil.sys

I assume you are doing this after booting from the USB?

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Did not work. I booted from the Hiren’s USB. Takeown in CMD was a success. But running attrib got the same “Access denied”. I also tried del again but got the same “Could Not Find”. Do I have to be worried that ownership changed to Hiren’s (HBCD_pe$)?

John

Reply | Quote

No need to worry about the changed owner.
Access denied is a very strange error when working from a boot USB. I am starting to think you have a disk error.

Fire up the disk checking from Hirens and see what it says. CheckDisk GUI & HDDScan

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

CheckDisk looks fine, although “Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 6”. Ran the tests Locate bad sectors + recover readable information, and Looking for bad clusters in user file data. Ditto the “Failed to transfer…”

Ran HHDScan Read and Write SHORT test. “Finished”.  S.M.A.R.T. Report is all in the green.

Reply | Quote

JohnDeaux wrote:

I discovered that the laptop has Win8, not Enterprise as I mentioned earlier (#2427865).

As you were given the laptop, is there really anything on it that you need to retain?

It would be so much easier to clean install Windows 10 than to continue attempting to reset unknown passwords for Windows 8 (which has less than a year of extended support left).

Reply | Quote

Absolutely it should be upgraded. A clean install certainly is an option. I already unsuccessfully tried to use Windows boot USBs. How can I do a clean install under these circumstances? I do not want to mess up again.

Reply | Quote

You can boot to Hiren’s, so you can boot to a backup program and backup, then boot to a Windows installer and install over the top.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I used Hiren’s utility Aomei Backupper to back up to my external drive. I am not sure what you mean by booting to a Windows installer. Isn’t that a bootable USB? If so, those did not work.

Reply | Quote

Hiren’s is a bootable USB, yes?
So is a Windows install ISO burnt to USB.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/tasks-for-the-weekend-may-15-2021-squirrel-away-time/#post-2366148

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Yes, burnt using Media Creation Tool, Rufus, etc. I tried two of those without success. They started the Windows Setup process, but failed the Compatibility Report, “The upgrade option isn’t available if you start your computer using Windows installation media.”

Reply | Quote

As long as you have a backup the data will be intact.
Boot to a Windows USB and install afresh.
Let us know how it goes.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Paul T: I am not sure about your reply. You seem to be telling me to do something that I think that I already have done multiple times, using USBs created by Macrium Reflect or Windows Media creation Tool or Rufus. Aren’t those called Windows boot disks? I had serious problems with my own (new) computer last year, during which I created multiple boot USBs and kept them all rather than overwrite just one. I seriously am wondering if I again am misinterpreting you and others here.  Would you please tell me if I am off base about what you are advising me to do?

Reply | Quote

When booting a windows 10 install USB, you can choose to clean install instead of upgrading.  As here https://www.windowscentral.com/how-do-clean-installation-windows-10#clean_install_windows10

Online data from past use of windows 8 or the bios is likely to automatically get windows 10 to show as genuine.  But using utilities to write down your key before repartition would not hurt.

Reply | Quote

JohnDeaux wrote:

Yes, burnt using Media Creation Tool, Rufus, etc. I tried two of those without success. They started the Windows Setup process, but failed the Compatibility Report, “The upgrade option isn’t available if you start your computer using Windows installation media.”

I still wonder if this is an enterprise edition of windows (either 8 or 10), causing compatibility problems with the ISO.

Win 11 home - 24H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

Reply | Quote

The base Windows is the same no matter which edition you use. Recovery disks don’t need to know what edition you have.

Upgrade requires a running system so the installer can query the settings.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I spent hours trying to track this down. I could not get internet service working. That is a problem because when I tried my own boot drives, the install process asked which Windows version to install, but did not list Win8 as a choice. The selection has to match the edition of the laptop’s product key. (BTW, I finally found its product key.) When I tried to select a Win10 version (an upgrade, right?) that failed as I got the “incompatible” error message I posted about earlier in #2428244. If you don’t select the correct edition, Windows won’t activate. So now I will have to burn Win8 on my computer and hope it works. Tomorrow, right after another cold shower.

Random information: Booting via Herin’s BootCD PE, Control Panel > System shows Enterprise but that’s Herin’s Vista-based OS it is reading. This confused me earlier. System Information shows 8.1 on the laptop. No drivers for the Bluetooth controller, no drivers for some other devices. SW environment shows no startup programs.

Task Manager shows it is not running networking It shows only System Information, Computer Management, All Control Panel Items, Admin CMD, Windows Recovery and Windows System. No Users. No tasks. And so forth. Programs like WMplayer, Moviemaker, Wordpad and more do not work (“.dll not found”). Why? Hyberfil’s fault!

Thanks to you all for hanging in here with me. We must love a good puzzle.

Reply | Quote

JohnDeaux wrote:

The selection has to match the edition of the laptop’s product key

Download 8.1 here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

From the link:
“For Enterprise editions please visit the Volume Licensing Service Center. ”

More options > “Sign in to the Volume Licensing Service Center to download enterprise editions.”

#2407039 also is worth the read.

Win 11 home - 24H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

Reply | Quote

Paul, this is just what I need for Phase X of my adventure. I am leaving to go out of town and it will be several hours before I can start trying this.

Reply | Quote

you can also rename hiberfile.sys to hyberfilesys.old instead of deleting it in case you’re worried about messing anything up.

Reply | Quote

Is there any chance of system wide data corruption or loss when renaming the file?

We cannot afford to lose any data so were considering a hard drive clone instead.

Please advise with my thanks in advance.

Woody House

Reply | Quote

No.
Hiberfile is a copy of your memory contents at shutdown. If the file does not exist you cannot return to the point of shutdown and you get a clean boot.

Woody House wrote:

We cannot afford to lose any data

Create a backup to external disk using any of the (free) software we mention here.

Woody House wrote:

considering a hard drive clone

This only wastes a hard disk because you can only have one copy.
Use backup software to make multiple backups to one external disk and you can recover to a point in time.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Use backup images instead of clones.

Reply | Quote