Windows 10 says my password is wrong… But I know I’ve entered it correctly!

Coming into the office one morning and turning on your Windows 10 computer, you might find that the password for your user no longer works. After installing an update, Microsoft may have changed the way you sign into the computer. In this article, I will show you how to find out if that has happened, and what you can do to revert the changes and use your original password again!

How do I know if I have this issue?

If you are asking yourself this question, the easiest way to tell is to see if you get this message after trying your password.

“That password is incorrect. Make sure you’re using the password for your Microsoft account. You can always reset it at account.live.com/password/reset.”

There is an issue with Windows 10 where, after an update, it will change a local user to a user associated with a Microsoft account. This means you will have to enter your Microsoft account password in order to log into the computer. This becomes a problem when someone either doesn’t remember their Microsoft account password, or can’t remember creating one in the first place.

What is a Microsoft account and why would I have one?

A Microsoft account is a combined account that allows you to access all of the Microsoft owned content available on the internet. This account can be used to access Outlook.com or Hotmail, XBOX Live for video games, Windows Store on your PC, and even Skype, as it’s owned by Microsoft. If you have used any of these services, or any of the other many divisions within Microsoft, you would have had to sign up for a Microsoft account at some point. You might have even created an account when logging into a brand-new computer with Windows 10, as it’s the most user intuitive way to create a user on a new PC.

How do I find out what my Microsoft account credentials are?

The easiest thing to do would be to search your personal and work emails for anything from Microsoft about account creation. They always send confirmation emails whenever you sign up for an account, and since you can use your personal email address to create an account it would be the most logical place to check first. If you deleted the initial email or can’t find it, you can move onto the next step and Microsoft’s password recovery tool will tell you if you have an account or not. The initial email should give you a clue as to what email address you used to create the account, finding the correct password is more difficult. Unless you remember what the password is, you will need to reset it.

How to I reset my Microsoft account password so that I can log into my computer?

For this to work, you will need to either log into a different user on your computer, or use a different computer entirely as you won’t be able to log into your computer just yet. You would also be able to complete these steps using a smartphone as well.

The first thing you will need to do is go to the following website: https://account.live.com/password/reset

Choose the option for “I forgot my password” and click Next. This will take you to the account recovery page.

Enter your email address, phone number, or Skype name, enter the correct captcha characters, and click Next. If you remember which email address you used when you created a Microsoft account, enter it here. However, if you don’t know if you have an account, start with your personal email account and follow the steps, Microsoft will tell you on the next page if there was not a Microsoft account associated with that email address. If there is not an account associated with that email address, back up and try a different email address or perhaps a phone number or Skype name. If there is an account associate with that email address, then continue through the steps of verifying your identity and resetting your password.

Okay, I’ve reset my Microsoft account password or I know my password. How do I change it back to where I can use my original password?

Once you have reset your password, log into your computer with the new credentials you have obtained. Click on the Start Button, and then click on Settings or the Settings icon located here…

Then you will want to click on “Sign in with a local account instead” located on the Your info tab to the left.

Enter your Microsoft account password first, then you will want to re-enter the credentials how they were before the update. (Your original password)

You will then sign out of the Microsoft account. You should notice when trying to sign back in that it has reverted to the original sign in screen (Picture might be different) and you will be able to sign into the computer with your original password again!

Finding lost files on your computer

The other day I lost a file. A very important file that I suddenly had to have and I had no idea where I saved it. I am a little embarrassed to admit that, however it happens to all of us at some point. After several minutes of frantically searching for it, I was finally able to find it. Here are a couple of the different ways I searched my computer that you may find useful.

1. Use the Windows Start Menu search to locate missing file. Simply click in the “Ask me anything” area and type in what you are looking for. You can search for the specific title of the document or you can search for some specific piece of information within the document. If you do not see the specific document you are looking for in the results, you can click on the header to look at the relating results. In the following image, you can click on Documents. This will display an even longer list of documents that can contain your needed document.

2. When you are browsing a specific folder or set of folders, there is a built in search which can be used to find specific files. This useful tool will search the folder you are currently in and any sub-folders for the information you are looking for.

   

   Also when you search for something, it will bring up a special ribbon toolbar with additional search tools. These tools allow you to narrow down the results by file type, date modified, file location, and several other options.

   
   Look in the last program that you opened the file with. If you remember which program you opened the file in, there is a good chance the file is listed in the Recent files list. For instance, if you are looking for a PowerPoint presentation, it should show it in a similar list as the image below.
   

While being organized can be extremely useful, even the most organized people have lost files before. Take a deep breath and keep searching, most likely you will find it. Also remember that if you have a backup system in place, it could be possible to recover the file from your backup. Finally, remember that you can call your support specialist if you need assistance.

My Favorite Tech Gadgets

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday have past, let’s face it, many of us have yet to complete start our Holiday shopping. During last month’s Cooperative Conversation (a monthly webinar we put on for Extension personnel covering a wide variety of technological topics) I mentioned a variety of tech tools that would make nice gifts. I’d like to highlight a couple of my favorites, in case ideas are still needed!

How many times have you been on a trip and desperately needed to charge your phone but couldn’t get to an outlet? A great solution for these situations is to purchase a power bank. There are a variety of these currently on the market. I purchased one for around $12 at Best Buy last spring. It’s lightweight, charges one device and portable. BUT there is another great option on the market that makes my little $12 power bank seem like a rip off.  KMASHI has a power bank on Amazon which runs about $14. It can charge two devices at the same time and can possibly charge up to three devices before running out of power.  (The PNY device resembles the single charger compared to the KMASHI)

If you are looking to spend a little more money on someone, another favorite device of mine is the BOSE Bluetooth Speaker. This little $179 speaker produces amazing sound, is fully portable and pairs with any Bluetooth device. To put it in perspective, we took the speaker into a lecture hall on campus to test the level of sound it produces. Placing it at the front of the room and standing in the back, we could clearly hear and understand what was being played on the speaker. At home, I love to grab it and move from room to room playing music and podcasts from my phone. It’s battery lasts for hours and if it starts running low, I can just set it on the charging dock or plug it in and continue to use it. It is hands down one of my favorite tech gadgets and a pretty decent price for a BOSE device.

Finally, know someone who has an iPhone 7? As most of us have heard by now, Apple did away with the auxiliary plug to use regular headphones. With this change, the ability to charge and listen to music simultaneously ended. Fortunately, Belkin put out a $40 device that remedies that problem for those of us who like to be able to charge and listen to music.

I hope these help give you some ideas as Christmas gets closer and my fellow procrastinators realize the shopping still has to get done! I hope everyone has a very Happy Holidays!

~Cynthia Hobbs