Solved Continues loop for PIN isn't available. VIRUS ?

My wife possibly got a virus. When we try to sign in, it says
"something happened and your pin isn't available. Set up my PIN. "
But we never used a pin, we had a password.
When you click on Set up my PIN, it says we need to install an app from store. We click YES and the loop begins. It goes nowhere.
I've booted it in to Advanced Options > startup settings, to go to Safe Mode, several times, but no matter what option I choose, it will not go into a safe mode, it goes to the PIN entry screen and does the eternal loop.
Tried system repair from boot settings. Nothing
Tried back up to earlier date. Say no previous dates available.
The only option I can get into is the command prompt. But not sure what I can do from here.
Any suggestions?

Don't you have option to enter user account password when ask for PIN login credentials?

Is it local or Microsoft account?

No. She got a pop-up that said her computer was infected and to call the number on the screen (false microsoft info). She turned it off immediately, but has not been able to get back in. It asks for a PIN, and that is all.

Sounds like Ransomware malware infection. Ransomware is a malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, cyberattackers place organizations in a position where paying the ransom is the easiest and cheapest way to regain access to their files.

Lets see if the files are encrypted, boot computer into Windows 11 recovery environment and open the command prompt execute Notepad.exe and from menu bar click File --> Open to open File Explorer browse the C: drive see if files are can be access.

First screenshot

2nd

3rd

It's not infection, its wrong PIN been entered.

FreeBooter said:

It's not infection, its wrong PIN been entered.

Click to expand...

Never used a PIN. Used a password

garym396 said:

Never used a PIN. Used a password

Click to expand...

I understand but somehow login PIN is ask for we deal with infection if there is any after you login to user account.

You can reset the PIN from a hidden administrator user account.

In this video, you will find detailed instructions on how to enable the hidden administrator account on Windows 11,10, 8, 7 or Vista based computer, by modifying the Windows Registry Offline in case you cannot login to Windows by using another account with admin rights.

Nope.

FreeBooter said:

I understand but somehow login PIN is ask for we deal with infection if there is any after you login to user account.

You can reset the PIN from a hidden administrator user account.

In this video, you will find detailed instructions on how to enable the hidden administrator account on Windows 11,10, 8, 7 or Vista based computer, by modifying the Windows Registry Offline in case you cannot login to Windows by using another account with admin rights.

Click to expand...

Nope. It won't let me. When I change the password and hit okay, this is what I get. I assume it's an elaborate Virus.

Any other ideas FreeBooter?
I'll try anything at this point.

If you don't have any system images to restore to, I'd give System Restore a try.

Edit: I see you've already tried System Restore.

You are not loading Windows 11 SAM registry hive try again.

I've never used this, but it looks plausible.

FreeBooter said:

You are not loading Windows 11 SAM registry hive try again.

Click to expand...

Yes, I did. When I set the password to temp and hit okay, the hive disappears and that error message appears.
If you look at the top left of my error screenshot, the cursor is a little in the way, but you'll see it says Load.hive.

I had your video running on my cell phone and followed instructions step by step. I've tried it 3 times now.

The X: letter is showing which is not Windows 11 partition drive letter, execute below command to found out drive letter of Windows 11 installed partition.

Bcdedit | find "osdevice"

Click to expand...

FreeBooter said:

The X: letter is showing which is not Windows 11 partition drive letter, execute below command to found out drive letter of Windows 11 installed partition.

Click to expand...

Ahh! I hadn't even noticed that. I'll try again. Thank you!

Assuming this issue is caused by malware, at this point you do not know if only the user account is affected or if the OS is also affected.. Of course, the best solution to this issue would be to restore a backup image if you have made one. Unless you have a local backup or have backed up your data to Onedrive the recovery solutions I recommend will result in loss of personal data. Here are ways to get back into the computer.

Option 1.Reset the PC which will reinstall windows
Attempt to get into recovery options at boot. Shut down computer. Hold down the shift key and turn computer on. Keep the shift key held down during boot. This should get you into recovery options. Here, you can reset the PC which will reinstall windows. Choose the 'remove everything' option.

Option 2. If you want to take the chance that only the user account is affected you can create another user account using install media. IMO this option is easier than enabling the administrator account using boot media.
If you are unable to get into recovery as per step 1 or if the reset is unsuccessful, using another computer create windows installation media using Option 1 in this tutorial. Windows 11 installation USB

Boot the problematic computer from the installation usb using option 2 in this tutorial. Boot from USB Drive on Windows 11 PC Tutorial
Then attempt to create a new user account using this guide. How to create Local Administrator Account on Windows 11/10 using CMD
If this is successful, once you log into the new account, remove the old account.

Option 3 Do a clean install
Clean Install Windows using the install media you created. Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

It won't let me switch to the C: drive in command prompt.
I issue the chdir C: command, and it switches to C drive, then immediately goes back to X: drive.