Hi My old laptop on my network 4 machines! I tried "msconfig > boot > safe mode reboot Windows asks for password (no sign in option) enter password said its wrong, retry all fail. Tried the same password on another machine (normal startup, offers pin or password to enter) it worked Perfectly good laptop, stuck can't get into SM (password only, won't accept) Tried 1. password re-enter many times 2. Unplug & remove battery 3. Success running system restore still in "safe mode" anyway to get out of SM without calling M$
You probably need to find some kind of boot disk to blow out that admin password. That or a boot disk that will let you load the registry and change that setting. Not fun stuff. Also, never take a PC off of a domain without having a local account to log into afterwards. Similar problem.
From recovery environment -> command prompt option, enter this, bcdedit /deletevalue {default} safeboot . Hopefully when you reboot, you will be in normal mode.
@itman - I saw the BCDedit thing, how to get to a command prompt, with all the futzing, windows repair came up on a reboot I got to a command prompt. It was X:\ the command did not work, tried (from x:\) cd c:\ that failed as well. @sbwhiteman - I'll try @xxJackxx ideas for a boot disc (Free). It's a bad day
Thanks Guys! Some how, I got back to windows 'auto repair' on boot up, got to cmd. Command line entries, (Fuzzy this old man), got to c:\ typed bcdedit command, & it said 'error' element not found (re bcdedit...safeboot), exit rebooted back to normal windows. Oh! the sys restore, indeed occurred, so now updating. Time for my victory lap!
Assuming you're running Win 8.1 or 10, I forgot to mention this must be done via Win installation media -> repair option.
Thanks Itman! It's fixed, fixed via cmd prompt from on boot up it entered auto repair, I then used bcdedit to fix
