This has seemingly just ruined my PC. I did have a PIN setup and I now get a message on logging saying:

Something happened and your PIN isn't available. Click to set up your PIN again.

Set up my PIN​

But when I click "Set up my PIN" nothing happens and I now can't get into my computer.

Any ideas?????

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2024

Oh Bunford... I know, it's quite a nightmare, read this:

Windows 10 Won’t Accept Password? 6 Ways to Fix it! www.diskpart.com/articles/windows-10-wont-accept-password-1503.html

 

This isn't the issue. I think it disables/deletes some security dependency the PIN requires, so will never work not load up when trying to change PIN.

I've tried Safe Mode and get prompted with the same PIN issue screen.

Just tried System Restore too, which thankfully worked.

A bit of a glaring omission on the tool though to not warn people to disable PIN etc before hand!

 

Congratulations on being able to restore your PC. The tool didn't disable the PIN or password for me.

 

Rando me-so-hackerman script finds another victim!

 

There are a few different ways to do it, but I generally use WinAero Tweaker, due to its simplicity and it's useful for adjusting other windows settings as well. You can download it here: https://winaerotweaker.com/

 

I think I have my fresh new install in a nice place now. Went back to 23H2 and used Schneegans to strip it right down, CTT Windows Utility and Wind11Debloat to strip further and tweak, and then modified registry in a few place and now have UAC off and Defender entirely disabled, and all correct drivers updated using Snappy Driver Installer. Everything now running smoothly (touch wood) and snappy with everything working (so far). Used AOMEI Backupper to create a system image backup so I have a starting point to restore in the future if needed rather than have to reinstall Windows entirely.

Now just need to start connecting all my hardware and installing software again now while keeping my fingers crossed....

 

I even run the system as administrator like in the old days. And had defender patched out. The only thing I keep is the firewall. And I don't use edge, I use Firefox with ublock. And no outlook and no ms office. Instead Thunderbird and Softmaker. If you just don't klick every exe you stumble upon you'll be fine.

 

My nest step now is to start disabling Services, which has never gone well for me!

Also, when I check I notice there's often multiple instances of Edge running in the background even though I don't use Edge and don't have it open. How do I prevent this?

 

Stop Microsoft Edge from starting automatically
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...atically-c341c879-799a-dccd-d6be-bc51ecdd5804

Since the Digital Markets Act came into force in March 2024, Windows 11 users have been able to uninstall Microsoft Edge. But this doesn't work on many computers.

Be careful with the services, the performance gain is minimal and the damage "can be" big.

 

This is already off and doesn't stop it. Within the Task Manager processes, there's a bunch of MS Edge-related things running despite nothing in the Startup Apps and this setting turned off, so it seems to be starting up and doing something in the background.

 

If you're not visiting sketch websites, you're fine. I always set it to never notify. And I disable defender because it's annoying.

 

How to uninstall Microsoft Edge in Windows 11
www.xda-developers.com/how-uninstall-microsoft-edge-windows/

 

Last edited: Oct 31, 2024

Did you try starting Edge, going to Settings -> System and performance and turning these two off?

 

Never spotted these. Have turned off now, and will see if it fixes the issue!

 

I'd highly recommend against trying to get rid of Edge as like Internet Explorer before it, some Windows functions rely on it.

However, you can minimise the bloat with aforementioned WinAeroTweaker so it becomes almost invisible and consumes no system resources, something like this:



Use WinAeroTweaker and O&O Shutup to get rid of recommended bloatware, and whatever extra they might offer if needed. This way you can easily roll back if you mess up. Don't randomly disable services unless you absolutely, positively know what they do.

*edit* Yes there's a way to get rid of Edge and disable it so Windows Update doesn't replace it, but as said, you shouldn't do that. But then again, maybe there are some people who love constantly reinstalling their systems.

 

Yeah, I'm aware of this. I don;t wanna get rid of it, just shut it up and stop is rifling through my resources in the background unnecessarily where possible!

Thanks for the app suggestion. Had a look and seems like an installable piece of software. Is there a portable version of it at all? Seems somewhat counter intuitive to install something to debloat something

 

All UAC does is add an extra click to open a virus, just run suspicious files into Sandbox/Virtual machines

 

The installer offers a portable version, there's no need to install it if you don't want. O&O Shutup is also portable and has no installer at all.