System locks at windows login

[Dublin19]

Yes, it sounds pretty much the same.  I believe you are correct, I don't have any discs.  I was going to check with Micro Center.  My machine is somewhat old, 2013, but everything seems to check out, but for the Windows 10 upgrade.  HP Support says that due to the age of my machine, they no longer support it and I need to try a local shop.  I have no idea how much this might cost.  But it seems like a waste to buy a new machine?

[mdklassen]

> I rebooted multiple times, hard boot. 

> At startup Support requested I hit F11 to invoke System Restoration, this didn't work. 

Can you explain what you mean by "didn't work" ?

> Another reboot, I hit escape to get to the startup menu, from here my keyboard and mouse are responsive ...

Correct.  The "minimal" support by the motherboard for your USB KB/mouse is active.

At this point, are there any lit-up LEDs on your keyboard & mouse?

> I hit F11, System Restoration.  I get no prompts, the machine starts up and I end up at the Windows10 startup screen with the date and time, but no box to enter my password. 

Correct.  Click anywhere on the wallpaper, or press ENTER on the keyboard, to display that box.

At this point, are there any lit-up LEDs on your keyboard & mouse?

> At this point Support suggested that my System Restoration partition has been deleted and the only solution is to reinstall Windows.  So I had no options to choose a restore point.  Do you have any ideas?

> I also have tried many hard reboots and get the same result as you. 

> The light on the mouse and keyboard goes off so I have no other access. 

> The suggestion to reinstall Windows 10 requires I buy or get discs correct? 

> As you note I welcome any other thoughts.

Since your computer was running Windows 10, you have been granted a "digital entitlement" to reinstall Windows 10, at any time, at no cost, onto the same computer.

See: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

to download the "1709 Fall Creators Update release".

Follow the instructions to copy the download onto either a 8GB USB memory-stick, or onto DVD-recordable media.

[Dublin19]

I rebooted multiple times, hard boot. 

> At startup Support requested I hit F11 to invoke System Restoration, this didn't work. 

Can you explain what you mean by "didn't work" ? Ended back at the Windows login screen, which is unresponsive

> Another reboot, I hit escape to get to the startup menu, from here my keyboard and mouse are responsive ...

Correct.  The "minimal" support by the motherboard for your USB KB/mouse is active.

At this point, are there any lit-up LEDs on your keyboard & mouse? Yes

> I hit F11, System Restoration.  I get no prompts, the machine starts up and I end up at the Windows10 startup screen with the date and time, but no box to enter my password. 

Correct.  Click anywhere on the wallpaper, or press ENTER on the keyboard, to display that box.

At this point, are there any lit-up LEDs on your keyboard & mouse? There is no response at this point, hitting enter does nothing and the mouse is not lit up

> At this point Support suggested that my System Restoration partition has been deleted and the only solution is to reinstall Windows.  So I had no options to choose a restore point.  Do you have any ideas?

> I also have tried many hard reboots and get the same result as you. 

> The light on the mouse and keyboard goes off so I have no other access. 

> The suggestion to reinstall Windows 10 requires I buy or get discs correct? 

> As you note I welcome any other thoughts.

Since your computer was running Windows 10, you have been granted a "digital entitlement" to reinstall Windows 10, at any time, at no cost, onto the same computer.

See: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

to download the "1709 Fall Creators Update release".

Follow the instructions to copy the download onto either a 8GB USB memory-stick, or onto DVD-recordable media.

Thanks for the link, so do you agree that this is the best solution?

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

> Thanks for the link, so do you agree that this is the best solution?

It is, if you have made a recent backup of all your personal files onto an external disk-drive, and have made an "inventory" of your installed programs (Microsoft Office? Adobe? VLC? et cetera), because you will need to reinstall all of those programs after reinstalling Windows.

If Windows still boots, have you tried using "Reset my PC" to reinstall Windows *without* deleting your files & programs?

How old is the disk-drive? 

Is it "out-of-warranty" ? If so, now might be time to "proactively" replace it, i.e., install Windows onto it, and then copy all your files from "old" to "new" disk-drive.  You'll still need to reinstall your programs.

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[Dublin19]

Thanks again...I took the machine to Micro Center and they were a great help!  They showed me how to get into the Windows "recovery" area by rebooting 3 times.  I thought I was doing this, but I wasn't doing it correctly.  So power compleetly down, press power button to start up, at the "Basic Windows" loading screen, the only thing on the screen is a window and below it is the scrolling circle of dots.  When you see the dots, shut down again and repeat until you see on the Basic Windows screen some text that says something like Preparing for Safe Mode??  Anyway once you get into the Windows Recovery system, we tried System Restoration, it seemed to work, but the same issue reappeared, locked at Windows login.  Micro Center showed me how to Reset my PC, as mdklassen suggested below.  I took the machine home and started this process.  The computer is up and running.  I had to reload Office and some other stuff, but it seems stable!!  One last question, the computer came with Photoshop installed, but I do not have the serial number.  How do I get the serial number?  I have the invoice from HP.  The Adobe Chat last night was not responsive, basically on hold for an hour.

Thanks for all of your help!