Factory reset gone wrong

[Cyrussecond]

So my windows was messing up so I put it in safe mode with networking. The fix worked after a fashion but I decided to do a factory reset to get it all working properly without having to do a workaround. The reset finished up to the point of starting up again. It says the install can't be completed in safe mode but I have no way to access the boot menu to take it out of safe mode .I hit F8 to get to that menu but my admin password no longer works. 

Thanks 

[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

You are between a rock and a hard place.

It sounds like you started a HP recovery while the system was locked in safe mode. 

I have no idea if the Windows Recovery Environment is on the disk at this point.

Turn off your PC. Restart and shutdown the PC (hard shutdowns) using the power switch two or three times to see if you can get to the Windows Recovery Environment, "Choose an Option" screen.

Hard shutdowns force Windows into the WinRE.

Select "Troubleshoot".

Select "Command Prompt".

Type the following command if you can get a command prompt:

bcdedit /deletevalue {default} safeboot and press Enter

You may have to download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool (Link).

Run the tool to create USB media.

You could try the "Repair My Computer" option with this media. Again, I have no idea what is on your disk at this time. It could be blank or the original OS installation stuck in Safe Mode could still exist if the HP recovery aborted and did not partition or format the disk. 

Boot to the media. Select "I don't have a product key" if you cannot repair the existing installation.

Do a custom installation.

This will install Windows 10 clean. Windows should activate post install with an active internet connection.

Go to your specific PC's driver support site for software. You did not provide a specific product number so I cannot provide a link to the HP Support site.

Regards

[Cyrussecond]

I can get to the hp recovery menu where there is a command prompt option. Unfortunately  that's where it falls apart. It needs me to sign on as admin, which I am, but my admin password is no longer valid. My only current idea is to make a boot disk off another windows 10 computer and hope that bypasses that. 

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

The W10 setup media per my previous link will do the same thing when you use the "repair" option.

Regards