Password incorrect

[Mallas1978]

Updated and shut down last night. Came back to open up the laptop this morning and now it says my password is incorrect and it absolutely is not.

this laptop is a few years old and was my sons. It’s  says it need a removable media such as USB flash drive to change the password. 

i have tried numerous  times to restart/shutdown. I have disconnected from the Internet numerous times, I have tried a reboot in safe mode and makes no difference. I really want to avoid a factory setting as my work and uni stuff is on there. 

HELP!!

[WAWood]

@Mallas1978 

Trying to force the factory reset would have been a waste of your time -- as the prompts for the password before it overwrites anything.

The removable media request is for a password "drive" -- which clearly, you did not make when you had the chance.  It's too late to try and create that now.

Passwords simply can NOT be recovered; instead, they have to be reset.

If your PC reset your password on you, we can not help in that because we have no access to either the original or the new password.

We are not permitted to assist in resetting passwords because HP considers that a violation of customer privacy. HP can assist in resetting passwords but if your original warranty has expired, they will charge you for the assistance.

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For Admin password resets, you have to contact your regional HP Customer Support location directly for assistance.
https://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html
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For BIOS or power-on password resets, because the password is encoded onto a chip on the motherboard, replacement of that motherboard is required. For more information, read this HP thread: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06368824.

If you are not prepared to spend the money to get HP to replace the motherboard, you would have to take the PC to a local repair facility to see if they can do it for you -- we can not assist in that in any way.