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‎01-28-2018 10:43 AM

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Product: HP Stream laptop 14ax
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)
Someone posing as Microsoft has remotely entered my laptop and put a startup password on it. Saying I had to pay $ to get the password. Is there anything I can do about this?
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Accepted Solutions

‎02-11-2018 09:14 PM - edited ‎02-11-2018 09:15 PM

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@HeatherJordan1

Do you have access to another computer that you can use to make a bootable usb flash drive for Winodws 10? If so you can use the free Media Creation Tool at Microsoft to make the flash drive. It requires at least an 8gb flash drive and can be used to boot your Stream and reinstall Windows.It will use your product/license key embedded in BIOS to activate.

Click 'Download tool now" and Run it when asked to save or run. Have your flash drive plugged in.

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

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19 REPLIES 19

‎01-28-2018 11:16 AM

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Possibly, there are a couple of ways and it depends on if the scammer deleted your restore points or not. If they didn't try this.

 

  1. Reboot the PC and repeatedly press F8 to reach the Advanced Startup Options menu.
  2. Choose Repair your Computer from the menu.
  3. Cancel the automatic repair attempt and instead instruct the system to perform a System Restore to a date prior to the incident occurring.

 

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‎01-28-2018 03:54 PM

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Nope that didn't work the apparently deleted the restore points
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‎01-28-2018 04:15 PM

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Hi HeatherJordan1,

 

This is very unfortunate. You should never trust anybody who calls you first and tells you there is an issue with the computer. Many scammers delete restore points so yes, they won't work.

 

I do know lots of these cases happen and perhaps the only thing I can do is present you other forums dedicated to solving the "startup password" issue.

 

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/470753/remove-a-startup-password-before-account-screen/

 

http://triplescomputers.com/blog/casestudies/solution-this-is-microsoft-support-telephone-scam-compu...

 

Good luck,

kem579

I used to be an HP Expert. I no longer participate in this community.
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‎01-28-2018 05:31 PM

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@HeatherJordan1 wrote:
Nope that didn't work the apparently deleted the restore points

There are still several more ways to get in. The easiest is the program PCUnlocker. I haven't used it in ages but I guess it's still around. There were 2 or 3 versions and one of those was a free version so do a search for PCUnlocker download and try that. At this point there's not much to lose.

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‎01-28-2018 05:40 PM

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Download it to where, since i can't get on that computer?
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‎01-28-2018 05:47 PM

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Sorry, I thought maybe you would have access to another computer so you could make a boot CD/DVD or USB.  Your best bet is to find someone willing to help you make a bootable drive.

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‎01-28-2018 06:08 PM - edited ‎01-28-2018 06:14 PM

HP Recommended

Hi HeatherJordan1 and RA864,

 

Unfortunately PC login bypass tools and password recovery tools will not work from my understanding of this issue. If I am correct this is a syskey encryption that requires either a system restore or a registry replacement.

 

I was hoping that there would be an HP Expert with experience of this kind, but I'm just going to have to resort to forums on registry fixes. Fixing the registry is risky.

 

I'm going to try and find a good article or step-by-step procedure.

 

In the meantime, please take a picture of what the password login looks like. I can then confirm if it is syskey encryption. Also try simple passwords like 1111, 0000, 1234, 12345, 123456. There are many people who are reporting that simply trying to guess the password works. 

 

This is why Microsoft removed syskey entirely in the latest Windows 10 update (Version 1709) because it is quite unsecure. 

 

Regards,

kem579

 

I used to be an HP Expert. I no longer participate in this community.
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‎01-28-2018 07:17 PM

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Maybe so but I've found that many of these Microsoft scams are amateurish and can be fixed. I would bet that it could be fixed with a Ubuntu disk and a few registry changes. Yes registry changes can be dangerous but I'll take a hosed disk any day over paying those bastards.
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‎01-29-2018 11:21 PM

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Well currently nothing I have tried has worked so i let a friend with a little more knowledge of these things take it home for the night. We will see if he had any luck.
Thanks for all of the ideas, i appreciate the help immensely!
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