sign in blocked

Question

sign in blocked

michael baldwin 20

I have a hardware issue on the pc which resulted in numerous shutdowns. I now have been blocked from signing in for 2 hours. This has basically stopped my fault finding activities in its tracks.

Question 1: Is there a way round this

Question 2: If this has happened to me in a genuine situation with my PC, why create a process that does this.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

SD - IA 182.5K Independent Advisor

. I got round the problem by turning off the WiFi and logging on with the normal password and then switching back on the WiFi and downloading the updates and rebooting. Doing it that way allowed me to circumvent the two hour block.

It must be a BIOS update if you didn't notice the list since these are also dilevered through Windows update these days.Also, I learnt something today :) Thank you for letting me know.

0 comments

3 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

SD - IA 182.5K Independent Advisor

That's helpful and interesting, thanks. Do you remember if any BIOS update was queued? BIOS updates modify the files in such a way that the system thinks it is being tampered with, resulting in a timeout.

michael baldwin 20 Reputation points

2026-10-27T14:21:45.6666667+00:00

There were Windows updates, the pc in question had not been used in a few months. I do not know if any of the updates contained any BIOS updates but I do remember that there was a pc specific driver update. I got round the problem by turning off the WiFi and logging on with the normal password and then switching back on the WiFi and downloading the updates and rebooting. Doing it that way allowed me to circumvent the two hour block. Thank you for your help though.

Answer 2

SD - IA 182.5K Independent Advisor

Hi,

First things first, this forum is managed by non-Microsoft staff and no employee reads it. For your query, here os what I think.

Windows is built for 1 billion-plus devices worldwide, and most users will agree that after a set number of incorrect attempts, the PC should lock out to prevent unauthorized access. This is similar to phones, where five incorrect passcode attempts result in a timeout.

There isn't a way to skip this waiting period, to be honest.

I hope this information helps. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Wishing you good luck!

michael baldwin 20 Reputation points

2026-10-26T15:47:45.4+00:00

I would agree with you on your points, except I did not have any incorrect login attempts, these were hardware shutdowns due to a hardware issue and not log on attempts.

Answer 3

Yes. The supported ways around it are to use a different sign-in method or get into Windows Recovery and start in Safe Mode.

On the sign-in screen, check whether another sign-in option is available.
- If a password option is available, use that instead of PIN or biometrics.
- Safe Mode sign-in works only with a password. PIN and biometric sign-in are unavailable there.
Start in Safe Mode from the sign-in screen:
- Select Power > Restart.
- When the sign-in screen appears, hold Shift and select Power > Restart.
- In recovery, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
- After restart, select 5 or press F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.
- Sign in with the account password.
If the device has multiple accounts, try another account from the lower-left corner of the sign-in screen, or select Other user and enter that account’s credentials.
Make sure the device is online from the lock screen.
- Select the Network icon on the lock screen.
- If Wi‑Fi is unstable, use Ethernet if possible.

For why this exists: the lockout is a security measure. Windows can disable a sign-in option after failed sign-in attempts or repeated shutdowns, and Microsoft account sign-ins can also be blocked when activity looks unusual. The purpose is to protect the account and device from unauthorized access or abuse.

If the issue is specifically with a PIN after hardware changes or repeated shutdowns, using the account password is the documented fallback path, and Safe Mode is the practical recovery path when normal sign-in is blocked.