Error “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available” in Diagnostic Startup

The System Configuration utility (msconfig.exe) has a mode called “Diagnostic startup, ” which starts Windows with minimal drivers and services. Over 200 services are disabled in that mode.

After enabling the Diagnostic Startup mode in the System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe) and rebooting, you may be unable to sign in to your account using your PIN. The following error appears on the sign-in screen:

Something happened and your PIN isn't available.

Click to set up your PIN again.

When you click “Set up my PIN”, the following error occurs:

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You need to install an app for this task.

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Also, as the option to sign in using the password (the “Sign-in options” link) is missing, you cannot log in to your user account.

Cause

The issue happens because the Diagnostic startup mode turns off 200+ services. Selecting “Diagnostic Startup” in MSCONFIG and rebooting loads Windows with the bare minimum set of drivers and services. PIN sign-in requires a particular set of services to be enabled. As the services needed to process your PIN input are disabled, you get the above error.

The password sign-in option may not be available because the following option is enabled.

For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device

Note that the Windows 11 setup forces you to create a Microsoft Account and automatically enables the above Windows Hello sign-in option.

If you’re asked to boot into Diagnostic mode to solve a problem in the future, first turn off the above Windows Hello sign-in option via Settings. That way, you can still log in to your account (in Diagnostic mode) using the password instead of the PIN.

Resolution

To be able to log in to your account in Diagnostic startup mode, follow one of the methods below:

Method 1: Using the sign-in screen Command Prompt trick

Using the good old utilman.exe method, you can launch admin Command Prompt in the sign-in screen and re-enable the services using msconfig.exe. Follow these steps:

On the Windows sign-in screen, click the Power button, hold the Shift key, and click Restart. The computer will boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE.)

In Windows Recovery Environment, click Troubleshoot.

Click Advanced Options.

Click Command Prompt.

Note: If BitLocker is enabled on your drive, you’ll be asked to type the recovery key.

In the Command Prompt window, type the following command:

BCDEDIT

Note down the drive letter for your Windows installation.

Hint: In the BCDEDIT command output, look for the boot loader entries containing the fields, namely, path (pointing to winload.exe) or osdevice or systemroot, and make a note of the drive letter, which in this case, is G:\

Now, you’ll see the X:\Windows\System32 prompt in the Command Prompt window. Type the following commands to enable the admin Command Prompt on the sign-in screen.

G:
cd\windows\system32
ren utilman.exe utilman.old
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe
wpeutil reboot

(*where G:\ is the OS drive letter according to the BCDEDIT output.)

The last command reboots the system automatically.

When you see the sign-in screen, press Win + U or click on the “Accessibility” button at the bottom right corner of the sign-in screen.

This starts the admin Command Prompt window at the sign-in screen.

Type msconfig and press Enter.

Choose “Normal startup”, click OK, and restart Windows.

You should be able to log in to the system by typing the PIN.

sfc /scanfile=c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

cd /d c:\windows\system32
del utilman.exe
ren utilman.old utilman.exe

That’s it! You’ve fixed the PIN sign-in.

Method 2: Enable the Password sign-in option

In this method, you boot into the Windows Recovery Environment and edit the registry offline to turn off the mandatory Windows Hello/PIN option. After doing so, you can log in using the Microsoft Account (MSA) password.

On the Windows sign-in screen, click the Power button, hold the Shift key, and click Restart. The computer will boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE.)

In Windows Recovery Environment, click Troubleshoot.

Click Advanced Options.

Click Command Prompt.

Note: If BitLocker is enabled on your drive, you’ll be asked to type the recovery key.

In the Command Prompt window, type the following command:

BCDEDIT

Note down the drive letter for your Windows installation.

Hint: In the BCDEDIT command output, look for the boot loader entries containing the fields, namely, path (pointing to winload.exe) or osdevice or systemroot, and make a note of the drive letter, which in this case, is G:\

Then, type the following commands to enable the password sign-in option in the registry:

reg load HKLM\OffReg g:\windows\system32\config\SOFTWARE
reg add "HKLM\OffReg\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device" /v DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f
reg unload HKLM\OffReg
exit

Exit Windows RE and continue to Windows.

You can now see the password sign-in option by clicking the “Sign-in options” link. Type in your Microsoft Account (MSA) password and log in to your account.

Once logged in, load MSCONFIG and switch to Normal startup.

Click OK, and restart Windows.