W11 loss of PIN

Hi

I have had a breach on my computer.

So I removed the NVMe and SSD, fitted an old clunker and managed to install Windows 11on the 15 March 2025.

Today is the 17th and my PIN does not work.

HOW is this possible?

""It's important to note that your PIN is not transmitted anywhere and is not stored on any server, making it more secure than a traditional password.
The PIN is encrypted and securely stored on your local device only""



I have installed Mint and recovered my Bitlocker Key(s) and need to reset my PIN.

Also killed off one of my email accounts and requested MS close my account.


help and suggestions please.

What makes you think you had a "breach" What exactly happened?

Hi

Well a folder was renamed and pictures of my passport etc went missing.

Passwords changed.

My local storage was ""blanked" and my PIN altered.

So I am CERTAIN.

If anything was breached it was your email account.
Have you contacted your email provider?

ann_droid said:

Hi

Well a folder was renamed and pictures of my passport etc went missing.

Passwords changed.

My local storage was ""blanked" and my PIN altered.

So I am CERTAIN.

Click to expand...

So if your password and pin was changed, how did you know your photos went missing?

Can’t imagine why anyone would want a passport photo. Pretty useless without a passport. Or your face.

Reset your router and change the router password, also.

My personal suggestions:

I would suggest starting off with a 100% clean install of Windows from scratch. To start, create a LOCAL user account only - no Microsoft Account to start just in case that was compromised.

Get all your programs, apps, utilities, etc. installed and customize Windows as you see fit.

Perform a complete OS drive image backup, that way you can at least get back to this point easily.

Now you can finally go about setting up your Microsoft Account (if you use one). If anything goes wrong, you can revert back to your backup quickly and resume troubleshooting from that point.

Hi

Thank you for the info, and I will try to do that.

Hi

An update....

Reset my router, then installed W11 with a local account and no NETWORK connection.

I did not notice where my bitlocker key was/is to be stored.

Thanks for the advice so far.