Windows May update 21H1

I haven't had an issue with any of these seasonal rollouts in quite a while. I think the only one that gave me major issues was the very first one after Windows 10 came out. I find that running sfc /scannow prior to installing them usually helps. If you shift system shortcuts around like I do, Windows doesn't always like that. sfc tends to fix that. Anyway, this one is so minor I think the only reason it's rolling out is because they're committed to 2 per year.

I'm actually a little bit excited for Sun Valley. It's the UI overhaul we've been needing for a while. The fact that Win 10 is a mishmash of imagery going back 5 versions is painful to look at. They can't make up their mind if things should be curved, angular, flat, shadowed, etc. Sun Valley is at least a major step toward unifying that with a new look. There are a lot of people pushing for them to drop the "10" from this release and I tend to agree. At least assuming they don't walk back a bunch of the proposed tweaks.
 
Domingo said:
I haven't had an issue with any of these seasonal rollouts in quite a while. I think the only one that gave me major issues was the very first one after Windows 10 came out. I find that running sfc /scannow prior to installing them usually helps. If you shift system shortcuts around like I do, Windows doesn't always like that. sfc tends to fix that. Anyway, this one is so minor I think the only reason it's rolling out is because they're committed to 2 per year.

I'm actually a little bit excited for Sun Valley. It's the UI overhaul we've been needing for a while. The fact that Win 10 is a mishmash of imagery going back 5 versions is painful to look at. They can't make up their mind if things should be curved, angular, flat, shadowed, etc. Sun Valley is at least a major step toward unifying that with a new look. There are a lot of people pushing for them to drop the "10" from this release and I tend to agree. At least assuming they don't walk back a bunch of the proposed tweaks.
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my system at home that is on insider now says windows 10 next, maybe theyll drop the 10.
 
It messed up my spare computer. The update looked like it installed, but when I get to the "update and restart" it hangs for like 10 minutes, then restarts without finishing the update.

Just tried safe mode and I was getting all sorts of Windows crashes non-stop, I couldn't even get to the update page (or open anything even file explorer) nothing works.

Honestly I am so done with Windows. Microsoft still can't fix this basic feature since forever.
 
cybereality said:
It messed up my spare computer. The update looked like it installed, but when I get to the "update and restart" it hangs for like 10 minutes, then restarts without finishing the update.

Just tried safe mode and I was getting all sorts of Windows crashes non-stop, I couldn't even get to the update page (or open anything even file explorer) nothing works.

Honestly I am so done with Windows. Microsoft still can't fix this basic feature since forever.
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any extra a/v or antimalware? extra background apps?
 
No I closed anything extra, and it doesn't explain why safe mode was so messed up.

In any case, I used the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to "upgrade" my Windows and now it works.

Still sucks that after all this time Windows Update still can't work reliably, but at least my system is working now.
 
cybereality said:
No I closed anything extra, and it doesn't explain why safe mode was so messed up.

In any case, I used the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to "upgrade" my Windows and now it works.

Still sucks that after all this time Windows Update still can't work reliably, but at least my system is working now.
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it doesnt work reliable for you, works perfectly fine for plenty. 9/10 times its something in the background that messes with it, ususally a/v. yes it sucks but its good you recovered.
 
SFC has usually done the trick for me if an update won't install, but occasionally there's something else going on. In those cases, installing the downloaded ISO has worked. Occasionally I'll even get the "gray screen of doom," but making sure I have some video card drivers stashed somewhere fixes that. It's pretty lame that this kind of thing happens at all, though. As bad as the OS actually was, I don't think I ever had a single Windows 8 update issue for the entire life of it. That's after installing it as an update on top of 7, and installing Win 10 as an update on top of it.
 
I upgraded my home tower to 21H1 and I'm having trouble removing the stupid PIN requirement. I know I could use a local account, and might end up doing that. I followed a guide to act like I forgot the PIN, than cancel out. Problem is, my ASUS board has the Intel i225-V issue, so my network randomly doesn't start until after login...or not at all. Working on that one as well, but I'd still love to find a reliable way to kill the PIN completely.
 
DeaconFrost said:
I upgraded my home tower to 21H1 and I'm having trouble removing the stupid PIN requirement. I know I could use a local account, and might end up doing that. I followed a guide to act like I forgot the PIN, than cancel out. Problem is, my ASUS board has the Intel i225-V issue, so my network randomly doesn't start until after login...or not at all. Working on that one as well, but I'd still love to find a reliable way to kill the PIN completely.
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can you not get signed in, period?
if you can get in once remove the pin. you could probably use computer management too.
1621872625413.png
 
I had to make a local account during the initial install. Once in and drivers were loaded, I added my MS account as an admin. I was required to assign that account a PIN. The remove button is grayed out for me, so I followed the steps to act like I forgot my PIN, and after putting in my code, I hit cancel, instead of choosing a PIN. That might work normally, but I'm running into an issue with the NIC. It's a known issue with my board, ASUS B550 model, but it still isn't fully clearing the PIN for me. Once I get the NIC working, I am still forced to add a PIN. I would have thought this would have been resolved by now. Guess not.
 
MS really, really, really wants you to use a PIN these days. It's tough to use a normal offline account or even an MS account with a password now. They hide it whenever possible, add extra steps, warn you at every turn, etc.
 
Domingo said:
MS really, really, really wants you to use a PIN these days. It's tough to use a normal offline account or even an MS account with a password now. They hide it whenever possible, add extra steps, warn you at every turn, etc.
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if you want to just bypass login passwords, use netplwiz to turn off "requires a password to sign in".
 
Yep, this is new for me now. I was able to get the NIC issue resolved, but after removing the PIN using the "forgot" trick, upon reboot, I'm told there was a problem with my PIN and I need to recreate it. In previous versions of Windows 10, that worked and would bring me to a standard login screen where I could enter my password.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Yep, this is new for me now. I was able to get the NIC issue resolved, but after removing the PIN using the "forgot" trick, upon reboot, I'm told there was a problem with my PIN and I need to recreate it. In previous versions of Windows 10, that worked and would bring me to a standard login screen where I could enter my password.
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even if it prompts for the pin there should be the little link to "use another method" to enter your password. may try blowing it away with a password remover...
 
I had to watch a video on how to disable the Pin method last build in October which is like in the settings pendragon posted.
 
pendragon1 said:
even if it prompts for the pin there should be the little link to "use another method" to enter your password. may try blowing it away with a password remover...
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No such option. I get the box to type in the PIN or a link for "forgot my pin".
 
DeaconFrost said:
No such option. I get the box to type in the PIN or a link for "forgot my pin".
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fun... could try hirens boot usb and remove the password altogether. or you can use netplwiz to set it to auto-logon to skip past it.
 
Updated finally. Everything seems to be working fine, but I did a huge back up before updating just in case the usual nonsense happened.
 
I'm fine with leaving the password, and I'm sure trying to remove my Microsoft account password wouldn't be very successful. I'm not using a local only account. I also don't mind putting in my password, because....it's my password. It's ridiculous that a PIN is required. All other options for Windows Hello are optional.
 
Well, I believe a PIN can have letters and symbols, so maybe just set the PIN to your password.

1622121760982.png
 
DeaconFrost said:
I'm fine with leaving the password, and I'm sure trying to remove my Microsoft account password wouldn't be very successful. I'm not using a local only account. I also don't mind putting in my password, because....it's my password. It's ridiculous that a PIN is required. All other options for Windows Hello are optional.
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its not required, something is screwy.

cybereality said:
Well, I believe a PIN can have letters and symbols, so maybe just set the PIN to your password.

View attachment 360237
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nope, just numbers
 
You can set your pin to have letters and numbers - mine does. It's not enabled by default, but there's a little toggle that allows you to make it whatever you want.
 
pendragon1 said:
its not required, something is screwy.
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I'd argue that it is required, as I have no other option. This might not be the default behavior, as this the only non-domain joined 21H1 system I'm using, so my sample size is a grand total of one. Microsoft has made it progressively more difficult to disable the PIN, in my opinion. I'm going to use the PIN for now until I come across a way to remove it that actually works for 21H1.
 
The new weather widget is actually nice. For some reason it is only on one of my computers (maybe A/B test) but it's a welcome addition.
 
cybereality said:
The new weather widget is actually nice. For some reason it is only on one of my computers (maybe A/B test) but it's a welcome addition.
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i figured out that you have to install the 2021-05 cumulative update to get it. even though i jumped up to 21h1, it didnt show up until i installed that update last night. check if thats installed.
 
DeaconFrost said:
I'd argue that it is required, as I have no other option. This might not be the default behavior, as this the only non-domain joined 21H1 system I'm using, so my sample size is a grand total of one. Microsoft has made it progressively more difficult to disable the PIN, in my opinion. I'm going to use the PIN for now until I come across a way to remove it that actually works for 21H1.
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none of our system with local accounts do that, its just a p/w. something is messed up with your system causing it to keep prompting for the pin.
do you want it to prompt for password? 'cause you can skip it if you dont care...
 
pendragon1 said:
i figured out that you have to install the 2021-05 cumulative update to get it. even though i jumped up to 21h1, it didnt show up until i installed that update last night. check if thats installed.
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Ah okay. I see the update now. Downloading.
 
I'm not using a local account, though. I sign in with an MS account (see post #52) because we have a few computers around the house serving multiple roles, so it makes it easier on my wife and I to sync our logins and tie it in with our Office 365 accounts. Maybe this is where our disconnect is. This is the first revision of Windows 10 that I cannot disable or remove the PIN. Removing the password is not an option, for several reasons. The PIN is shorter than my password phrase, so it isn't about simplicity.
 
DeaconFrost said:
I'm not using a local account, though. I sign in with an MS account (see post #52) because we have a few computers around the house serving multiple roles, so it makes it easier on my wife and I to sync our logins and tie it in with our Office 365 accounts. Maybe this is where our disconnect is. This is the first revision of Windows 10 that I cannot disable or remove the PIN. Removing the password is not an option, for several reasons. The PIN is shorter than my password phrase, so it isn't about simplicity.
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you can still use netplwiz* to auto-login if its the main account in question, then your wife can switch to hers if needed. just giving an option...
*might need a quick reg-edit to bring back the tickbox...
 
I can, but it isn't about simplicity. My password is a complex phrase, and I have no issue typing it in. I'm not looking to save time, as I'm not rebooting frequently. My issue is with Microsoft requiring this PIN and not giving options anymore. I have no desire to use any method of Windows Hello. With each revision, removing the PIN has gotten more difficult, to the point it seems to not be possible.
 
DeaconFrost said:
I can, but it isn't about simplicity. My password is a complex phrase, and I have no issue typing it in. I'm not looking to save time, as I'm not rebooting frequently. My issue is with Microsoft requiring this PIN and not giving options anymore. I have no desire to use any method of Windows Hello. With each revision, removing the PIN has gotten more difficult, to the point it seems to not be possible.
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tried gpedit?
https://www.passfab.com/windows-10/disable-password-and-pin-windows-10.html
 
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