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Is it possible to perform manual installation of any driver while staying in lock screen in Windows 11 or a full access to the system is required in this case?

I have restored my system from an image to a different hardware. This caused my PIN to be locked with Your PIN is no longer available message and a Setup new PIN button. This functionality requires an active Internet access and logging into Microsoft account.

The underlying Windows 11 (restored from image) does not have drivers for wireless or wired network cards installed. For some reason in only managed to install audio card's driver. But failed with graphics card's driver or Wi-Fi or Ethernet card's driver.

I the effect, I am without any kind of Internet connection available, and cannot reset my PIN, because this requires that I have access to the Internet.

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12
  • 1
    Do you use a Microsoft account and do you have its password? See Method 1 in this link.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jan 14 at 18:57
  • 1
    Why can’t you use the password then, reconfigure the pin, internet access isn’t required to do this
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jan 14 at 19:33
  • Cloning a Windows drive from one machine and using it on another is likely to fail due to driver issues, as you describe, and the copy would not be licensed, and cease to fully function after a while, if drivers were to be installed. Install Win 11 from ISO.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented Jan 14 at 20:18
  • @harrymc As explained in my linked question (3rd point) using password is not possible in my case, because neither "I forgot my PIN" nor "Sign-in options" button is available. I don't know, if this is normal in W1123H2 or happens just in my case only, but "Set up my PIN" is the only button that I see in my lock screen.
    – trejder
    Commented Jan 14 at 21:02
  • 1
    I'm not going to stick around, just saying that no one who has physical access to a computer can be locked out of anything.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jan 16 at 9:44

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Yes, this is possible, but involves a little trick.

Get your driver

In order to make this solution work you must have not compressed driver:

  1. Download .zip or .cab file, if your hardware vendor provides such
  2. Download .exe file, if your vendor provides drivers in this form only.
  3. Unzip downloaded file

For .zip files you can use any software that supports these files or even better Windows itself (which treats .zip files as folders). For .cab or .exe file, use Total Commander (press Shift+F9).

Source: Add drivers manually to USB drive to install Windows using a USB 3.0 Port

Copy driver

  1. Copy your unpacked driver files, with all folders and subfolders and with (the most important) .inf file to some removable media like USB stick.

  2. Put your stick to a computer where you want to install drivers from the lock screen.

Hack your Windows

  1. Press and hold Shift key and click on Power → Restart to boot into Recovery Mode.

  2. Click on Troubleshoot → Command Prompt

  3. Execute the following:

    cd c:\Windows\System32
ren utilman.exe utilman.old
ren cmd.exe utilman.exe

  4. Restart computer

Alternatively you can rename magnify.exe to something else and then rename cmd.exe to magnify.exe.

Adjust path, if needed, but usually your Windows is installed to c:\ drive.

Source: Special key sequence to run cmd at Windows lock screen

Access command-line from lock screen

  1. Press Win+U or
  2. Click Ease of Access Center icon in the bottom right corner

Alternatively you can press Win++ to run Magnify command-line.

Source: Special key sequence to run cmd at Windows lock screen

Install driver

  1. Find your USB's drive letter. You can use wmic. Or simply iterate drives.

  2. Navigate to that drive (i.e. cd d:\ etc.)

  3. Install all drivers found in this drive:

    pnputil /add-driver d:\*.inf /subdirs /install /reboot

  4. Restart computer

Read here if you need more specific command's parameters for pnputil command.

Source: How to install or update Drivers using Command Prompt in Windows 11/10

Un-hack your Windows

Access command line either directly or as described in 3rd part and execute the following:

cd c:\Windows\System32
ren utilman.exe cmd.exe
ren utilman.old utilman.exe

You should be done.

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  • Simpler methods than this were proposed in the comments, but the poster insists on the Lock screen.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jan 15 at 8:33
  • @harrymc As stated in question, I am locked and need to create new PIN, but cannot do this without installing network card drivers from lock screen. I cannot neither enable administrator login (doesn't work, I am still required to create PIN) nor by-pass Safe Mode (still requires PIN to be created). Your claim is false the described (in this answer) solution is the only that works. The only other working is given in linked question -- using Android phone and USB tethering. None of your (or others) listed methods (admin account, Safe Mode) are working. Tested and explained. Many times.
    – trejder
    Commented Jan 16 at 9:16
  • If you still insist that any of your methods really works then explain this or provide evidences.
    – trejder
    Commented Jan 16 at 9:17

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