SOLVED Can't get past screensaver

[JanieMac]

I can no longer get into my PC. I have had multiple problems since updating (by stealth) to Windows 10. I am not a techie person. Ctrl alt del does nothing. Just stuck on screen saver so can't log in.

I see older threads with similar issues but the solutions offered are beyond my comprehension. And I have no idea how I might even try when I can't get in anyway.

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I see older threads with similar issues but the solutions offered are beyond my comprehension

That makes things difficult and it may be that you will need to seek professional help in resolving your problem, unless you have a more tech savvy friend, relative, neighbor or someone else in your social circle that you might be able to call on.
Some details as to "my PC" might be helpful....
Manufacturer Name, Model Name, Model Number

On the upside it apparently boots and what you refer to as a "screen saver" which I suspect is the lock screen cannot be dismissed by striking the space bar or by a mouse gesture would seem to indicate that neither of your two input devices are working.

My standard non-techie response would be to turn off the computer, disconnect it from AC power, if it is a laptop remove the battery.
In that condition, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
Remove any and all peripherals except.....
A USB wired keyboard
A USB wired mouse
A single monitor
NO other devices, no USB dongles for anything (wireless network, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse), no printers, no Ethernet connection, nothing but the bare minimum basics.

IF it's a laptop, replace the battery, reconnect the AC power and power it up and leave it alone for a while.
IF it is equipped with a hard disk activity light, keep an eye on that, if it appears to be on constantly or flashing rapidly, let it sit until it becomes less active.
Depending on the computer's horsepower and what is happening in the background it may take some time to stabilize and become responsive.

Failing that

I am not a techie person

It's likely going to require some hands on by someone who is.

I could suggest downloading the ISO, preparing installation media, booting from that and using the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot, but.....
I have no idea whether any of that is within your skill set.

 

[JanieMac]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

That makes things difficult and it may be that you will need to seek professional help in resolving your problem, unless you have a more tech savvy friend, relative, neighbor or someone else in your social circle that you might be able to call on.
Some details as to "my PC" might be helpful....
Manufacturer Name, Model Name, Model Number

On the upside it apparently boots and what you refer to as a "screen saver" which I suspect is the lock screen cannot be dismissed by striking the space bar or by a mouse gesture would seem to indicate that neither of your two input devices are working.

My standard non-techie response would be to turn off the computer, disconnect it from AC power, if it is a laptop remove the battery.
In that condition, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
Remove any and all peripherals except.....
A USB wired keyboard
A USB wired mouse
A single monitor
NO other devices, no USB dongles for anything (wireless network, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse), no printers, no Ethernet connection, nothing but the bare minimum basics.

IF it's a laptop, replace the battery, reconnect the AC power and power it up and leave it alone for a while.
IF it is equipped with a hard disk activity light, keep an eye on that, if it appears to be on constantly or flashing rapidly, let it sit until it becomes less active.
Depending on the computer's horsepower and what is happening in the background it may take some time to stabilize and become responsive.

Failing that

It's likely going to require some hands on by someone who is.

I could suggest downloading the ISO, preparing installation media, booting from that and using the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot, but.....
I have no idea whether any of that is within your skill set.

Thank you.

 

[JanieMac]

Virtually all of that is beyond my skillset, as you diplomaically said. I cannot get to the MY PC info either. It is a Lenovo, lots of memory, solid state. I was a professional user for most of my working life (big computers in my high school in late 1960s!) but I was always supported by techies. Looks like I need to take it in to the professionals.

I wonder is it worth having Windows 7 properly uninstalled and 10 reinstalled? Windows 10 has been a nightmare. Spend way too much time working around its weirdness.

 

[Trouble]

I wonder is it worth having Windows 7 properly uninstalled and 10 reinstalled?

I would say yes, assuming that the "Lenovo" supports Windows 10.
Generally speaking a custom clean install of an Operating System is going to be better than one that has been upgraded from a previous version.
It allows you to avoid the factory bloatware and start things off with a pristine Windows Registry.

Regardless of whether the machine will boot or not, generally there should be a label on the outside of the computer, on the back, on the side, laptops have them on the bottom or sometimes under the battery, that should give you some basic information about the Manufacturer, the Model Name and Number, and sundry other numbers like Serial, SKU, Service Tags, etc.

I expect that you would have some concern as to any critical data stored on the device that is important to you, so.....
Regardless of how you decide to proceed make sure that you insist that whoever does the repair makes every effort to backup your user profile folder to an external resource.

Additionally, it is often the case that computers of all types come with what is called a "Factory Recovery Partition".
It might be worth a little effort to contact Lenovo (phone, email, live-chat, support forum) and see if there is a method you can use when first starting the system to evoke that proprietary system recovery.
Sometimes they are very robust and support backing up to external media before performing the recovery while, other times they are more basic and just wipe and restore the system to its' original state.
That might at least get you back to a running system with whatever Operating System was installed at the factory.

 

[JanieMac]

Trouble
You are a star. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi JanieMac,

it also helps to make sure you are running the latest version of windows!:

https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/how-to-upgrade-windows-10-to-the-latest-version.13015/