Can't login after upgrading to Windows 8.1

Posted by flatline on Super User See other posts from Super User or by flatline
Published on 2013-10-21T21:34:57Z Indexed on 2013/10/21 21:55 UTC
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This afternoon, I upgraded my work laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. I had previously had a local account, but after the upgrade, it prompted me to enter my windows account credentials, which I had set up beforehand at some point. I entered my password and clicked next, went through another screen or two, grew tired with the process, and clicked whatever the equivalent button to "skip this step" that I was presented with.

Now I can't log in. Not with my (previous) local account password, and not with my windows account password.

It's a Dell with biometric identification, which I had set up previously, so I put my finger on the reader and it complained that I couldn't use that fingerprint because I had changed my password. But, I hadn't wittingly changed my password at all. I assume that what happened is that, by entering my credentials, my local account was tied to the Windows account, but because I cancelled the process partway through, something went wrong and I cannot log in.

A few questions:

1) How do I log in with my windows account credentials? Should LOCALMACHINENAME\username, which was my previous login method, still work for the Windows account? When I booted to safemode it prompted me with WindowsAccount\myemailaddress, which allowed me to login there, but the regular login doesn't accept the '@' symbol.

2) Is there any way to make that account local-only again? I can't find any way of doing it.

3) I managed to enable the local administrator account and get back into the box; failing all else, is there a quick way to migrate my old profile over to a new user?

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