Win 10. Locked Out.

[jason.p]

A couple of years ago I upgraded from Win 7 to 10 on my Dell desktop. All running well till now. It boots up ok but "Life at a glance" and Cortana do not respond. I can't access any settings and screen time out and screensaver are not working (can't get into display settings ). The only way to shut down is by con/alt/del or holding power button. There was a big update a while ago but was ok after. It seems it doesn't recognise me now so has locked me out, despite accepting my log in PIN. Any ideas? Can I re install as it was an upgrade from Win 7.
Thanks

[Togo]

Have you tried the "Recovery" option in settings?

[jason.p]

Thanks for reply Togo. The problem is that I can't access "settings" at all.

[Togo]

Looks like you need a safe boot then Jason. But you can't enter settings hmm let me have a think.

[Togo]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

A quick look up. How are you getting on site now Jason?

[Togo]

//at the Windows login screen, simply choose restart and hold down the Shift key. You will arrive at the windows with options to troubleshoot your system from which you can select to boot in Safe Mode.//

That looks useful J.

[Togo]

And This.
//. If you are already logged in and can see only a black screen, hit CTRL, ALT, DEL to bring up the selection screen, and choose logout, restart. Then hold down the Shift key and you will be taken to the window via which you can choose Safe Mode.//

[Togo]

http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/how-start-windows-10-in-safe-mode-3421988/

Gotta go now J, will look in tomorrow to follow up. ""Tired and emotional" at the mo, so not the best adviser. (!_*)

[jason.p]

Hi Togo thanks again for advice. I'm accessing this site by my tab. I'm not sure what I did but problem seems to have resolved itself! After fiddling around trying to get into safe mode I booted up again and it was back to normal. It seems there was a big update waiting to be configured and it was waiting for a "restart", despite me having attempted to restart several times. So I hit the restart button and about 3 hours later I was back in business!!
Many thanks again for your help, and hope you slept well!

[Togo]

Nice one J. It did, in the end, what we were trying to make it do. Yes, fine night ta. Been up since 7am but read the newspaper before logging in.