RandySea

Lenovo X1, Windows 10 Pro When I got this machine, I immediately split my 1 TB SSD drive into two partitions. It was a few years ago, but I assume I just used Disk Manager. Nothing odd there. Recently, I wanted to adjust the partitions to have a larger 😄 partition. Since this involved moving data on the D partition, I tried to use a utility called EaseUS Partition Master free version (formerly Partition Magic, I think). It said it could not adjust Bitlocker partitions - I had to get the pro or paid version of EaseUS. That's when I discovered that both my partitions showed as being Bitlocker encrypted, but with a plain text password. I never installed or activated Bitlocker! I do not want it. I have some individual folder trees encrypted with EFS, and some others with Veracrypt. But I do not want any full drive encryption. Is there a safe way to remove the Bitlocker encryption on each partition when I have no idea what the password is or if there even is a password?

Thanks, vakta. That link is scary - if it works, it is just too easy to remove a Windows password. I wonder, though, if it's true when one has a very strong password. I couldn't tell much from the comments at that link. Apparently you go through a process of downloading and set up a USB boot stick. Then the final step, which should be removing the password, is instead a notice that you have to purchase the full version. I am simply back to "show last user". I didn't need to do a system restore because I had a second admin account I could use. Also, there is a way to get Windows to show all admin accounts even if "show last user" is disabled. In any non-admin account, if you try to do something requiring admin privileges, it will prompt you with the names of all existing admin accounts. You can enter the pw for any one of them to complete the operation.

My last idea of name and back didn't work. There must just be something in the Randy2 profile, regardless of name, that does not allow logon except when "show last user" is enabled. There may be a registry entry controlling this, but I don't have any idea where or what it might be. More likely, it's just one of those unknowable and unfixable glitches.

Thanks, Steve, What you suggest makes sense. In fact, it is essentially what I did when creating Randy3. However, it has some undesirable consequences. It would remove everything I had set up for Randy2. I have certain programs only showing when logged in as admin Randy2 for example. And many programs have had their defaults changed. This could include default data directories, printers, etc., all stored in the Randy2 profile that would be deleted. I don't know of any way to save the Randy2 profile, delete Randy2, create a new Randy2, and restore the old profile. Right now, I am just taking the path of least resistance. I can access Randy2 by allowing Show Last User. I should say that your post did just give me another idea to try out. As I noted previously, Windows 10 did not let me change the name Randy2 to Randy2. I tried that in case there was something weird but invisible in the name Randy2. But Windows said Randy2 already existed. Now what if I changed Randy2 to Randy2AD? This would not delete the profile, just change its name. Then I could see if a logon without showing last users works with Randy2AD. If that was ok, I could try changing Randy2AD to Randy2. Or I could just leave Randy2AD as my preferred admin logon name. I'll report back.

I have gone back and forth but nothing is repaired. The only way I can log on to Randy2 (see OP) is if Show Last User (the default) is in effect. If I disable it to improve security a wee bit, I cannot log on to Randy2.

I'll check out that link soon, holdum. But for now, I'll just say that I have never used Microsoft sign in, so it can't be that.

This started when I changed "show last user on sign-in screen" to disabled. This forces one to reenter the user name at each logon, along with a password. I have two user accounts: Randy1 is a regular user; Randy2 is an admin. After I made the change above, I could still login with Randy1, but Randy2 always gave me an "invalid name or password." At first I thought I was really screwed. No usable account with admin privileges! However, it is weirder than that. In Randy1, let's say I attempt something requiring admin privileges. I get a popup with Randy2 in it and a prompt to enter my password for Randy2. This still works. That tells me both the account and password are good. There is just an oddity with the logon name. I go into Control Panel, User Accounts. I click Manage Another Account. Again, I am prompted for the password for Randy2 to get admin privileges. This works. As a precaution, I create another admin account, Randy3. I reboot. I can now login normally with Randy1 or Randy3, but still not with Randy2. When logged on as admin Randy3, I go back to User Accounts and try to change the name of Randy2 to Randy2, thinking maybe there is some hidden character messing up the logon of Randy2 and I might be retyping the name now cleanly. I am told that "Randy2" already exists on the system. Finally, I give up and restore the default "show last user at logon." Now I can login any of the three users. Anyone have an idea what might be happening here?