UKH

My Father in Law died a couple of days ago & his PC was turned on (I suspect he rarely turned it off preferring t put it into 'standby' mode when not using it). So far I've not dared turning it off as I don't know if the PC will require a password to start up again or to access his account (the only one on the PC ). Anyone know how I can find it if there is a password and if there is, how to find it. It maybe that he had it written in a notebook or similar but so far I haven't found anything on his desk.

Many thanks

Not sure about the existing password, though you may find it’s blank.

But if you are actually able to use the PC now you can go to Control Panel > Users > look at the accounts and be able to create a new account with admin rights....hopefully

Thanks, I'll have a play next time I visit & then maybe try a reboot. I've used most versions of Windows from 3 onwards but never really had to deal with the latest version (Mac & Linux at home & work has yet to upgrade from 7).

If it's a local account it's fairly easy to reset the user password. Just follow the below link and it'll take you about 5 minutes..

https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-a-windows-10-password/

If it's a Microsoft account, you can just take the hard drive out, plug it into another computer either directly or with a USB interface and copy any documents off that way.

(1) _backup everything you think you will need_ (all personal files) (eg to a memory stick or cloud under your own password)

(2) have a play and then try rebooting

Luckily it seems most of his files other than software were on an external drive so if all fails I can still access his files (mostly photos). The PC itself is a bit old but still OK for simple tasks (browsing the web, email, looking at photos, etc).

Passwords are managed via MSN in windows 10 iirc.  You may be able to get the password direct from them with a death certificate. I suspect this will be a bit of a hassle though

This is the best place to start, but Windows 10 currently has both Control Panel (the old way of doing things) and Settings (the new one) and lots of things are frustratingly spread across both. So it's also worth looking in Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Particularly if the computer is set up to log in with a Microsoft Account, rather than a Local Account. 

Many thanks for the suggestions, I had a play in 'Panneau de configuration' (its a French PC) & changed the name of the single account (which is both user & administrator) & with some trepidation, turned the machine off & then back on. Everything seems to work although it starts up with a photo of my recently deceased father-in-law which seems to be linked to a MS account rather than something on the PC & clearly needs a past word I don't have to change.

You can try to convert the MS account back to local account and then regain access the user profile. Note that changing or resetting Windows user password may make you lose access to EFS encrypted files on the computer.

It may be a plot of a detective story, you know, lost passwords, dead relatives... Is there something interesting on his PC?