Security is one of the most important aspects of owning a digital device. With all the personal and sensitive information on your Windows PC, you’d want to avoid unauthorized access as much as possible. This is why sign-in PINs and passwords are critical.
Nowadays, people prefer using the Windows Hello PIN option to sign in to their computers, as PINs are easier to remember. You can choose to add letters to your PIN as well. However, you must have a password to set up your PIN, and you have to remember that password if you forget your PIN or want to change or remove it.
But it’s not always straightforward with Windows, as the operating system develops glitches from time to time. For example, the error code 0x8009002d has been a pain for many users who are used to signing in to their Windows 10 computers using their PINs.
What Is the 0x8009002d Error in Windows 10?
The error is mainly associated with the sign-in process for users that access their systems using their PINs. It usually shows up after the system wakes up from sleep or hibernation. However, in some cases, the error pops up right after you change your PIN. Additionally, some users have reported seeing the code after restarting their computers.
There are different iterations of the problem. The entire error message usually reads as follows:
“Something went wrong. We weren’t able to set up your PIN. Sometimes it helps to try again, or you can skip for now and do this later.”
You could also notice that entering your PIN doesn’t work or that the PIN login window doesn’t show anything.
What Causes the Problem?
This particular problem is not as dire as it sounds. While temporarily losing access to your system can be pretty annoying, you’re not in danger of losing your files and applications.
The main cause of the problem is your PIN. Using the PIN sign-in option often leads to such issues.
The error code could also show up because you’re trying to log in with your PIN after waking your system from sleep or hibernation.
How to Fix the 0x8009002d Error When Signing In Using a PIN or Password
There are different simple solutions to the problem. Apply the fixes below one after the other, and you should be able to log in to your PC in no time.
Restart your computer
A simple reboot is one of the most effective solutions to the problem. Since the issue shows up after waking your system from sleep, restarting the computer could be the solution you’ve been looking for.
Windows PCs tend to become glitchy after long hours of use. Putting them to sleep keeps apps ready to go when you start your computer again, which means your RAM and CPU have been silently active all the while. A reboot will clear your RAM and reinitialize your CPU, removing any temporary bug that might be obstructing the login process.
The only downside of restarting your system is that you’ll lose any open work that you had hopes of continuing after waking your PC. But it would be best if you looked at getting rid of the error and gaining access to your system as a win.
You can easily restart your PC by clicking on the power icon on the sign-in screen and selecting Restart.
Disable sleep mode and reset your PIN
Sleep mode allows your system to stop consuming as much power as when it was on without shutting down the computer and closing your apps. You can pick up from where you left off once you wake your system up. You won’t be subject to the slow pace of booting up the PC.
Whenever your system goes to sleep, you’ll have to sign in again to gain access to it. It’s a security measure that keeps unauthorized people away from your computer since sleep mode also activates after your system stays idle for a while.
As we mentioned, the error code could be showing up because you just tried to sign in with your PIN after waking your computer from sleep. Turning off sleep mode could be the solution to the problem as it worked for many other users.
While restarting your system can resolve the problem and allow you to sign in, the issue could repeat the next time you try to log in after your system sleeps. So, it would be best to turn off sleep mode to avoid the same problem again. You’ll be sacrificing being able to turn on your system and continue with previous jobs.
Follow these steps to turn off sleep mode:
- Go to the taskbar and click on the magnifying glass icon or tap the Windows logo and S buttons on your keyboard together to open the search window.
- Type “control panel” once the search bar shows up.
- After the search results appear, click on Control Panel.
- Once you see the first page of the Control Panel, click on “Hardware and Sound”.
- Select Power Options in the “Hardware and Sound” window.
- Once the Power Options window appears, click on “Change plan settings” next to your current power plan.
- Now, go to the drop-down menus beside “Put the computer to sleep” and choose Never in both of them.
- Click on the Save Changes button.
After that, follow these steps to reset your PIN:
- On your taskbar, right-click the Start button and select Settings after you see the Power User menu. You could also tap Win + I to launch the Settings app.
- After you see the home page of Settings, click on the Accounts icon.
- Go to the left side of the window and click on Sign-in Options.
- Go to the middle of the window under Sign-in Options and click on Windows Hello PIN.
- Click on “I forgot my PIN.”
- A Windows Security dialog will now show up, asking you to enter your password.
- Click on OK after entering your password.
- After you see the “Set up a PIN” window, enter your new PIN and confirm it.
Delete the Ngc folder
Whenever you create a new PIN, Windows 10 stores your login information in the Ngc folder. The error code might be appearing because the contents of the Ngc folder have been corrupted. After gaining access to your PC, you can prevent the issue from occurring again by deleting the Ngc folder.
Follow these steps:
- Tap the Windows logo and E keys together to launch File Explorer. You can also open File Explorer by right-clicking the Start button and selecting File Explorer after the Power User menu opens.
- Once you see the File Explorer window, navigate to the left pane and click on the arrow beside This PC.
- Click on your main Windows hard drive and go to the right side of the window.
- Now, browse to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft.
- Locate the Ngc folder, right-click it, and select Delete.
If you see a dialog window saying you have been denied access to the folder, follow these steps to take ownership:
- Right-click the Ngc folder.
- After the context menu appears, go to the bottom and click on Properties.
- After the Properties dialog window pops up, switch to the Security tab.
- Click on Advanced under the Security tab.
- Once the “Advanced Security Settings for Ngc” dialog shows up, click on Change next to Owner.
- After the “Select User or Group” dialog appears, click on Advanced.
- Next, click on the Find Now button.
- Go to the search results, select your username, and click on the OK button.
- Click on OK in the “Select User or Group” dialog.
- Once you get to the “Advanced Security Settings for Ngc” dialog, click on Apply and click on OK.
- Go to the folder’s Properties dialog again and click on Advanced under the Security tab.
- Once the “Advanced Security Settings for Ngc” dialog opens, click on the Add button.
- Once the “Permission Entry for Ngc” dialog shows up, click on “Select a Principal” next to Principal.
- Click on the Advanced button in the “Select User or Group” dialog.
- Click on Find Now, select your username under the search results, and click on OK.
- Select Full Control under Basic Permissions and click on OK.
- Click OK again to save your changes.
- You can now delete the folder.
You can also go through the Command Prompt to take ownership of the folder. Here’s how:
- Go to the taskbar and click on the magnifying glass icon or tap the Windows and S buttons on your keyboard together to open the search window.
- Type “command” once the search bar shows up.
- Right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and click on “Run as Administrator”.
- Make sure you choose Yes once the User Account Control dialog box pops up.
- After the Command Prompt window opens, type these lines and hit the Enter keyboard button after entering each:
takeown /f C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC
icacls C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC /grant administrators:f
- Close the Command Prompt window and restart your system.
Remove the PIN
If the error keeps showing up, consider getting rid of the PIN and stick to logging in with your password. Follow these steps:
- On your taskbar, right-click the Start button and select Settings after you see the Power User menu. You could also tap Win + I to launch the Settings app.
- After you see the home page of Settings, click on the Accounts icon.
- Go to the left side of the window and click on Sign-in Options.
- Go to the middle of the window under Sign-in Options and click on Windows Hello PIN.
- Click on the Remove button.
- When you see the confirmation request, click on Remove again.
- Enter your password in the Windows Security pop-up and click on OK.
- That’s it. You now have to log into your system with your password going forward.
Use the System File Checker to replace corrupt and missing system files
Problematic system files can trigger all sorts of errors on your Windows PC, including the 0x8009002d error. You can prevent the issue from occurring again by finding those system files and replacing them using the SFC (System File Checker).
The SFC tool is a command-line application responsible for checking for integrity violations in system files and resolving those violations by replacing the affected files. Before you run the program on Windows 10, you have to run another tool – the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool – to fetch the repair files using the Windows Update client or from bootable media.
These steps will show you how to run the SFC tool:
- Go to the taskbar and click on the magnifying glass icon or tap the Windows logo and S buttons on your keyboard together to open the search window.
- Type “command” once the search bar shows up.
- Right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and click on “Run as Administrator”.
- Make sure you choose Yes once the User Account Control dialog box pops up.
- After the Command Prompt window appears, type “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” (without the quotes) and tap the Enter button.
The tool will now attempt to fetch the repair files using the Windows Update client. However, if the client is out of commission or your system isn’t connected to the internet, you can still get the repair files if you have an alternative repair source such as a Windows 10 DVD or bootable USB flash drive.
Insert the DVD or connect the flash drive, go to the Command Prompt window, type “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:\RepairSource\Windows /LimitAccess” (no quotes), and hit the Enter key.
You should enter the path to the Windows folder on the repair source in place of C:\RepairSource\Windows.
- After the DISM tool provides the repair files, go to a new line in the Command Prompt window, type “sfc /scannow” (without the quotes), and hit the Enter key.
- The SFC tool will now scan your system files and replace those that are missing or corrupt. The tool will replace each file with a cached copy from the C:\WindowsSystem32\dllcache folder.
- The scan result should read “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them. Details are included in the CBS.Log %WinDir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log” if the process has been successful.
Conclusion
That’s how to fix the error code 0x8009002d in Windows 10. If you use a Windows phone, you should turn off your cellular data and activate the “Find My Phone” feature as these solutions worked for users in a similar situation.
Make sure you always keep your computer protected against malware by using a powerful malware remover. This way, malicious programs won’t compromise your system and steal sensitive information.
