Your user name and password are rejected when you try to start WinRE in Windows 8 or in Windows RT

Symptoms

Assume that you start Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) from the Boot Options menu on a computer that is running a multilanguage version of Windows 8 or of Windows RT. You type your user name and password when you are prompted to do this. However, the operation fails, and you receive an error message that states that the password is incorrect.

Cause

When WinRE starts, it uses the Windows locale setting to set the display language. However, WinRE incorrectly uses the default input method to set the default keyboard layout. Therefore, an incorrect keyboard layout is used.

Resolution

The hotfix that is described in this article resolves this issue in existing installations of Windows 8 and Windows RT. You can also integrate the hotfix into the Windows Imaging Format (WIM) file in your Windows RE environment to avoid this issue in future installations. To do this, follow these steps.

Notes

• If the version of Windows that you are running is provided by an OEM, contact the OEM vendor for more information.

• You must create the WinRE image (Winre.wim) on a computer that has finished the out-of-box experience (OOBE) process. For more information about how to do this, go to the following Microsoft websites.

  • Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

  • Windows Recovery Environment image (Winre.wim)

1. Create the WinRE image (Winre.wim) by using a Windows 8 installation media. To do this, follow these steps:

   1. Copythe Install.wimfile fromthe Windows 8 installation media to a folder. For example, if the installation media is located on drive D, run the following commands at an elevated command prompt:

      md C:\OS_Image
      md C:\OS_Image\mount
      copy D:\sources\install.wim C:\OS_Image

   2. Mount the Install.wim file by using the DISM tool. To do this, run the following command:

      DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\OS_Image\install.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\OS_Image\mount

   3. Copy the WinRE image (Winre.wim) from the mounted Windows 8 image to a folder. To do this, run the following commands:

      md C:\winre
      md C:\winre\mount
      copy C:\OS_image\mount\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim C:\winre\

   4. Unmount the mounted Windows 8 image. To do this, run the following command:

      DISM /unmount-wim /MountDir:C:\OS_Image\mount /discard

2. Copy the hotfix package to a folder.

3. Integrate the hotfix into the WinRE image (Winre.wim). To do this, follow these steps:

   1. Mount the Winre.wim file that you created in step 1. To do this, run the following command:

      DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\winre\winre.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\winre\mount

   2. Use the Add-package DISM option to insert the hotfix package into the mounted Winre.wim file.

   3. Confirm that the hotfix is integrated successfully. To do this, run the following command:

      DISM /image:C:\winre\mount /Get-Packages

   4. Commit the changes to the Winre.wim file. To do this, run the following command:

      DISM /unmount-wim /MountDir:C:\Winre\mount /commit

4. Deploy the customized WinRE image.

Workaround

To work around this issue, follow these steps:

1. Enable the Eye option to read the text that you enter in the password box.

2. Determine whether the keyboard layout is incorrect.

3. Select the correct keyboard layout by using the Change keyboard layout function.

Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

More Information

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates