Repairs
Password and account recovery in Leeds
Being locked out is a horrible feeling, especially when everything you need is on the other side of it. Take a breath first, because the worst thing you can do is keep guessing, which on many accounts only locks you out harder. We help you get back into your own machines and your own accounts the proper way, by going through the provider's own recovery and proving you are the owner. To be plain about it: we help the account owner regain access, and we will not break into an account that is not yours, so we may ask you to show that it is. Then we set things up so you are far less likely to be locked out again.
- No fix, no fee
- We come to you
- The diagnosis is always free
- A real person who does the work, not a call centre
Do this right now
Locked out right now? Do this first
- Stop guessing at the password. Repeated wrong attempts lock many accounts and devices harder, and some start long waiting periods, so more tries makes it worse, not better.
- Find your recovery details before you do anything else: the backup email address and the phone number on the account, because the provider's own recovery leans on those.
- If it is a Windows or a Mac login, check for the recovery key in the Microsoft or Apple account the machine was set up with, since that is often what unlocks it.
- Do not pay anyone who promises to instantly unlock an account or crack a password. That is how people get scammed, and it will not work the way they claim.
- Ring us. We will go through the proper recovery with you, and we will be honest early about whether it can be done.
Does this sound like yours?
The faults we see most
- You are locked out of Windows or your Mac and cannot get past the login screen
- You have forgotten the password to your email, and email is the key to everything else
- The reset messages are going to an old address or a phone number you no longer have
- You are locked out of an online account and the recovery details are out of date
- You have been asked for a BitLocker or a recovery key you have never seen before
- Two-step verification is set to a phone you have lost or replaced, and now you cannot get in
- You inherited or bought a machine that is still locked to somebody else's account
- You have too many passwords, keep forgetting them, and want a sensible way to manage them
- You think an account has been taken over and you need to get back in and make it safe
Not on the list? Call anyway and describe it. The diagnosis is free either way.
What we do
Name the fault, then the fix, then the price
- Tell us on the phone what you are locked out of and what recovery details you still have, so we arrive knowing whether it is a machine login, an email account, or an online account, because each has a different route back
- We come to you across Leeds, at home or at work, because a lot of recovery needs the actual device and the phone or email tied to the account, which are easier to work with in front of us
- First, honestly, whose account it is. We help the owner get back into their own machines and accounts, and we will not try to get into an account that is not yours, so we may ask you to show that it is. That is not us being difficult, it is what keeps everyone's accounts safe, including yours
- Windows and Mac logins: we go through the proper recovery for your machine, whether that is a Microsoft or Apple account, a recovery key, or the built-in options, and get you back to your desktop and your files without wiping the machine wherever it can be avoided
- Email: we work through the provider's own recovery with you, get you signed back in where it can be done, and then set a recovery email and phone number you will still have access to next year
- Online accounts: we help you use the account's real recovery process, the slow and proper one that actually proves you are you, rather than any shortcut that puts you at risk
- Where two-step verification is tied to a lost phone, we help you through the backup routes the provider offers, the recovery codes, the backup number, the trusted device, and set it up more safely once you are back in
- If an account has been taken over, we treat getting you back in as only half of it, and go on to make it safe: a strong new password, the recovery details put back to you, and a check for anything the intruder quietly changed
- We are honest early. Some accounts genuinely cannot be recovered once the details are long gone, by us or by anyone, and we will tell you that plainly rather than take your money to keep trying. One fixed quote before any work begins
How long it takes
An honest answer, not a booking slot
Some lock-outs are sorted inside the visit, particularly a machine login where the recovery key or the account details are to hand. Others move at the pace of the provider's own recovery, which can mean a waiting period they impose before they will let anyone back in, and that is out of our hands and nobody's fault. Where two-step verification or a lost phone is involved, it can take a few goes through the backup routes. We will tell you honestly at the point we look whether yours is a quick one or one that depends on the provider taking their time, rather than promise a speed we cannot set.
What it costs
The diagnosis is free, then you get a fixed quote
We do not publish a price list, because a price list for this work would be a fiction: the same fault costs different money on different machines. What we can do is tell you what moves the number, then give you one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay.
What drives the price
- What you are locked out of, since a Windows login, an email account and an online account are three different routes back
- What recovery details you still have, because a recovery with the backup email and phone in hand is far quicker than one starting from almost nothing
- Whether the provider imposes a waiting period or extra checks, which is time nobody can shortcut
- Whether it is only getting you back in, or also making a taken-over account safe afterwards, which is more work
- How many accounts are involved, since being locked out of the email often means several accounts behind it
- Whether you want a sensible way to manage passwords set up so this does not keep happening
Where we work
We come to you across Leeds
Home or work, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or you can arrange to drop it to us. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.
Questions
The things people ask
Can you just crack the password or get me straight into any account?
No, and it is worth being straight about why. We do not crack passwords or break into accounts, because that is exactly what an attacker does, and any service promising to instantly unlock any account is either a scam or is not acting honestly. What we do is help you, the owner, get back into your own machine or account through the provider's own proper recovery, the process built to prove it really is you. That is slower, but it is the route that actually works and keeps your account safe. Because of that, we may ask you to show the account or the device is yours.
I am locked out of my computer login. Can you get me back in without losing my files?
Usually, yes. For a Windows or a Mac machine there is normally a proper recovery route, through the Microsoft or Apple account it was set up with, or a recovery key, that gets you back to your desktop with your files intact. Wiping the machine is a last resort, not our opening move, because it would take your files with it. We go through the correct recovery for your machine first, and only talk about anything more drastic if there is genuinely no other way, and never without telling you first.
The reset messages go to an old email or phone I do not have any more. What now?
That is the hardest version of a lock-out, and we will be honest with you about it. Most accounts offer other ways to prove you are the owner even when the main recovery details are gone, and we will work through those with you patiently. Sometimes it takes time and a few attempts, and it comes good. Sometimes, if all the recovery details are long gone, an account genuinely cannot be recovered by anyone, and you will hear that from us plainly rather than pay us to keep trying at something that will not work.
Windows is asking me for a recovery key I have never seen. Where is it?
That is the BitLocker recovery key, and it is not something you were meant to memorise. It is almost always stored in the Microsoft account the computer was set up with, and you can often find it by signing into that account from your phone and looking under your devices. Before you pay anyone anything, that is the first place to look, and we will help you look. If it genuinely cannot be found and the drive is encrypted with no key, we will be honest that the data behind it may not be recoverable, because that is the whole point of encryption.
I bought or was given a computer and it is still locked to someone else's account. Can you unlock it?
Only with the previous owner's help, and there is a good reason for that. Locks like this exist to stop stolen machines being used, so getting past one properly means the previous owner removing the device from their account, or providing the details that prove it was passed to you legitimately. We cannot and will not bypass that, because doing so is exactly how a stolen machine would be laundered. If you can get back in touch with whoever you got it from, we can talk you both through releasing it the right way.
How much does account recovery cost?
We do not publish a figure, because getting back into a machine login with the recovery key to hand and untangling a taken-over email across several accounts are not the same job. You get a free look, we work out which situation you are in and whether it can honestly be done, and then one fixed quote before any work begins. If we cannot get you back in, there is nothing to pay.
Is your work guaranteed after the repair?
Yes. We stand behind the repairs we carry out. If the same fault we fixed returns within a reasonable period as a result of our work, get in touch and we will put it right. That does not cover new or unrelated faults, accidental damage, liquid damage, or problems caused by other work carried out after ours, and nothing in it affects your statutory rights.
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Deleted files, a failing drive, or a laptop that will not start. We tell you what can honestly be recovered before you spend anything, and what cannot.
Tell us what is wrong.
Call and describe the fault. We will diagnose it for free, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.