A little effort can leave Windows 10 looking like you want it
Q: How do I get rid of the pictures that pop up when Windows 10 starts up?
A: Windows 10 allows you to control many aspects of the look and feel of the Windows 10 experience. This includes the background image that is displayed on your desktop as well as the images used when your computer is locked.
To access these settings, press the Windows key and the I key at the same time.
This will bring up the Windows Settings control panel. In this control panel, click on Personalization.
Here, you can set your background image or desktop image to be a single photo, a solid color or even a slideshow of images. The images used for the single photo or the slideshow are the default Windows images, but you can customize this to use your own photos by clicking on Browse.
You can also change the images used for the Lock screen. This is the screen you see when your computer starts up, right before you log in, and the screen you see when you lock your workstation.
The Lock screen has settings for Windows Spotlight, a single image or a slideshow. Windows Spotlight is the default and pulls random images from a hidden folder called Assets. If you want to know how to find that folder, see the CNet article called Where to find the Windows Spotlight photos, which is at tinyurl.com/helplinespotlight.
If you don't want any image at all on this screen, toggle the switch under Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen to the Off position.
There are many more options to configure Windows 10 to make it more personal and to your liking.
I suggest exploring the various settings so you can make Windows 10 look just the way you want it to look.
Q: Several days ago I purchased a new HP laptop. I had set my password and I was in the process of downloading some personal software when the phone rang. When I returned to the laptop, it was in the sleep mode, and when I woke it up, the lock screen was there. I entered the password and was told that it was the incorrect password. Now I cannot access my new computer. What can I do?
A: You have a couple of options here. Which one you choose depends on how much time you have and your level of expertise.
For the novice, you are probably looking at just performing a system restore. This will wipe the system and restore the original software load.
Since this is a new PC, this option will not really cost you any data loss, just a loss of the time you will need to perform the restore.
The HP support article at tinyurl.com/helplinehpsupport should apply to most modern HP computers.
If you need additional assistance you may want to call HP support.
If you have a little technical ability or you know someone who does, using a tool like the Offline Windows Password & Registry Editor will let you boot the computer from a bootable USB stick or CD and gives you the ability to change the account passwords so you can get logged back in.
You can find this tool at tinyurl.com/helplinentpasswd.