How to fix “Device required by cryptographic provider is not ready?”

Question

Issue: How to fix “Device required by cryptographic provider is not ready?”

For some reason, I cannot sign in using my PIN. Windows Security says that it can't sign me in and provides such explanation: “The device that is required by this cryptographic provider is not ready for use.” Could you please help?

Solved Answer

“The Device That Is Required By This Cryptographic Provider Is Not Ready For Use” is a flaw that has recently been noticed in Windows Hello feature.^[1] Many people reported issues when signing in with PIN, trying to change PIN or Setup PIN for the first time. This PIN error is related to 0x8009002d, 0x80070032, and 0x80090030 error codes.

Windows Hello feature allows Windows 10 users to sign into their user accounts by facial recognition, fingerprint or iris scanning.^[2] All these sign-in options require having compatible hardware and bio-authentication scanners. Therefore, many people still prefer good old PIN, which consists of 4 to 6 digits and is easier to remember if compared to the usual password.

However, Windows Hello feature or rather its developer Microsoft is blamed for missing out on major flaws. “The Device That Is Required By This Cryptographic Provider Is Not Ready For Use” is one of them. Many people reported PIN malfunction due to which they are stuck at sign-in the screen without a way into the system.

For some users, it happened out of nowhere after rebooting the system. The others started encountering “The Device That Is Required By This Cryptographic Provider Is Not Ready For Use” error after clean Windows 10 install. However, most frequently the problem starts when setting up PIN for the first time or resetting it. One way or another, Microsoft didn't explain why this may happen and what has to be done to fix the problem.

People reported that creating new accounts and linking them to Microsoft^[3] did not help to fix “The Device That Is Required By This Cryptographic Provider Is Not Ready For Use” error. Without a suitable fix, it keeps reoccurring sooner or later.

Another rejected “The Device That Is Required By This Cryptographic Provider Is Not Ready For Use” fix is resetting PIN password. Even if you try to do so, you may get another notification, which says “The request is not supported,” which means that the PIN no longer exists on your account.

Fix “The device that is required by this cryptographic provider is not ready for use” error easily

Don't panic if you encountered a “We couldn’t sign you in” error when trying to log in to Windows 10. Although Microsoft did not provide official fixes yet, there's a couple of methods that you can try before that.

First of all, you may try to create a new user account and link it to your Microsoft account. According to those who experienced “The device that is required by this cryptographic provider is not ready for use” error, this solution is temporary, but if you desperately need to log into your PC asap, this solution may meet your expectations.
If that did not help, you should check if Cryptographic Services is running. Make sure to set it to Automatic. For this purpose, you should:

• Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
• Scroll down until you find Cryptographic Services and double-click on it.
• First of all, make sure that it's Startup Type is set to Automatic.
• Then, if the service is running, click Stop button.
• Then press Start to restart it.

If these steps did not help try the following fixes:

Fix 1. Reset ACLs On Ngc Folder

• Right-click on Windows key and select Command Prompt (Admin).
• Copy and paste the following command in it: icacls C:\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\LocalService\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Ngc /T /Q /C /RESET
  NOTE: If needed, replace C: with the letter of your root drive.
• Now press Enter to execute the command.
• Type Exit and hit Enter to close Command Prompt.
• Finally, add a new PIN.

If the error persists or reoccurred soon, try the next”The device that is required by this cryptographic provider is not ready for use” error fix.

Method 2. Delete the content of NGC folder

If you cannot log into Windows using your PIN, sign in with your password and then remove the content of the NGC folder. However, first of all, you’ll have to take the ownership of this folder.

• Log in to Windows 10 using your password.
• Press Windows key + X and open File Explorer.
• Navigate to the C:\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\LocalService\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft path.
• Right-click on the NGC folder and select Properties.
• Open Security tab, click the Advanced button and find the Owner section.
• Click the Change link and in the Enter the object name, enter the Administrator’s or Username (depending on which you are using).
• Click Check Names and OK.

• Mark the Replace owner on sub-containers and objects and click Apply -> OK to save the changes.
• Now check if you can access the NGC folder. If yes, mark all files stored in it and remove all of them.
• Once done, press Windows key + I to open Settings.
• Open Account settings and select Sign-in Options.
• Click Add a PIN and follow the rest of instructions.

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