HELP! Windows XP Home logs off immediately - copying userinit.exedoesn't fix it!

[ohaya]

Hi,

My daughter's Windows XP SP2 system starting having a problem as
follows:

1) Boot system
2) XP Logon page appears
3) I click a user, and attempt to login
4) It says "Loading preferences", then almost immediately logs me off

I've tried the fix of booting to the XP CD, going to Repair, and copying
C:\windows\system32\userinit.exe to wsaupdater.exe, but after typing
"exit" in the Repair Console and going back to the logon page, I am
seeing exactly the same behavior.

I've tried this several times, and checked, and the userinit.exe file
and the wsaupdater.exe file are exactly the same size in
C:\windows\system32.

Can anyone help with this? Is there something else that I need to do?

Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[WTC]

Hi,

My daughter's Windows XP SP2 system starting having a problem as
follows:

1) Boot system
2) XP Logon page appears
3) I click a user, and attempt to login
4) It says "Loading preferences", then almost immediately logs me off

I've tried the fix of booting to the XP CD, going to Repair, and
copying
C:\windows\system32\userinit.exe to wsaupdater.exe, but after typing
"exit" in the Repair Console and going back to the logon page, I am
seeing exactly the same behavior.

I've tried this several times, and checked, and the userinit.exe file
and the wsaupdater.exe file are exactly the same size in
C:\windows\system32.

Can anyone help with this? Is there something else that I need to do?

The problem may be an incorrect system drive letter rather than
userinit.exe. Open the registry on the system that is causing you
trouble via a networked
machine, navigate to "HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices" and delete all values
that look like this:

\DosDevices\C

 

[ohaya]

The problem may be an incorrect system drive letter rather than
userinit.exe. Open the registry on the system that is causing you
trouble via a networked
machine, navigate to "HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices" and delete all values
that look like this:

\DosDevices\C

William,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I can't connect to her machine (with
regedit). I get a popup error box "Error Connecting Network Registry".
I have a feeling from the message that the remote registry service may
not be running on her machine .

FYI, I have also tried booting to Safemode, and get the same results
when trying to login, i.e., it just logs off.

I've also just tried expanding USERINIT.EX_ from the XP CD into
C:\windows\system32\userinit.exe and c:\windows\system32\wsaupdater.exe,
and still get the same results ...

Can anyone help with this?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[WTC]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I can't connect to her machine (with
regedit). I get a popup error box "Error Connecting Network
Registry".
I have a feeling from the message that the remote registry service may
not be running on her machine .

FYI, I have also tried booting to Safemode, and get the same results
when trying to login, i.e., it just logs off.

I've also just tried expanding USERINIT.EX_ from the XP CD into
C:\windows\system32\userinit.exe and
c:\windows\system32\wsaupdater.exe,
and still get the same results ...

Can anyone help with this?

Can you remove the hard drive from her machine, and place it in your
machine as a slave?

If so, then open the registry, highlight [HKLM] then click on "File"
then "Load Hive". Navigate to "windows\system32\config" on *her hard
drive* and select the file "system" (has no file extension). Enter a
name for the hive. Then navigate to:

[HKLM\<the name you entered>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices]

and then delete all the values that look like:

\DosDevices\C

Once you have done this, Highlight [HKLM\<the name you entered>], then
click "File > Unload Hive". Then remove the Hard and replace back into
her machine.

 

[ohaya]

Can you remove the hard drive from her machine, and place it in your
machine as a slave?

If so, then open the registry, highlight [HKLM] then click on "File"
then "Load Hive". Navigate to "windows\system32\config" on *her hard
drive* and select the file "system" (has no file extension). Enter a
name for the hive. Then navigate to:

[HKLM\<the name you entered>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices]

and then delete all the values that look like:

\DosDevices\C

Once you have done this, Highlight [HKLM\<the name you entered>], then
click "File > Unload Hive". Then remove the Hard and replace back into
her machine.

William,

I have other Win2K machines, but no other XP machine. Can I do what you
suggest if I move her hard drive to one of the Win2K machines?

Also, I just started regedit, and I don't see a "File" menu item. Did
you mean to use regedt32 instead or regedit?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[WTC]

Can you remove the hard drive from her machine, and place it in your
machine as a slave?

If so, then open the registry, highlight [HKLM] then click on "File"
then "Load Hive". Navigate to "windows\system32\config" on *her hard
drive* and select the file "system" (has no file extension). Enter a
name for the hive. Then navigate to:

[HKLM\<the name you entered>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices]

and then delete all the values that look like:

\DosDevices\C

Once you have done this, Highlight [HKLM\<the name you entered>],
then
click "File > Unload Hive". Then remove the Hard and replace back
into
her machine.

I have other Win2K machines, but no other XP machine. Can I do what
you
suggest if I move her hard drive to one of the Win2K machines?

Also, I just started regedit, and I don't see a "File" menu item. Did
you mean to use regedt32 instead or regedit?

With the win 2000 machine, I don't think you can use that method, will a
friend let you do this who is running an XP system? Does she have
another Hard Drive in her system or possibly a unused one that you can
install XP temporarily onto?

Or you could try using BartPE Live Bootable CD on her machine. This
should let you do the method I described.
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

 

[ohaya]

With the win 2000 machine, I don't think you can use that method, will a
friend let you do this who is running an XP system? Does she have
another Hard Drive in her system or possibly a unused one that you can
install XP temporarily onto?

Or you could try using BartPE Live Bootable CD on her machine. This
should let you do the method I described.
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Hi,

I was thinking of trying to build a BartPE CD, but couldn't figure out
what to do about the slipstream requirement. Then, I realized that I
have an MSDN subscription, so now I'm in the process of downloading the
"Win XP Home with SP2" ISO image.

Am I correct that I can use this with the buildpe to build a BartPE CD?

Jim

 

[WTC]

I was thinking of trying to build a BartPE CD, but couldn't figure out
what to do about the slipstream requirement. Then, I realized that I
have an MSDN subscription, so now I'm in the process of downloading
the
"Win XP Home with SP2" ISO image.

Am I correct that I can use this with the buildpe to build a BartPE
CD?

Yes it will. Have you burned an ISO image before? (might be a stupid
question)

 

[ohaya]

Yes it will. Have you burned an ISO image before? (might be a stupid
question)

William,

It's been awhile, but "yes", I have.

The download is still going... it's about 1/2 way through, as it's kind
of slow (~100 KB/sec)...

I'll post back after the download is complete and I've had a chance to
burn and tried to boot the CD.

Thanks again,
Jim

 

[ohaya]

William,

It's been awhile, but "yes", I have.

The download is still going... it's about 1/2 way through, as it's kind
of slow (~100 KB/sec)...

I'll post back after the download is complete and I've had a chance to
burn and tried to boot the CD.

Thanks again,
Jim

Hi,

BTW, I don't think you answered my question about the "File" menu item
not appearing in Regedit. Was that (the missing "File" menu item)
because the Win2K regedit doesn't have it?

Or did you mean to use regedt32?

Jim

 

[ohaya]

William,

It's been awhile, but "yes", I have.

The download is still going... it's about 1/2 way through, as it's kind
of slow (~100 KB/sec)...

I'll post back after the download is complete and I've had a chance to
burn and tried to boot the CD.

Thanks again,
Jim

Hi,

I forgot to mention in my earlier posts that her C: drive is FAT32, not
NTFS. Since that's the case, couldn't I just boot a Win98 floppy, and
copy the registry hive files off of the hard drive, take the floppy over
to a different XP machine (if I can find one), and run regedit or
regedt32 on that other machine?

Jim

 

[WTC]

BTW, I don't think you answered my question about the "File" menu item
not appearing in Regedit. Was that (the missing "File" menu item)
because the Win2K regedit doesn't have it?

Or did you mean to use regedt32?

Windows 2000 doesn't have the File menu option that includes Load Hive.

 

[WTC]

I forgot to mention in my earlier posts that her C: drive is FAT32,
not
NTFS. Since that's the case, couldn't I just boot a Win98 floppy, and
copy the registry hive files off of the hard drive, take the floppy
over
to a different XP machine (if I can find one), and run regedit or
regedt32 on that other machine?

The file is probably too big to do this, on my machine it is [6,400 kb].
But in theory you could.

 

[ohaya]

The file is probably too big to do this, on my machine it is [6,400 kb].
But in theory you could.

William,

Ok, I now have a bootable BartPE CD. Really weird!!

I started regedit, and did the "Load Hive". There is no
HKLM\<hivename>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, but there is a
HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?

Jim

 

[WTC]

The file is probably too big to do this, on my machine it is [6,400
kb].
But in theory you could.

Ok, I now have a bootable BartPE CD. Really weird!!

I started regedit, and did the "Load Hive". There is no
HKLM\<hivename>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, but there is a
HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?

Rename it to MountedDevices and delete all value that look like
\DosDevices\A, \DosDevices\B and so on.

You should export the key first, so if something goes wrong. right click
on the "MountedDevices?" and select Export.

I think this will solve your problem,

 

[ohaya]

The file is probably too big to do this, on my machine it is [6,400
kb].
But in theory you could.

Ok, I now have a bootable BartPE CD. Really weird!!

I started regedit, and did the "Load Hive". There is no
HKLM\<hivename>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, but there is a
HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?

Rename it to MountedDevices and delete all value that look like
\DosDevices\A, \DosDevices\B and so on.

You should export the key first, so if something goes wrong. right click
on the "MountedDevices?" and select Export.

I think this will solve your problem,

William,

Sorry for being obtuse, but I don't understand what you mean by "Rename
it to MountedDevices"? What is "it"?

Also, should I delete ALL of the
"HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices\DosDevices\*" keys, or just the
...\DosDevices\C?

FYI, I already tried deleting the \DosDevices\C (only) and rebooted, and
still have the same problem.

Jim

 

[WTC]

The file is probably too big to do this, on my machine it is
[6,400
kb].
But in theory you could.



Ok, I now have a bootable BartPE CD. Really weird!!

I started regedit, and did the "Load Hive". There is no
HKLM\<hivename>\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, but there is a
HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?

Rename it to MountedDevices and delete all value that look like
\DosDevices\A, \DosDevices\B and so on.

You should export the key first, so if something goes wrong. right
click
on the "MountedDevices?" and select Export.

I think this will solve your problem,

Sorry for being obtuse, but I don't understand what you mean by
"Rename
it to MountedDevices"? What is "it"?

Also, should I delete ALL of the
"HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices\DosDevices\*" keys, or just the
..\DosDevices\C?

FYI, I already tried deleting the \DosDevices\C (only) and rebooted,
and
still have the same problem.

Sorry I misunderstood, about the renaming part. I thought it read
"HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?".

Yes I would delete all the "DosDevices\*".

 

[ohaya]

Sorry I misunderstood, about the renaming part. I thought it read
"HKLM\<hivename>\MountedDevices?".

Yes I would delete all the "DosDevices\*".

William,

Sigh ....

I deleted all of them, and did the "Unload Hive", rebooted, and no joy.
I tried to login but it logged me off immediately again ...


I was wondering. I've seen some msgs about XP silently refusing to
login when the Event Viewer is full. The MS KB article says to call MS
to get a new MSGina.dll.

Is it possible that that is my problem (that the Event Viewer got
full)???


Any other ideas?

Jim

 

[WTC]

Sigh ....

I deleted all of them, and did the "Unload Hive", rebooted, and no
joy.
I tried to login but it logged me off immediately again ...


I was wondering. I've seen some msgs about XP silently refusing to
login when the Event Viewer is full. The MS KB article says to call
MS
to get a new MSGina.dll.

Is it possible that that is my problem (that the Event Viewer got
full)???


Any other ideas?

It is possible, could you post a link to that KB article. I would give
them a ring if this doesn't work out.
Could you load this hive "software" found in "windows\system32"
Then go to [HKLM\<hivename>\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] and see if the key "Userinit" has the value
of "c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe,"

Note: Make sure there is a comma (,) after userinit.exe.

You could also try to do a repair install.
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315341

Use Method 2 and read the article very carefully.

Use the XP Home SP2 disk you created to do this with.

Anyways, I will stay up for a little bit more then I am off to bed.

 

[ohaya]

It is possible, could you post a link to that KB article. I would give

them a ring if this doesn't work out.
Could you load this hive "software" found in "windows\system32"
Then go to [HKLM\<hivename>\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] and see if the key "Userinit" has the value
of "c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe,"

Note: Make sure there is a comma (,) after userinit.exe.

You could also try to do a repair install.
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315341

Use Method 2 and read the article very carefully.

Use the XP Home SP2 disk you created to do this with.

Anyways, I will stay up for a little bit more then I am off to bed.

William,

Well, I was JUST about to post that I just fixed this problem, and saw
your post above [really!]!!

I think that the problem was that the "Userinit" key was COMPLETELY
missing from the registry.

When I was doing the deletes of the DosDevices stuff earlier, I had
loaded in the SOFTWARE hive, and I noticed that the Userinit key was
missing totally. I kind of ignored it, because I was trying to get the
DosDevices\* deleted.

Then, after deleting all of the DosDevices\* didn't do anything, I was
about to give up, but then I figured I'd try to ADD the Userinit and
populate it with "C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe".

I did that, and then rebooted the system, thinking "probably won't make
a difference", and VOILA, the system let me log in!!!!


All of the articles, etc. that I've seen talk about the Userinit key
being changed to "C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsaupdater.exe,", but NONE of them
ever mentioned the possibility of the Userinit key being totally missing
...


Thanks for all of your help and patience!!

Jim