User icons missing; "Windows cannot open the User Accounts controlpanel"

[Rajah]

Hi, I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP 3, v. 3311.

My user icons are no longer appearing on the welcome screen. I can log
in by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and using the Win2K style login. (So
can all the other users.) After I log in, I started up the Control
Panel and double-clicked on "User Accounts," and I get the message
"Windows cannot open the User Accounts control panel."

If I check in Documents and Settings, I can still see all the users.

Other discussion groups make it sound like a re-install is in order.
Before I go to that extreme, I am wondering if there are any other
thoughts about it?

-Rajah

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi, I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP 3, v. 3311.

My user icons are no longer appearing on the welcome screen. I can log
in by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and using the Win2K style login. (So
can all the other users.) After I log in, I started up the Control
Panel and double-clicked on "User Accounts," and I get the message
"Windows cannot open the User Accounts control panel."

If I check in Documents and Settings, I can still see all the users.

Other discussion groups make it sound like a re-install is in order.
Before I go to that extreme, I am wondering if there are any other
thoughts about it?

-Rajah

You could use System Restore to return the machine to a point
just before this problem became apparent.

 

[Rajah]

You could use System Restore to return the machine to a point
just before this problem became apparent.

Thanks, your suggestion worked. I rolled back to last week and things
are working again. I was kinda wondering what was causing these
symptoms. I suppose it was an update that was applied.