Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first. The "Reset
Password" button being inactive is normal behavior. It
disappears whenever you select the currently logged on account
from the list. I don't know why this happens. I suspect it may
be due to the fact that the preferred method of changing
passwords is by running the User Account applet in Control
Panel.
Back to your logon problem, have you tried setting up automatic
logon with another account? If the "USER" account is the only
one present on your system, you might want to try the
following:
Create a new account, solely for test purposes, call it USER2.
Make sure that USER2 is a member of the administrators group.
Logon with this new account.
Using TweakUI, setup automatic logon for this account.
Reboot and see if it works or you get the same results as you
got with the USER account.
Note: Keep in mind that if you get logged on with the USER2
account. It's a simple procedure to go to Start -> Log off and
log on with your USER account.
If you're able to setup automatic logging on with USER2, I'd
suspect that the user profile for the USER account has been
corrupted somehow. If you find that you can't setup automatic
logon with either account then I'd lean towards a problem
within Windows that may be solved by first running System File
Checker (Start -> Run -> sfc /scannow). If that doesn't help,
you may have to perform a repair installation.
Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File
Checker (Sfc.exe)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310747
Windows XP Repair Installation
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
Nepatsfan