Can not enter password at welcome screen

[ABQMAN]

I have a log on problem with not being able to enter the password at the
welcome screen. This problem is common on all three of my computers running
Windows XP SP2 with all updates and are made by different manufacturers. They
are all configured with welcome screen and fast user switching. All users
have administrator accounts.

Symptom: The first log on is always normal after a reboot. When you log off
from one user to another there is no flashing cursor or insertion point to
enter the password on the welcome screen. This is intermittent happening
about 25% of the time. I have not noticed the problem when using the “switch
user†mode.

The work around for this is to push Ctrl+Alt+Del twice to bring up the
Ctrl+Alt+Del log on screen where you enter the name and the password. Also if
the user account does not have a password you can log on by just clicking on
the user name. It is only a problem if a password is required to log on.

I first noticed this problem about a year ago when I installed XP on an
older system. I thought that computer had a corrupted file or something but
then the problem showed up on my other computers. I have had no luck finding
a solution to this problem. After several hours of searching the internet, I
have found only a couple other postings on other forums on this problem. No
one has had a definite solution to the problem. One person said they thought
it was caused after the update KB923191 was installed. I have not tried to
uninstall that update to verify this. I have not found any information on
this problem at the Microsoft website.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

 

[Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]]

I contacted Microsoft regarding this issue and their response was that they
are unable to elaborate a consistent set of steps to reproduce the problem,
so it's difficult for them to develop a hotfix. They also gave me this
**possible** workaround: Click directly on the area where the password field
will appear BEFORE clicking anywhere else in Welcome Screen.

 

[ABQMAN]

Thank you for the information Daniel Martin.

It is unfortunate that Microsoft does not put a higher priority to try and
fix this problem. It appears to be a very common problem but only a few
people have reported it. I think that if a poll was taken and all Windows XP
users were asked if they had experienced this log on problem there would
probably be thousands that say they have this problem.

Why does Microsoft offer the “Fast User Switching†feature if you can’t take
advantage of it because it is not working correctly. You might as well
configure the computer to use the Ctrl+Alt+Del log on because you waste so
much time trying to log on when the Fast User Switching is not working
correctly.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

It is unfortunate that Microsoft does not put a higher priority to try and
fix this problem. It appears to be a very common problem but only a few
people have reported it.

How do you know it is "fairly common" if only a few people report it?

I've been monitoring this group since Oct. 2001... your problem is the
first time I can recall seeing mention of it?

 

[ABQMAN]

Call it an informed personal opinion about it being a common problem. I am
basing it on the information from the research I have done on the problem and
from personal experience.

In my line of work, I am responsible for maintaining the hardware, as well
as, the software on computers. I occasionally have a customer ask me about
the login problem they have on their home computer. When I ask if they have
reported the problem, they say no.

Since it is an intermittent problem most people don’t become concerned about
it until it happens more often. As I said earlier, my home computers now have
the problem about 25% of the time. After reading other posts on the problem I
found on the web, it seems to have started about 1.5 to 2 years ago probably
due to a security update from Microsoft. For some reason some computers
exhibit the problem more than others possibly due to the version of Office
they have or some other programs installed. No one seems to know right now.

Thank you.

 

[rsms92]

The workaround for me was to tap the Tab key twice and this brought up
the password window.

 

[Richard in AZ]

The workaround for me was to tap the Tab key twice and this brought up
the password window.

People that do not set their news reader program to include original message in the reply leave a
lot of us out in the dark as to what you were talking about. i.e. look at the example above. No
clue as to what rsm92 was referring to.

 

[Gordon]

People that do not set their news reader program to include original
message in the reply leave a lot of us out in the dark as to what you were
talking about. i.e. look at the example above. No clue as to what rsm92
was referring to.

he's not using a news reader - he's using google groups.

 

[Bill Sharpe]

People that do not set their news reader program to include original message in the reply leave a
lot of us out in the dark as to what you were talking about. i.e. look at the example above. No
clue as to what rsm92 was referring to.

Although I generally leave the message I'm replying to in view, I have
no difficulty in following a thread where the poster is simply replying
to the previous message in the thread. In this particular case the
workaround message from rsms92 refers to the subject line and no further
details are required.

Bill

 

[ABQMAN]

I suggest that everyone that has this log on problem report it to Microsoft.
We need to let Microsoft know that there are a lot of people out here with
this problem. I have included a link that will allow you to report this and
other problems.

https://support.microsoft.com/conta...mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=reporting+a+problem

 

[rsms92]

People that donotset their news reader program to include original message in the reply leave a
lot of us out in the dark as to what you were talking about. i.e. look at the example above. No
clue as to what rsm92 was referring to.

Hey Richard in AZ. The title of this discussion thread is "Can not
enter password at welcome screen". Does that bring some light or some
clue into what the answer was referring to?

 

[Bob I]

Hi, this is my 1st post here.
Sorry for my bad english.
I only want to say that I have same problem: often I can't insert
password at welcome screen because of no cursor blinking
Hope this problem will be solved soon; I'll try suggestions posted
before

Press tab twice

 

[Bob I]

I pressed tab twice and I noticed that focus moved but I never got
blinking cursor... after pressing tab numerous times and trying to
enter without password clicking on green arrow, XP freezes for some
time... I pressed ctrl+alt+canc to use normal logon window and it was
freezed with only cancel button not gray.
I waited and then it come back to normal status and I was able to enter
using username and password. :frown:

Humm, is there some third party software firing up in the background at
boot time?

 

[Bob I]

I don't know what "firing up" means ... does it mean disturb
or work or crash? :redface:
How can I analyze third party software at boot time?

"firing up" = "starting". Some software may be interfering with the
Windows user interface. What programs start before you log on to the PC?
Go to Start, Run, MSCONFIG and look on the "Services" tab for
"Non-Microsoft" items.

 

[Bob I]

Services running on my system are:
- Antivirus components (AVG7 Alert Manager Server, AVG7 Update Service,
AVG E-mail Scanner)
- NVIDIA Display Driver Service
There are also Adobe LM Service and Servizio di condivisione in rete
Windows Media Player but they're stopped by me.

I think *this is a Windows problem because it does the same in virtual
machine too, without any non-microsoft service installed!!*
Anyway, some time before I restarted my machine and welcome screen was
freezed... I restarted it again pushing the button and it was freezed
again... another time... the same result!
I had to shut down, wait a minute, restart and then I could logon

It's not normal, and I have never seen this occur with any of the PC's I
work around. You can be mad, but until you can determine what is
interfering and remove it, it will likely keep happening. Try stopping
the "AVG" services.

 

[Bob I]

Ok, perhaps you have uncovered the problem!