Can't log in

[Barry Warner]

I ran a spyware program (Pest Patrol) on my XP Pro
machine and let it repair numerous items. After
rebooting, I can no longer log into my PC. It boots up
to the welcome screen where I select any user name (even
Administrator), then it gives me the usual
message "loading your personal settings". Within a
second or two after that, It switches to "saving your
settings" and returns to the welcome screen. I can never
get past this - it does the same thing in Safe Mode. Any
help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Barry

 

[Rock]

I ran a spyware program (Pest Patrol) on my XP Pro
machine and let it repair numerous items. After
rebooting, I can no longer log into my PC. It boots up
to the welcome screen where I select any user name (even
Administrator), then it gives me the usual
message "loading your personal settings". Within a
second or two after that, It switches to "saving your
settings" and returns to the welcome screen. I can never
get past this - it does the same thing in Safe Mode. Any
help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Barry

Using the Recovery Console (by rebooting with the WindowsXP CD and
choosing R for repair. Enter the password for the administrator account
or leave it blank if you did not assign one. Then employ
this command:

copy C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe C:\Windows\System32\wsaupdater.exe

Once you can reboot edit the registry:

Modify the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Currentversion\Winlogon

so that:

UserInit=c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe