CAPS Lock problem at Log-in Screen

[Dave Onex]

Hi Folks;

I'm using Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 3) on my laptop and I have an
interesting problem. When I start up and type in my password it fails every
time (even though it's correct).

CAPS Lock is NOT on.

But, if I turn caps lock on and then off and then type in my password it
works fine.

The correct password is lowercase but unless I cycle the CAPS lock on and
then off I can't log-in. Does anyone know how to resolve this?

 

[Malke]

Hi Folks;

I'm using Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 3) on my laptop and I have an
interesting problem. When I start up and type in my password it fails
every time (even though it's correct).

CAPS Lock is NOT on.

But, if I turn caps lock on and then off and then type in my password it
works fine.

The correct password is lowercase but unless I cycle the CAPS lock on and
then off I can't log-in. Does anyone know how to resolve this?

What happens if you try with a different keyboard?

Malke

 

[R. McCarty]

Many ( not all ) computer BIOS setups have a setting for Num Lock.
Along with Malke's advice I'd check & see if your setup has Num Lock
enabled from BIOS.Having this enabled can sometimes cause certain
letter presses to be registered as numerals.

 

[Nightowl]

Many ( not all ) computer BIOS setups have a setting for Num Lock.
Along with Malke's advice I'd check & see if your setup has Num Lock
enabled from BIOS.Having this enabled can sometimes cause certain
letter presses to be registered as numerals.

The suggestion about NumLock is a good one, but it won't be in the BIOS;
XP ignores any NumLock setting there. Instead it stores the last state
of the key in the registry under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators

 

[R. McCarty]

Thanks for updating the info.

The suggestion about NumLock is a good one, but it won't be in the BIOS;
XP ignores any NumLock setting there. Instead it stores the last state of
the key in the registry under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators

 

[Dave Onex]

Thanks guys - you fixed it

The problem was that NUMLOCK was turned on (in the O/S not in the BIOS).

I don't understand why that would cause the log-in to fail but there are
numbers in my password...

Best & Thanks!
Dave

 

[Bob I]

Learn something new everyday.. I never thought that the registry would
overide the bios setting.. Thanks for the info.

Dan K.

It doesn't "override" it. The BIOS setting is merely a method to "set"
NumLock at POST time. After that anything can change it. The user or the
system.