I need to recover "deleted" logon accounts

[Guest]

Help anyone ...

My mother, who uses has win xp home (sp2) has inadvertently deleted the only
two xp logon accounts. As far as she can recall, after surfing a particular
spanish newspaper website and responding to a popup box (????) which she cant
really the meaning as her english is techologically poor.

So the immediate symptom was evident on subsequent powerup that the welcome
screen had no users !

Now this is the SECOND time this has happened, and my "solution" was simply
to reformat the HD and do a re-install of just WinXP Home (sp2) with NortonAV
and ZoneAlarm Firewall. Everything worked well - until today when I get a
call that the welcome screen has no users - and yes after some popup appeared
while surfing one of these newspaper websites !!!!

So is there a way to restore the accounts, as I would like to avoid the time
of doing a format/resintall for lack of a better solution.

regs
suffering son.

ps. previously i did try cntl-alt-delete on the welcome screen, but even
then the logon failed. (note there was no passwords setup either)

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Help anyone ...

My mother, who uses has win xp home (sp2) has inadvertently deleted the only
two xp logon accounts. As far as she can recall, after surfing a particular
spanish newspaper website and responding to a popup box (????) which she cant
really the meaning as her english is techologically poor.

So the immediate symptom was evident on subsequent powerup that the welcome
screen had no users !

Now this is the SECOND time this has happened, and my "solution" was simply
to reformat the HD and do a re-install of just WinXP Home (sp2) with NortonAV
and ZoneAlarm Firewall. Everything worked well - until today when I get a
call that the welcome screen has no users - and yes after some popup appeared
while surfing one of these newspaper websites !!!!

So is there a way to restore the accounts, as I would like to avoid the time
of doing a format/resintall for lack of a better solution.

regs
suffering son.

ps. previously i did try cntl-alt-delete on the welcome screen, but even
then the logon failed. (note there was no passwords setup either)

As you said, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then log on as "Administrator.

 

[Gordon]

Help anyone ...

My mother, who uses has win xp home (sp2) has inadvertently deleted the
only
two xp logon accounts. As far as she can recall, after surfing a
particular
spanish newspaper website and responding to a popup box (????) which she
cant
really the meaning as her english is techologically poor.

So the immediate symptom was evident on subsequent powerup that the
welcome
screen had no users !

Now this is the SECOND time this has happened, and my "solution" was
simply
to reformat the HD and do a re-install of just WinXP Home (sp2) with
NortonAV
and ZoneAlarm Firewall. Everything worked well - until today when I get a
call that the welcome screen has no users - and yes after some popup
appeared
while surfing one of these newspaper websites !!!!

So is there a way to restore the accounts, as I would like to avoid the
time
of doing a format/resintall for lack of a better solution.

regs
suffering son.

ps. previously i did try cntl-alt-delete on the welcome screen, but even
then the logon failed. (note there was no passwords setup either)

Ctl-Alt-Del at the welcome screen only works with XP Pro....
Boot up the machine in Safe Mode and log on as the Administrator. (No
password unless you know differently). Re-create the User accounts from
there...

HTH

 

[Tom Porterfield]

As you said, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then log on as "Administrator.

That only works with XP Pro, the OP has reported the OS as XP Home. To
log on as administrator in XP Home you need to boot the PC into Safe Mode.

To boot the PC into Safe Mode, reboot the PC and as it starts up hold
down the F8 key. This will cause the XP boot menu to appear. On the
menu select Safe Mode. Once XP Home boots this way the Administrator
account will be available. Select it to log on, by default there is no
password on the Administrator account. Once on, recreate her normal
user account(s).

Based on the description of the original problem, there is also a good
chance that other malware may be on the machine. See
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm for steps to take to try and get
that cleaned up.

Also go to http://update.microsoft.com and have it scan for updates. At
a minimum, install any critical security updates that it offers.

 

[Rock]

Help anyone ...

My mother, who uses has win xp home (sp2) has inadvertently deleted the
only
two xp logon accounts. As far as she can recall, after surfing a
particular
spanish newspaper website and responding to a popup box (????) which she
cant
really the meaning as her english is techologically poor.

So the immediate symptom was evident on subsequent powerup that the
welcome
screen had no users !

Now this is the SECOND time this has happened, and my "solution" was
simply
to reformat the HD and do a re-install of just WinXP Home (sp2) with
NortonAV
and ZoneAlarm Firewall. Everything worked well - until today when I get a
call that the welcome screen has no users - and yes after some popup
appeared
while surfing one of these newspaper websites !!!!

So is there a way to restore the accounts, as I would like to avoid the
time
of doing a format/resintall for lack of a better solution.

regs
suffering son.

ps. previously i did try cntl-alt-delete on the welcome screen, but even
then the logon failed. (note there was no passwords setup either)

There may be a bigger problem, even if you can get the immediate issue
fixed, the computer could be compromised with malware. You could try
cleaning it, or doing a clean install.

Here are some links for cleaning malware.

Malware Removal
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

THE PARASITE FIGHT
Finding, Removing & Protecting Yourself From Scumware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Richard Harper’s Guide to Cleaning Pests
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

Whatever you decide to do, once the system is running again I suggest you
image it using something like Acronis True Image Home version 10 or Norton
Ghost, saving the image on an external hard drive. Then if something
happens, just restore the image.

On a final note I recommend using something other than Norton AV or any of
the Norton home security products. They are resource heavy and can cause
their own problems. There are good alternatives such as Avast (free), AVG
(free) or NOD32.

In addition to an AV program the system needs to have several apps for
combating non viral malware. One should be set to be active in memory, the
others should be used to do manual scans. Windows Defender is ok for being
active in memory. For the others there is Ad-Aware SE Personal, Spybot S&D,
Spyware Blaster and AVG Anti-Spyware.