Logon Interactively

[mcp6453]

This problem is well documented, but unfortunately, I have not been able
to zero in on the right fix. We have an XP Home notebook computer that
was working fine until yesterday. Now, when we turn it on, it asks for
the password for the User. No password was set. When we click logon, we
get the infamous

The Local Policy of This System Does Not Permit You to Logon Interactively

The machine is not part of a domain (XP Home), is not Terminal Services,
and is not Remote Desktop Enabled (XP Home). I cannot see it over a LAN
as it does not boot beyond the login screen. (At what point does Windows
networking activate in the boot process?) Therefore, I am unable to
reach the registry though regedit on a networked computer.

The articles I have read have thoroughly confused me, and I do not want
to trash the hard drive. Even the instructions for using Recovery
Console and in place upgrade/repair are confusing and risky. (Since we
cannot log into the machine, we cannot get to System Restore.)

If anyone here knows were some techniques are for solving the problem
based on this configuration, I would appreciate a link or two. If
necessary or helpful, I can install the drive as a slave drive into
another XP machine.

 

[Guest]

Have you tried using Safe Mode to access the Administrator account, just to
get into the computer? Just a thought.

 

[Z]

This problem is well documented, but unfortunately, I have not been able
to zero in on the right fix. We have an XP Home notebook computer that
was working fine until yesterday. Now, when we turn it on, it asks for
the password for the User. No password was set. When we click logon, we
get the infamous

The Local Policy of This System Does Not Permit You to Logon Interactively

The machine is not part of a domain (XP Home), is not Terminal Services,
and is not Remote Desktop Enabled (XP Home). I cannot see it over a LAN
as it does not boot beyond the login screen. (At what point does Windows
networking activate in the boot process?) Therefore, I am unable to
reach the registry though regedit on a networked computer.

The articles I have read have thoroughly confused me, and I do not want
to trash the hard drive. Even the instructions for using Recovery
Console and in place upgrade/repair are confusing and risky. (Since we
cannot log into the machine, we cannot get to System Restore.)

If anyone here knows were some techniques are for solving the problem
based on this configuration, I would appreciate a link or two. If
necessary or helpful, I can install the drive as a slave drive into
another XP machine.

I've gotten around the "Does Not Permit You to Logon Interactively"
policy issue in the past by renaming the SECURITY hive in /config and
then copying the one in /repair to /config.

Unless you want to remove the drive and mount it in another PC, you'll
have to boot to the recovery console (you'll need the CD and the
Administrator password) or some other boot disk (I prefer the Ultimate
boot disk 4 windows : http://www.ubcd4win.com) that can read NTFS (a
Knoppix live CD works well, too) to do the rename/copy.

 

[mcp6453]

I've gotten around the "Does Not Permit You to Logon Interactively"
policy issue in the past by renaming the SECURITY hive in /config and
then copying the one in /repair to /config.

Unless you want to remove the drive and mount it in another PC, you'll
have to boot to the recovery console (you'll need the CD and the
Administrator password) or some other boot disk (I prefer the Ultimate
boot disk 4 windows : http://www.ubcd4win.com) that can read NTFS (a
Knoppix live CD works well, too) to do the rename/copy.

I installed the drive into another machine as a slave, and did exactly
what you said. All is well in the login problem. Thanks. It's painless
once you know what to do!

Thanks!