missing usernames home edition

[Guest]

After rebooting my windows XP home edition i get an empty screen with no
icons of the users and their usernames, and I cannot start windows. any
advice.
please send reply to (e-mail address removed)

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

After rebooting my windows XP home edition i get an empty screen with no
icons of the users and their usernames, and I cannot start windows. any
advice.
please send reply to (e-mail address removed)

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then Ctrl+Alt+Del a second time,
then log on under your usual account (or under "User",
or under "Administrator").

 

[Guest]

It does not work, I tried that.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then Ctrl+Alt+Del a second time,
then log on under your usual account (or under "User",
or under "Administrator").

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My crystal ball is currently broken, hence I cannot see what
you mean with "It does not work". Please describe exactly
what you did and what you saw on the screen.

 

[Guest]

Rebooting is possible only by turning off the machine and then on (manually).
The rebooting process looks normal until the screen that loads the usernames
and their icons shows up empty - no usernames or icons. I cannot go to
windows from here. I tried going on all possible modes - safe mode,
degugging, configuration that worked, etc. but they all end up with the same
problem - no usernames or icons

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

So far you haven't reported what happens when you press
Ctrl+Alt+Del twice in succession. Pressing Cltr+Alt+Del
means this:
1. Hold down a Ctrl key.
2. Without letting go of the Ctrl key, hold down an Alt key.
3. Without letting go of the two preceding keys, tap the Del key.

 

[Guest]

I'm having the exact same problem with my computer, any help would be greatly
appreciated.

 

[Guest]

I've tried the Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nothing happens the computer won't do anything.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You must do it twice in succession.

I've tried the Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nothing happens the computer won't do anything.

 

[Guest]

I did do it twice and still nothing happened.

You must do it twice in succession.

 

[Amnon Feiner]

I'm having the exact same problem with my computer, any help would be
greatly appreciated.

Try Linux, xandrom or SuSE 10.0. Way better safer, faster and...Free.
if not, try running in place repair, it usually fixes the problem.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have never seen this phenomenon before. I wonder if you
have picked up a virus. The only way to find out is to install
your disk as a slave disk in some other WinXP/2000 PC,
then perform a complete virus scan.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Try hard to get into Safe mode, and log in with "administrator".

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

If it is Home edition, that will not work.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

You can run AV utilities in Safe mode (and later repeat in Normal mode). Simply make sure you download tools & updated definitions from a clean pc --- not the suspect machine.

Make very sure your system does not have malware.
See <http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware>

Sysclean would be a good first run for virus check. Just be sure sure to also run other spyware / malware checks.

 

[Guest]

After rebooting my windows XP home edition i get an empty screen with no
icons of the users and their usernames, and I cannot start windows. any
advice.
please send reply to (e-mail address removed)

Hello, If you have or can aquire a Knoppix bootable linux cd, this will
allow you to see and have a certain amount of access to your c drive without
running Windows. Knoppix operates from the disc, needs no installation. More
information at this site:http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/.
Hope you find a solution.
take care.
beamish.

 

[GateKeeper]

If you are able to log in as Administrator, you can probably fix the
problem. To do this in XP Home, you must reboot the computer, then keep
pressing F8 until the login prompt appears. You may have to type in
"Administrator" in the username field. By default, the Administrator
account has no password in XP Home.

Once you are logged in as Administrator, you can do whatever troubleshooting
you need. I do not know how to restore the account names on the Welcome
screen, but you might try the "NET USER" command. Instructions for the NET
USER command can be found in the Help and Support tool. Just type "NET
USER" in the search area. This command must be run from a command prompt.
To launch a command prompt, go to Start, Run..., type "cmd" then click Run.

 

[Guest]

I believe/hope I am in control of the problem now - unfortunately it involves
re-installation which I wanted to avoid.
I did the following:
1. I reinstalled WinXP my Dell ReInstallation CD. In setup for installation
I chose the R for repair.
2. I encountered some 2 error messages during installation one OK, the
other regarding a Printer I answered NO.
3. When installtion is complete I ran a fresh Anti Virus scan (AVG) - found
8 Trojans.
4. Unistalled a program Magic-Aol (don't remember the exact name) -
control panel etc....
5. Go online to update.microsoft.com and update all the security patches and
the SP2.

I recovered all my files, and setup in the process. I am not sure I am
done. It took me 3 reinstallations to get to this point.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Kudos on your success, and a sincere thanks for your update.
If by chance you wrote down the names of the trojans, or if you have a log of the cleanup by AVG, post back with that info.