Nothing happens at ctrl-alt-delete prompt

[mikelee101]

I have a desktop running WinXP Pro. It was running terribly slow, so I
rebooted. When I got to the ctrl-alt-delete prompt, I hit the keys and
nothing happened. I powered off and back on again and same thing. I
rebooted to Last Known Good Configuration, and still the same thing. Then I
tried a different keyboard. Still nothing happens when you press
ctrl-atl-delete. During the boot process, the lights on the keyboard (num
lock, cap lock, etc) blink, so it appears that the keyboard and computer are
communicating on some level, at least.
Anyone have any thoughts on anything else I can try?

Thanks for the help.

 

[ybS2okj]

Why are you giving three-fingered salute to your computer (aka Ctrl-Alt-Del)
and at what stage are you doing this?

If you are trying at the welcome screen then you need to do it twice to get
manual input of various usernames. However, if you are doing it when you
have already logged in then clearly you have a very serious problem.

Please advise us further before a drastic solution is given.

hth

 

[mm]

Why are you giving three-fingered salute to your computer (aka Ctrl-Alt-Del)
and at what stage are you doing this?

I have a friend with a win2000 computer that comes up with a small box
that requires either login info or iirc if there is none,
cntl-alt-delete to get to the next step.

He was given the computer by someone who was given the computer at
work, when they upgraded, so login was important or at least enabled.

Does XP ever have anything like that?

If you are trying at the welcome screen then you need to do it twice to get
manual input of various usernames. However, if you are doing it when you
have already logged in then clearly you have a very serious problem.

Please advise us further before a drastic solution is given.

hth

 

[Terry R.]

On 2/26/2010 5:37 PM On a whim, mikelee101 pounded out on the keyboard

I have a desktop running WinXP Pro. It was running terribly slow, so I
rebooted. When I got to the ctrl-alt-delete prompt, I hit the keys and
nothing happened. I powered off and back on again and same thing. I
rebooted to Last Known Good Configuration, and still the same thing. Then I
tried a different keyboard. Still nothing happens when you press
ctrl-atl-delete. During the boot process, the lights on the keyboard (num
lock, cap lock, etc) blink, so it appears that the keyboard and computer are
communicating on some level, at least.
Anyone have any thoughts on anything else I can try?

Thanks for the help.

Hi Mike,

It may have been turned off:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308226

Note you need Administrator rights to change this.

Terry R.

 

[John H Meyers]

On 2/26/2010 5:37 PM On a whim, mikelee101 pounded out on the keyboard

It may have been turned off:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308226

If this is turned off, would there still be a prompt
telling the user to press those keys?

Or is OP mistaken that there was such a prompt?

What would have turned it off, without OP knowing?

--

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Saturday, February 27, 2010 9:47:44 AM, and on a
whim, John H Meyers pounded out on the keyboard:

If this is turned off, would there still be a prompt
telling the user to press those keys?

Or is OP mistaken that there was such a prompt?

He'll have to clarify of course, but I took that as being just the
sign-on screen.

What would have turned it off, without OP knowing?

If he doesn't reboot often (didn't sound like it), he may have done it
long ago and forgot, or thought he was doing something else, like having
it log in without entering a password.

Not really sure either, just thinking of things that may have happened.

Terry R.

 

[Twayne]

In

I have a friend with a win2000 computer that comes up with a small box
that requires either login info or iirc if there is none,
cntl-alt-delete to get to the next step.

He was given the computer by someone who was given the computer at
work, when they upgraded, so login was important or at least enabled.

Does XP ever have anything like that?

The best thing to do with any new computer that has been used before is to
do a "clean install" of the OS. It'll run faster and be a lot more problem
free than trying to figure out and fix a previous user's settings and
problems and malware infestations.

It will also prove that you have been given the correct discs etc. to do
clean installs and to install any other programs that were provided with it,
for future recoveries when a drive crashes to uselessness, get too infested
to repair, etc. etc. etc..
Otherwise you're going to have to put up with previous users' bad habits,
problems and likely malware if they were anywhere near newbie or even
general user status. By rebuilding it you then only have your own problems
to conetned with and better yet, you know exactly how you set things up.

HTH,

Twayne