Sign on/off problem

[PC's Plus]

my mother was using her system and while trying to change her background her
system did a restart and on startup asked for a password ( she never had to
use a password before) now when she gives it the password it log her on, the
microsoft music starts then it logs her off, and then the password window
comes up.
I went into safemode tryed the administrator account but a blank password
doesn't work. Neather does any of the passwords she has used for outlook or
anyother app.
Question 1 why is it loging on then loging off.
Question 2 Can I use Safemode with command promt to reset the Admin.
passwordback to blank.
Question 3 is there any freeware to reset Admin. account to blank.
Any other help would be helpful.
Thank You.

 

[Twayne]

In

my mother was using her system and while trying to change her
background her system did a restart and on startup asked for a
password ( she never had to use a password before) now when she gives
it the password it log her on, the microsoft music starts then it
logs her off, and then the password window comes up.
I went into safemode tryed the administrator account but a blank
password doesn't work. Neather does any of the passwords she has used
for outlook or anyother app.
Question 1 why is it loging on then loging off.
Question 2 Can I use Safemode with command promt to reset the Admin.
passwordback to blank.
Question 3 is there any freeware to reset Admin. account to blank.
Any other help would be helpful.
Thank You.

Unless someone can help you with direct answers to your questions, you
likely either have malware infestation or some badly corrupted programs on
the machine now.

Try starting it in Safe Mode. If it'll start that way, Restore the system to
the date preceding, or the nearest earlier date available, and see if that
helps.

There ARE ways to blank the built-in Admin password, but we'd have to know
the brand and name of the computer. The version of XP might help, too
(Home, Pro, multimedia, etc).

If you can get to Safe Mode you might have a chance to recover. If not, it
might take more drastic actions, IMO.

Let us know?

Twayne

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

my mother was using her system and while trying to change her background
her
system did a restart and on startup asked for a password ( she never had
to
use a password before) now when she gives it the password it log her on,
the
microsoft music starts then it logs her off, and then the password window
comes up.
I went into safemode tryed the administrator account but a blank password
doesn't work. Neather does any of the passwords she has used for outlook
or
anyother app.
Question 1 why is it loging on then loging off.
Question 2 Can I use Safemode with command promt to reset the Admin.
passwordback to blank.
Question 3 is there any freeware to reset Admin. account to blank.
Any other help would be helpful.
Thank You.

Here are some answers to your specific questions:

Question 1 why is it loging on then loging off.
This usually happens when the system is unable to locate the file
userinit.exe, either because the file is not where it should be or because
its reference in the registry is now incorrect. This is probably the result
of some malware interference. The solution depends on your setup:
a) It is fairly easy if the machine is networked with some other machine and
if you know the Administrator's password.
b) It is harder if you can remove its hard disk and connect it as a slave or
external disk to some other machine.
c) It is very hard if none of the above apply.

Question 2 Can I use Safemode with command promt to reset the Admin.
passwordback to blank.
No, you can't.

Question 3 is there any freeware to reset Admin. account to blank.
Yes, there is. If you type the words "forgot Windows password" (without the
quotes) into a Google search box then you will see that this is an FAQ and
that there are several methods to reset the password, most of them free.

 

[PC's Plus]

Tryed safemode, it still needs a logon. The administrators password isn't
blank. Tryed a password reset program but it didn't blank admin. password.
Tryed it on users password, it did reset it but it still logson then off.
I built the system its a pentemum 4, 1.7ghz, 1g memory, running XP pro SP3.
Can I use safemode w/command prompt to do regedit and set the system not to
need a logon. Can I use Command prompt to find the file userinit.exe and fix
it or remove it. Do you think it would help if I did a restall in the repair
mode. Would that help.
One more thing I know it in this newsgroup, but do you know of a
adware/vires program that runs from the cd. disk, with out having to install
it on the system.
I could use help you can give me.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Tryed safemode, it still needs a logon.

This is the way it must be. If you could use Safe Mode to get around an
unknown password then there would be no password security at all - you might
as well throw the whole password concept overboard.

The administrators password isn't
blank. Tryed a password reset program but it didn't blank admin. password.

Since there is nothing wrong with your password, there is no point in trying
to replace it. Your problem lies with the userinit.exe file, not with the
password.

Tryed it on users password, it did reset it but it still logson then off.

This is what I would expect.

I built the system its a pentemum 4, 1.7ghz, 1g memory, running XP pro
SP3.
Can I use safemode w/command prompt to do regedit and set the system not
to
need a logon.

The logon process sets the scene for you to do your work. If you don't log
on then you cannot to any work.

Can I use Command prompt to find the file userinit.exe and fix
it or remove it.

Under Windows 7 you could but not under Windows XP.

Do you think it would help if I did a restall in the repair
mode. Would that help.

No, this is very unlikely to help you.

One more thing I know it in this newsgroup, but do you know of a
adware/vires program that runs from the cd. disk, with out having to
install
it on the system.

You can put the disk into an external USB disk case, then scan it while the
case is connected to some other PC.

I could use help you can give me.

It would help if you answered questions a), b) and c) that I asked in my
previous reply.

 

[PC's Plus]

Thanks for the help. Answers to A. its not on a network but I can add it to
my network. But wouldn't I need to login to the computer to get acess to the
drive. B. I haven't try that yet but I can add it as a slave to one of my
computers. If I can get into the drive do I remove the userinit.exe file or
and how do I fix it.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Thanks for the help. Answers to A. its not on a network but I can add it
to
my network. But wouldn't I need to login to the computer to get acess to
the
drive. B. I haven't try that yet but I can add it as a slave to one of my
computers. If I can get into the drive do I remove the userinit.exe file
or
and how do I fix it.

OK, if you can connect the problem PC to your network, let's see if you
access it from a networked machine. Try this:
1. Connect the problem PC to your network.
2. Turn it on and wait until it gets to or goes past the logon screen.
3. Turn on some other PC connected to the same network.
4. Click Start / Run on that PC.
5. Type the three letters cmd
6. Click OK
7. Type the following commands:
net view{Enter}
(Make a note of the name of the problem PC. I will call it PCx.
ping PCx{Enter}
(Do you get a response?)
psexec \\PCx -U Administrator -P xxx cmd{Enter}
(Replace xxx with the correct admin password for PCx)
Report the prompt you see? Is it C:\windows\system32? Or is
it d:\windows\system32?
You need to download psexec.exe from www.sysinternals.com,
then copy it to the folder c:\windows on your "other" PC.

The above commands are the prerequisites for fixing your userinit problem.
If all of them work then you stand a good chance of recovering your Windows
installation. If they make no sense to you then you should ask a
computer-savvy friend to assist you.

 

[PC's Plus]

Pegasus is there a way to use safemode w/command prompt to do a sfc/sannow
and replace the userinit.exe with the one from the CD.
Would it help if I unpluged the ethernet cable and tryed safemode.
What if I log on safe mode, select "Administrator" account and then you will
notice that nothing happens. Press alt+cntrl+delete and you will notice that
userinit.exe is bugged and still running. Close it and go to File- Run and
type explorer.exe. Then you will be successfully logged in. could this work.
I found this susjustion on line what do you think.
Wouldn't doing a repair from the CD replace the userinit.exe file.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Pegasus is there a way to use safemode w/command prompt to do a sfc/sannow
and replace the userinit.exe with the one from the CD.

Since Safe Mode won't let you log on, you cannot execute
any commands from that mode.

Would it help if I unpluged the ethernet cable and tryed safemode.
No.

What if I log on safe mode, select "Administrator" account and then you
will
notice that nothing happens. Press alt+cntrl+delete and you will notice
that
userinit.exe is bugged and still running. Close it and go to File- Run and
type explorer.exe.

You can run explorer.exe only if you can log on.

Then you will be successfully logged in. could this work.
I found this susjustion on line what do you think.
Wouldn't doing a repair from the CD replace the userinit.exe file.

Answered before - I still doubt it very much.

 

[PC's Plus]

First of all thanks for your help. first couldn't get sys. networked. I
bought a disk docking station and hooked up the infected disk. I found the
userinit.exe file in three places checking properties tow of them were
microsoft veresion the third gave no information and had afile size of 54mb.
I deleted it but it didn't help. I was able to scan the drive with spy
sweeper and bitdefender nothing found. I tryed to use RegCure and Advance
windows Care but nether of them allow you to change the drive to be scaned,
they only scan the C drive.
I have an idea what if I delet the userinit.exe file from windows and
windows\systems32, then do a repair of XP from the CD shoudn't it replace it.
I tryed to run sfc from the run command but cann't figure out how to tell it
to do the scan on the G drive ( that is the Letter of the drive in the
docking station). any ideas.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

In my first response I wrote "This usually happens when the system
is unable to locate the file userinit.exe, either because the file is not
where it should be or because its reference in the registry is now
incorrect." Your attempts so far have concentrated on the file itself
but it is even likely that some registry reference is incorrect. The
7-step recipe I previously posted could lead to fixing the incorrect
reference.