Windows XP Home machine login problem

[Guest]

User unable to logon to a Windows XP Home machine because the machine boots
into the welcome screen but doesn't show any user name to "click and logon".
can somebody please help to resolve this issue.
Information about machine:
Machine was completely re formatted and fresh installation of windows XP
Home edition updated with SP2 and latest updates.

Thank You
Bharani

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Was it set to automatically login without a password? or what?
I'd suggest restarting the pc, tap F8 during power up, to get selective startup & select Safe mode.
Then login as "administrator". Then go to Control Panel > User accounts > Change the way users log on or off.
Select "Use the welcome screen". Apply changes. Logoff & restart into normal mode.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

User unable to logon to a Windows XP Home machine because the machine boots
into the welcome screen but doesn't show any user name to "click and logon".
can somebody please help to resolve this issue.
Information about machine:
Machine was completely re formatted and fresh installation of windows XP
Home edition updated with SP2 and latest updates.

Thank You
Bharani

Now that's three posts within half a day with the same symptoms.
See the unresolved post "Missing usernames home edition" in this
newsgroup. I really wonder if there is a new virus out there.

 

[Malke]

Now that's three posts within half a day with the same symptoms.
See the unresolved post "Missing usernames home edition" in this
newsgroup. I really wonder if there is a new virus out there.

Or another variant of some of our favorite malware. Canaries in the coal
mine, eh? Only way to tell would be to go through malware scans from
the commandline/run box or with a Bart's PE or ERD Commander utility.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem since January '06. I have reformated 3 times and
still randomly get the same repeated problem. I, too, am looking for help
from someone. As usual, Microsoft has no idea.

 

[Malke]

I have the same problem since January '06. I have reformated 3 times
and still randomly get the same repeated problem. I, too, am looking
for help from someone. As usual, Microsoft has no idea.

If you have had this problem since January and "reformatted" 3 times and
still have random errors, you probably have hardware failure. Since
you've had the problem for so long without being able to fix it, the
best course of action would be for you to take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not your local version of
BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the help guys. But i have tried all the means of booting and then
logging on but no luck. I would give you a breif history about the machine
hopefully that will give you guys a better idea,

On 15-Mar-06 while booting the machine gave a error "
C:\windows\system32\config\system" failed please user CD to recover by
pressing R. so restored the SYSTEM file from the recovery CD. Then machine
would boot and then display the 4 exsisting usernames on the screen, you can
click them and enter the password but once you click OK. It would display
"loading your settings" as usual but immediately say "saving your settings"
and then followed by "logging off". Finally would return back to the Welcome
screen.

If i used the CTRL+ALT+DEL method then I would get the logon display box but
no use since any username and password i try will fail with a message saying
" you cannot logon due to your account restriction" even with the
administrator. Got very upset with this issue.

So copied the data to another HDD and then decided to completely reformat
the hard drive and re installed Windows XP Home. Installed SP2 and completed
microsoft updates, All was fine tillthe next day when the machine boots to
welcome screen no user name will be displayed to logon so tried the
CTRL+ALT+DEL trick still no luck.

Now the machine is useless

Bharani

 

[Malke]

Thanks for the help guys. But i have tried all the means of booting
and then logging on but no luck. I would give you a breif history
about the machine
hopefully that will give you guys a better idea,

On 15-Mar-06 while booting the machine gave a error "
C:\windows\system32\config\system" failed please user CD to recover by
pressing R. so restored the SYSTEM file from the recovery CD. Then
machine would boot and then display the 4 exsisting usernames on the
screen, you can click them and enter the password but once you click
OK. It would display "loading your settings" as usual but immediately
say "saving your settings" and then followed by "logging off". Finally
would return back to the Welcome screen.

If i used the CTRL+ALT+DEL method then I would get the logon display
box but no use since any username and password i try will fail with a
message saying " you cannot logon due to your account restriction"
even with the administrator. Got very upset with this issue.

So copied the data to another HDD and then decided to completely
reformat the hard drive and re installed Windows XP Home. Installed
SP2 and completed microsoft updates, All was fine tillthe next day
when the machine boots to welcome screen no user name will be
displayed to logon so tried the CTRL+ALT+DEL trick still no luck.

Since you did a clean install and presumably did not install any
malware, your computer is probably experiencing hardware problems. Here
are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thnaks Malke for the reply, But i don't understand why you want me to do a
hradware test as the machine boots till the welcome screen properly and shuts
down properly doesn't freeze or do anything like that!!!!!!!!!! The machine
was running perfectly well till 15-mar-06.

The machine is useless because it doesn't let any user to logon even the
administrator. i only suspect it to be a virus or malware that has taken
control of the user accounts and blocking them.

Bharani

 

[Roberto]

Thnaks Malke for the reply, But i don't understand why you want me to do a
hradware test as the machine boots till the welcome screen properly and
shuts
down properly doesn't freeze or do anything like that!!!!!!!!!! The
machine
was running perfectly well till 15-mar-06.

The machine is useless because it doesn't let any user to logon even the
administrator. i only suspect it to be a virus or malware that has taken
control of the user accounts and blocking them.

Bharani

You apppear to have a corrupt registry, test the following

1. RAM
2..HDD/

rgds
Roberto

 

[Guest]

No it wasn't set to login automatically. Only one user was created but
without any password. So when the machine boots it will display the username
and then the user clicks it to go to the desktop. this was the normal
procedure after the Fresh installation. But now when the system boots it
doesn't show any username in the welcome screen. Even if i try to logon using
the CTRL+ALT+DEL method it doesn't let me logon.

Bharani

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Have you tried to boot up selectively into Safe Mode, as per my last post? If not, do so. If you have tried it, did you look at User Accounts in Control Panel?

 

[Guest]

Even when i try to boot in safe mode i don't get any usernames in the
welcome screen.

 

[Axalon]

There appears to be an issue with either McAffee AV, or the AOL/buil
in ISP AV programs getting a bad update and quarantining a fe
windows files during the boot scan. If you run the System Restor
from the Recovery Console, you can revert the system, and then reloa
the AV or ISP software, and rin the update. There looks to be a new
revamped update for it

Hope this helps

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Give more detail ! What do you see in there? Can you get to a usable desktop state?
or are you saying you cannot do anything in Safe Mode? meaning it is stuck while in Safe mode?

If stuck, try pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL to see if that gets it to a user-login prompt (maybe).

 

[Guest]

When i boot the machine either in normal mode or safe mode, the machine boots
normally until it reaches the welcome screen.
In the welcome screen there are no user names displayed. so i can't logon
from there. If i try a pres CTRL+ALT+DEL i get the user prompt but it doesn't
accept any username password configuration that where originally setup in the
machine including the "administrator" account.

The only thing that i can do from the welcome screen is to shutdown the
machine using the red shutdown icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.
When i do that the machine shuts down perfectly.

Bharani

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When i boot the machine either in normal mode or safe mode, the machine boots
normally until it reaches the welcome screen.
In the welcome screen there are no user names displayed. so i can't logon
from there. If i try a pres CTRL+ALT+DEL i get the user prompt but it doesn't
accept any username password configuration that where originally setup in the
machine including the "administrator" account.

The only thing that i can do from the welcome screen is to shutdown the
machine using the red shutdown icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.
When i do that the machine shuts down perfectly.

Bharani

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

 

[Guest]

Hi thanks for the link. Used the CD to boot and select the option to edit
usernames and passwords......i get a result saying " Cannot find usernames in
the registry" and then asks me to enter the username, i went with the default
name "Administrator". When i did that i get a message saying " Cannot find
value <\SAM\Domains\Accounts\Users\Names\Administrator\@>"

So i rebooted the machine with the same CD that you suggested and selected
option "1 - to reset passwords, and then selected option "3 - Recoveryconsole
Settings" result was " ERROR: SOFTWARE-hive not loaded"


I think the user data in the registry has been attacked??

Bharani

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Maybe your registry got hacked, maybe corrupted - who knows?
Do you have a firewall?

Under Win2000 I could rename the SAM file to something
else, thus removing all accounts. On the next boot I could
log on as Administrator with a blank password. I do not know
if this trick works under WinXP.

Here are a few methods to rename the SAM file:
- If your system partition is FAT32: Boot with a Win98 boot disk.
- Boot into the Recovery Console.
- Boot with a Bart PE CD.
- Temporarily run the disk as a slave disk in some other
Win2000/XP PC.

Making a Bart PE CD is a somewhat time-consuming exercise
but it's a terrific CD that I could not do without.

 

[Guest]

Ok i have a BART PE CD so i can use that to boot the machine. the SAM file
you are mentioning is it the one in C:\WINDOWS\system32\config?

Bharani