Windows XP pro automatically logs on to Administrator account

[Guest]

After a "fresh" install (removing the partition and formatting), my system
automatically boots to the admin account. When I set a password for the
admin account, I get an error that the system could not log me on, then I see
the welcome screen, which performs as it should (the only account visible is
the admin account that is NOT Administrator).

Things I have noticed:
1. during install, my software key was not asked for.
2. the network name for my computer was not asked for (ended up as
your-<gobbeldygook>)
3. when I installed from the same CD onto a different hard drive that had
never seen XP, the CD key had to be provided as well as the computer name.
4. after reformatting and reinstalling on this second hard drive, I
experienced the same problems I was having with the first hard drive.

questions:
1. Is this affecting the stability and performance of my system?
2. Does anyone know of a way to resolve the automatic log on problem?
3. Will I have to re-install, yet again, to fix this problem?

It seems to me that some data is being stored, somewhere, in spite of the
partition removals, set ups, and reformats. This seems to be the cause of
the problem. Where is this phantom data hiding? It seems to be unique to
each hard drive. It seems that removing this data, then re-installing would
probably fix this.

 

[Guest]

Alright, I was able to fix the main problem by using regedit to change the
default log on name and computer name, but the other issues still trouble me.
How were these settings able to survive a new partition and reformat?

 

[Guest]

I can only imagine the formatting isn't successful.

You could use Ranish Partition Manager (from a DOS floppy) to Erase the
disk-space. That should make sure.