XP home suddenly requiring logon

[Tom]

I had an XP computer set up to automatically log on, and it's been working
that way for a long time. But today I got the logon screen. Why would that
appear all of a sudden.

The real problem is that I don't know the password, even with the hint. My
daughter set it and she's away at school and unavailable.

 

[John Adams]

I had an XP computer set up to automatically log on, and it's been working
that way for a long time. But today I got the logon screen. Why would that
appear all of a sudden.

The real problem is that I don't know the password, even with the hint. My
daughter set it and she's away at school and unavailable.

Probably because you just did an update and installed .NET which changes
the way you log in. Search on google for a utility to retrieve the
password. There are a few such utilities around.

 

[JS]

For XP Home users - Part 1:
Boot the computer into Safe Mode
Do this by pressing the F8 key after the Power On Self Test is finished,
until the Start menu appears.
This will get you to the correct menu window.
Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account
and any other accounts.
(Note: Accounts are displayed alphabetically).
Use the Up/Down arrow keys to highlight the 'Adminstrator' account;
Remember as mentioned in the earlier post: The default password is a blank
(no password required).

Also See: Forgotten your Windows XP Home password
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894902/en-us
and: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894901/

For XP Pro users - Part 1:
You do not need to go into Safe Mode.
At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to display the
Windows logon box.
Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and 'if' you assigned a
password when you set up Windows, then enter it. (Note: by default the
password is blank, no password need be entered)

Part #2: Once your have logged on in XP Pro or Home:
Next click Start/Run
Now in the Run box, enter: control userpasswords2
Then click the OK button
Now click on the user account that you have forgotten the password.
Next click Reset Password button.
Finally enter a new password, confirm the new password, and then click OK.

Also see: How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or if your
password expires
(This Microsoft article applies to both XP Home and Pro)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305/en-us

JS

 

[Tom]

Probably because you just did an update and installed .NET which changes
the way you log in. Search on google for a utility to retrieve the
password. There are a few such utilities around.

No, it wasn't an update. I don't have Automatic Updates turned on for
precisely that reason. I don't want any of my settings arbitrarily changed,
especially while I'm not there to watch. I do all of the updates manually.

Anyway, I think the culprit is a sticky Shift key.

Tom McFarland

 

[Tom]

I think the culprit is a defective Shift key. After a few attempts I was
able to boot without signing in. Once booted up, I was getting prompted to
see if I wanted to turn on Sticky Keys because the Shift key had been
pressed five times.

But thanks for the information. It may come in handy in the future.

Tom McFarland

 

[John Adams]

I think the culprit is a defective Shift key. After a few attempts I was
able to boot without signing in. Once booted up, I was getting prompted to
see if I wanted to turn on Sticky Keys because the Shift key had been
pressed five times.

You can turn off that stupid sticky key option in control panel
somewhere. Once I was playing a game and that sticky key popped up in
the middle of the game because I had pressed shift five times, annoying.