XP Login Problem - Logs off immediately - No Admin Passwd

[Venu Rajupalem]

My PC on which XP pro exists, suddenly gives a login
problem. It accepts the my password, logs in, "Loading
settings", displays wall paper, and then suddenly
shows "saving settings" and then logs off. It disabled
even the administrator password. I tried all previous
passwords (including blank) for Administrator. None of
them worked. I scanned the news groups, and found many
have this problem. One of the suggestions is to regedit
and use userinit.exe rather than wsaupdater.exe. This
procedure works only if the Administrator password works.
But, for me it doesn't work.

My PC is networked with other computer. I looked at the
C:\Windows\System32. There is no file named
wsaupdater.exe in this directory. userinit.exe file
exists. Since my network is working, Is there any way I
can rectify this situation and can login as Admin as well
as me. I really do not want to erase all the disk and
install XP from scratch. Please help with your expert
suggestions.

Thanks,
Venu

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Venu,

Run a spyware cleaner lately? The userinit value may have been corrupted by
the removal of blazefind. It adds wsaupdater.exe to the logon value in the
system registry, sometimes appending it, sometimes replacing it. Running
Adaware or other cleaners detects and removes wsaupdater.exe, but doesn't
correct the registry damage. If this is the case, then you may need to load
the registry hive from another installation and change it. This is the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Userinit string value should be:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,

On the damaged installations it's one of these:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsaupdater.exe,
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsaupdater.exe,

Another "quickie" method of resolution is to load the Recovery Console (see
below), copy userinit.exe as wsaupdater.exe from the command prompt, then
restart normally. Once in, go and change the registry value back to what
it's supposed to be and delete the copied file. To do this, use these
commands:

C:\Windows>
C:\Windows>copy C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe
C:\Windows\system32\wsaupdater.exe

Then you can exit once completed.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP [Q307654]
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307654

This can also be done by using the 6 disk boot floppy set mentioned in the
above article, as it loads enough of the Recovery Console so that you can
copy the file. This is particularly useful if you have an OEM installation
that includes only a Restore CD, or no disk at all.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org