XP logon Problem

[Guest]

Need to see is someone can possibly give me some direction in fixing a log
on problem in XP. I have multiple users set up on my XP home. Two are set up
as administrators and require passwords and one is "guest user" and does not
which i use for my teenage son. Yesterday when starting up my computer it
boots up fine and takes me to the screen to choose a user as normal. When I
attempt to log on to any of the three users says it is loading personal
settings, brings you to the backround like it is about to load the icons on
the screen, hangs up for a while, then immediately logs off the user as if
you manually logged off never allowing you to get into windows to do any
trouble shooting. Since I do have a teenage son who gets home before me who
will attempt to do anything to circumvent the limits(parental controls) I
dont know if he did something or if it just has a glitch. Can anyone give me
any direction on fixing this? Like i said since i cant log into windows I am
at a loss on how to fix it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Need to see is someone can possibly give me some direction in fixing a
log
on problem in XP. I have multiple users set up on my XP home. Two are set
up
as administrators and require passwords and one is "guest user" and does
not
which i use for my teenage son. Yesterday when starting up my computer it
boots up fine and takes me to the screen to choose a user as normal. When
I
attempt to log on to any of the three users says it is loading personal
settings, brings you to the backround like it is about to load the icons
on
the screen, hangs up for a while, then immediately logs off the user as if
you manually logged off never allowing you to get into windows to do any
trouble shooting. Since I do have a teenage son who gets home before me
who
will attempt to do anything to circumvent the limits(parental controls) I
dont know if he did something or if it just has a glitch. Can anyone give
me
any direction on fixing this? Like i said since i cant log into windows I
am
at a loss on how to fix it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated!

Does the problem occur in Safe Mode too?

 

[Guest]

Yes,
Tried to restart in safe mode and the result was the same. Also tried to
start from disk, although i dont know if i did it correctly, and had the same
problem.

 

[Guest]

Have you tried getting in by using the built in administrator account?
Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the welcome screen then type in administrator, if you
dont have a password for this account just hit enter and you should get into
the account

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This problem is usually caused by an inability of Windows
to locate userinit.exe, often because of disk manipulation
(e.g. imaging) which can result in an incorrect drive letter.
You should ask your son to report honestly what he was
doing on the PC.

The cure depends on your configuration. It is easy if the
machine is networked (i.e. if there is at least one other
machine connected to the same network), less easy if
you have second independent machine and much harder
if you have none of the above.

 

[Guest]

No, I wasnt aware that there was a back door to bypass the user log on. I am
at work right now but can try this. Any idea what could cause this problem
and a possible fix if i can get in? I know you can set windows to log off
after a certain period of inactivity but i dont know if it could be set for
that short of a time where it would log you off immediately. Like i said, I
have a 16 year old son so if it is something he did trying to bypass parental
control there is no telling!

 

[Guest]

It is an independent computer, my only one at home and not networked. I
honestly dont know if he was on it or not. The last user I know for sure was
my wife and she uses it on line as she is doing college courses on line.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If it is your one and only PC, you must be using someone
else's PC to post your questions. Would this PC be available
for you to temporarily connect your own disk as a secondary
master disk? Alternatively, do you know someone who has
a Bart PE boot CD?

 

[Guest]

If it is something he did trying to bypass the controls even if he admits to
it it is likely he has no idea what he did since he doesnt know what he is
doing. Judging by your reple I assume that this isnt something that one of
the system tools such as check dick or something can repair if i were able to
get in through an administrator login. What is involved in repairing it?

 

[Guest]

I am using my PC at work and I wouldnt know how to connect to my home
computer from here. I dont know anyone that would have that CD unless someone
here would have that(our IT dept possibly).

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

As I said before, since you are unable to log on, it is not a
trivial matter to repair this problem. It usually involves these steps:
1. Find out if the file userinit.exe is where it should be.
2. Check if it is the correct file or some malware has damaged/
replaced it.
3. Check if corresponding registry entry points at this file
or at some other file.
4. Check if the registry entry that determines your boot
drive letter is correct (i.e. C or if it is now a different
letter (e.g. F.

To solve this type of problem you need good trouble-shooting
skills plus some tools that are not built into Windows. You may
have to ask a computer shop to assist you.

There is a small possibility to solve the problem like so:
- Set the BIOS so that the CD drive is the primary boot device.
- Boot the machine with your WinXP CD.
- Select Repair when prompted.
- Select Recovery Console when prompted.
- Enter the Administrator's password when prompted.
- Type this command:
fixmbr {Enter}

You can, of course, reload Windows from scratch, allowing
your disk to be formatted in the process. You must then
re-install all your applications and restore your various data
files (including your EMail files) from your backup.

Good luck!