Windows Forum / Windows XP / Accessibility / August 2004
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heather - 30 Aug 2004 16:22 GMT my husband downloaded sp2 on thursday or friday, and yesterday when we turned on our computer, there are no user names to click on to open up windows xp. we've tried ctrl+alt+del, but since we never set up passwords in the past, this doesn't work for us. can anyone help?
Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\) - 30 Aug 2004 21:49 GMT Try treating this as corrupted user profiles as outlined in the following Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q318011
 Signature Michael Solomon MS-MVP Windows Shell/User Backup is a PC User's Best Friend DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> my husband downloaded sp2 on thursday or friday, and > yesterday when we turned on our computer, there are no > user names to click on to open up windows xp. we've tried > ctrl+alt+del, but since we never set up passwords in the > past, this doesn't work for us. can anyone help? heather - 31 Aug 2004 14:09 GMT how am i supposed to do that, when i can't even log on to windows at all? we use windows xp home edition, and when you get to the welcome screen, where it says "click on user name to begin", there is no user name or icon there at all! even logging in as administrator doesn't work, it still asks for password, and leaving it blank doesn't work. we've never set up passwords, so we are kind of stuck.
heather
>-----Original Message----- >Try treating this as corrupted user profiles as outlined in the following [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >. Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\) - 31 Aug 2004 18:38 GMT You do it by going into Safe Mode and logging on as the hidden machine administrator. Boot the system, start tapping F8, when the menu appears, select Safe Mode and press enter. At Safe Mode you log in under the user named "Administrator" as opposed to any user you created. Leaving the password blank at Safe Mode should work assuming you never created one for this account as you've stated.
If it doesn't work, the only thing I can suggest is to try a Repair Install as follows: NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up, you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.
Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.
When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message instructing you to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When you see this be sure to hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails to boot from the CD, it's too late, you'll need to reboot and try again.
Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.
Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is "Setup Windows," NOT "Repair Windows Installation.
The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there on, follow the screens.
Note, in some cases, you won't receive the repair option, only an option to reinstall. We have discovered that sometimes this is caused by damaged boot.ini file that can be repaired as follows and also note, in the instructions, "K" refers to the CD drive in which you have placed the XP CD, replace that drive letter with the appropriate letter on your system, "K" is simply an example.
Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option (this is the section I told you to skip above. In this case, you will need to get to the Recovery Console to perform the function below), and if the CD letter is say K: give these commands
COPY K:\i386\ntldr C: COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C: (two other files needed - just in case) ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini DEL C:\boot.ini BootCfg /Rebuild
Once you've completed this function, reboot and see if you can access XP as sometimes, the problem is the damaged boot.ini. If you still cannot access XP, then reboot and re-run the repair install instructions at the beginning of this message.
If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can either purchase a retail version of XP which will allow you to perform the above among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.
 Signature Michael Solomon MS-MVP Windows Shell/User Backup is a PC User's Best Friend DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> how am i supposed to do that, when i can't even log on to > windows at all? we use windows xp home edition, and when [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >> >>. HEATHER - 31 Aug 2004 20:52 GMT unfortunately this doesn't work, not even the repair install. it looks like we will just have to do a quick restore. :(
>-----Original Message----- >You do it by going into Safe Mode and logging on as the hidden machine [quoted text clipped - 105 lines] > >. Sharon F - 31 Aug 2004 18:51 GMT > how am i supposed to do that, when i can't even log on to > windows at all? we use windows xp home edition, and when [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > work. we've never set up passwords, so we are kind of > stuck. Boot to Safe Mode. The hidden administrator account should be visible if using the welcome screen. If using classic logon, type in Administrator and leave the password field blank.
 Signature Sharon F MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User
Alastair - 31 Aug 2004 01:05 GMT depends upon if you are running XP Home or XP Pro.
Try this .. "You can't enable (or disable) the Welcome screen. If you have problems enabling or disabling the Welcome screen with User Accounts, you can edit the registry or set a policy that implements the logon style you want to use.
To enable or disable the Welcome screen with a registry setting, use Registry Editor to change the LogonType value in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\WinLogon key. Set it to 0 to use the classic logon or 1 to use the Welcome screen.
To enable or disable the Welcome screen with a policy, follow these steps:
At a command prompt, type gpedit.msc to open the Group Policy console. Open the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon folder. Double-click the Always Use Classic Logon policy. Select Enabled to use the classic logon, Disabled to use the Welcome screen, or Not Configured to cede control to the registry setting. A policy setting overrides the setting you make in User Accounts or in the registry. For more information about group policy, see Chapter 34, "Managing User Profiles and Policies."
Your decision to use the Welcome screen has other, perhaps unexpected, effects as well. For example, if you use the Welcome screen, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete after you're logged on displays Windows Task Manager, an invaluable little program that lets you end hung applications and shows running tasks and processes, how much memory and processor time each is using, and a concise summary of several performance metrics, among other information. If you have disabled the Welcome screen, however, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete displays the Windows Security dialog box"
> my husband downloaded sp2 on thursday or friday, and > yesterday when we turned on our computer, there are no > user names to click on to open up windows xp. we've tried > ctrl+alt+del, but since we never set up passwords in the > past, this doesn't work for us. can anyone help?
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