unable to log into my user account

hi,

good day every one. first of all i got me a new desktop (computer that is). installed it with windows xp sp3 (for now).
after the first update i started to get the login screen, which i didnt want. so i went to "user accounts>change the way users log on and off" and unchecked the "welcome screen" option. and restarted.

now i started getting the classic login screen, which i didnt want again. so i searched the net and got instructions to get to "run>control user passwords2" and uncheck the "users must enter password to use this computer" and restarted.

so far so good, computer restarting and no login screen.

during the day as i was working on it, one of the kids pulled out the plug of the computer, shutting it down.

this is where the problem started. when i switched it on, i was logged into the "Administrator" account, with everything in its initial settings. it even reinstalled the display settings. all my google widgets were gone. didnt even have any documents.

but when i checked "my computer" there were 3 documents links- shared, administrator and mine.instead of 2, shared and mine.

all of my installed programs were there but again, in their initial settings.

before we proceed fwd allow me to tell you about one more factor. i have one hhd installed on this, with 2 partitions(C and D). to save space on "C" drive, i had changed the links on the "My documents, My Music and My Pictures" in the start panel to a location in the "D" drive.

is it possible that on rebooting and not finding any document links it reverted to the default account( i.e. the administrator account)

i still have "My account" in the "control panel>user accounts" which is also listed as administrator

how do i get the computer to log into "my account" while rebooting.

cheers and thanks

Try logging out, which should take you to a login screen, then log in as your other user, then reboot and see what happens. May work?? :)

Try logging out of "Administrator" and into "Your Account" with no password perhaps? Then you could repeat the previous steps....

hi westin and wass,

thanx
tried the above, was able to log out. change name in the login screen and logged into my account. works

but on restarting, it still goes into the admin account.

the only way i see it working is to have the login screen and log in everytime i start the computer (which was what i was trying to avoid in the first place)

am searching to see if there are any settings for having the default account or changing the account the computer logs into.

Hi there,

As far as I know you will have to take off the password while in the administrator account for all the other accounts.

As soon as you put a password on you will get a login screen.

hi Cider,

no passwords for any accounts, thats why i didnt want the login screen.

Did you turn off fast user Switching while logged in as your main account?

That's weird because when type control userpasswords2, click OK and
Clear the check box for Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer, and then click Apply....the Automatically Log On box should pop right up....does it? You could temporarily disable the other accounts to test....

Slartarama,
yup i did switch off the fast user switching. needed that to be off to disable the login screen. have been trying different combinations since.
Wass
after getting into control userpasswords2 and clearing the checkbox, no logon box appears. will disable the accounts one by one to see what happens. will let you know

cheers

If you're willing to try something else...try following these steps.

1) Set a password for both the Admin account and your user account.

2) Reboot

3) Log in to your user account

3) Remove the password from your personal user account.

4) Reboot

Windows tends to remember which account you last logged into upon boot. By forcing a login prompt it gives you the opportunity to put yourself into your account instead of it automatically booting into the Admin account.

5) The PC should now automatically boot into your account without forcing you to log in.

If it does prompt you to log in, then enable the welcome screen. Odd as it sounds, I know XP (home at least) will blow right past it if there is no password, achieving your goal.

Also note that you have left the Admin password in place. I recommend keeping it this way...you should rarely if ever have to access the Administrator account.

I'm anxious to see what happens! I hope that works...if not, then hey, we've only wasted a few minutes. Could be worse right? :p

you can download this nifty little tool from m$ called tweak ui. its a power toy that lets you customize xp to your liking, somewhat.

ok i tried the above,

Wass, i counld not disable the accounts ( there is no option) it says "add, delete, properties" searched the properties, but nothing.

keezel, this i what i did-
followed ur instructions 1-4, all fine. step 5 on rebooting showed me only "my account" and no "admin account"
then in "my computer" there are my documents and no "admin docs"
i removed password in "my account". again on restarting, showed me only admin account, with an error msg saying that "system couldnot log you on because user name and passwords incorrect"
i removed password from admin account. on rebooting went into the admin account only

so we get back where we started

thanx guys, am taking back up now and getting the XP bootup cd ready. just incase something really goes wrong.

Bagggi, to disable the account(s) go to: Control Panel, Administration Tools, Computer Management, Local Users and Groups, and Users.....perhaps there will be a clue in here as well to the problem......

Hi baggi,

Quote:

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during the day as i was working on it, one of the kids pulled out the plug of the computer, shutting it down.

---

I guess that means that it hasn't saved your previous settings and has gone to some sort of default? Basically, Windows saves your settings after each session, so it is particularly important to shut down properly with your first session after installation.

You might try:

Control Panel
Administrative Tools
Local Security Policy
Password Policy

And change the minimum password length to 0.

You may have to recreate your user accounts without passwords.