No user name to click on (WIN XP HOME SP2)

[trebor]

I am helping a friend with his DELL computer. When he turns the computer on - it gets to the screen where it says - "to begin, click your user name" but there is no user names listed or shown. How do we get the computer to fully start up?

[Leif]

Has it always been like this, or is it something that just started?

Try:
1] Boot up in safe mode (something like hitting F8 immediately after the startup BEEP and selecting safe mode)
or
2] At the Logon screen, press Cntrl-Alt-Del a few times and see if it brings up the alternative log-in screen.

[trebor]

It has not been always like this - the problem started a few days ago. I did restart the computer in Safe Mode and pressed Ctrl-ALT-Del (2) and it did bring up the alternative log-in screen with my friend's name but it requires a password which he never used. So this does not get me any further. I also went to "last known good configuration" and it stil comes up with the Welcome Screen saying to click on a user name but there are no user names listed. In doing a Google search, I found a reference to another person having the same problem who reinstalled Windows XP but did not solve his problem. I am worried that I will have to reformat and reinstall.

Any other suggestions?

[bigaldoc]

When you say it requires a password are you talking about the fact that it displays the name and password box or did you try without a password and get rejected? You might also try again with fingers crossed and try "administrator" with no password and see what happens.

[trebor]

It displays the name and password box and I tried without a password and got rejected. I tried your suggestion of typing in administrator with no password and was rejected again.

[Argus]

<P ID="edit" class=small>(Edited by Argus on 03-Nov-05 16:53. Minor typo.)</P>Hi,
Just some thoughts.
In Home, when installing, the first User Account created will have admin. rights as start to later add others (Users or limited). In normal use you cannot remove the last account with admin. rights. (but of course every else),

Then there is the Safe mode option; either log on to any account or the special Administrator account only available in Safe Mode in XP Home. I don't know if it is possible to log on to the Administrator account in Safe Mode and then from there remove every single other account; limited as well as Users (with admin. rights) thus leaving the XP Home computer with no account to log on to at normal boot?

On the other hand, there apparently is a way to prevent an account from showing on the Welcome screen. This hiding is done by registry change. Although the account will be visible in Documents and Settings folder.

I see that Leif posted some tips. Try with Administrator account in Safe Mode, no password as default.

Regards,
Argus

[officespacer]

a similar situation happened to me. i think my user profile settings got corrupted some how. my solution was to log on as an administrator, create a new account for myself with full permissions, delete the old account and that seemed to do the trick.... <img src=/S/shrug.gif border=0 alt=shrug width=39 height=15>

hope this helps... i know how frustrating these odd occurrences can be. i could probably write out a page long list of weird things that have happened to me and forced me to re-install.

[trebor]

I have not been able to log on as administrator or any other user.

[Leif]

This KB article may be of interest:
MSKB 321305: How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or your password expires.

[bleduc]

Just a shot in the dark here, but will you please check your keyboard - specifically either Shift Keys? In the past under a Win 2000 system I had a funky keyboard where the right shift key stuck in the down position - this caused a logon prompt on reboot that did not respond to anything entered.
<img src=/S/question.gif border=0 alt=question width=15 height=15>
Bob

[trebor]

Hi Leif, the kb article was interesting but no help. I am trying a Repair Installation but the REPAIR option is not available. I found a couple of sites that has suggested some changes to get the Repair option back. One has me going to the Recovery Console and typing in some commands. One of the commands I am to type is as follows

attrib -h -r -s C:boot.ini del C:boot.ini

But when I type it, I get the message that the parameter is not valid. Do I have some spacing incorrect? Thanks for any input you can give me.

[HansV]

It should be two separate commands as far as I know:

attrib -h -r -s C:boot.ini

and

del C:boot.ini

[Liberty Raynes]

Hi,
Just to add to what Hans said, remember to reset the file attributes when you're done by substituting plus for minus in your switches.

[trebor]

you were right. I entered those commands and some additional ones but I am still not booting up beyond the Welcome Screen where it says "to begin, click on your user name" but there is no user name showing. Also, I am not getting a Repair Installation option when I try to reinstall Windows XP. At this point, I am seriously considering reformatting and doing a clean install. Unless someone has some better ideas.

[Liberty Raynes]

Did you rebuild your boot.ini file by using bootcfg /rebuild from the Windows Recovery Console? Also, take a look at this page about Resetting Your Adminstrator Password . It describes how to do a Windows XP repair. It's possible that you may not have followed the steps completely and correctly.