Login: unable to type password at welcome screen (several PCs)
Cecil Ward
flashing insertion point shows, no "blobs" appear.
However, this is not a hang. The keyboard works (can use up/down arrow
keys), and 2xCTRL-ALT-DEL allows log in fine using traditional login
username+password method. Mouse works. Machine seems otherwise fine. In fact,
following login, works as normal so the problem does seem to be confined to
the welcome screen functionality. Problem always goes away after a reboot.
Background: O/s : WinXP PRO SP2 throughout. This problem first appeared last
month, on several PCs, on different LANs at different sites, and has also
been seen on PCs belonging to other independant organisations.
Rule-outs: The machines are apparently healthy, no obviously relevant recent
changes have been made to them, no recent apps installed. They are well
secured (no regular users have administrative access nor are they power
users), and have been virus-scanned. They are not all the same mfr.
Speculation: Windows update hotfix automatically delivered?
Any suggestions,
--
Cecil Ward
Kenneth Porter
news:D0215F48-B316-473B...@microsoft.com:
> Symptom: a user can not type a password in at the winxp welcome
> screen, no flashing insertion point shows, no "blobs" appear.
See the thread "password prompt problem". You're not alone, but others here
haven't reported a resolution.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support/
browse_thread/thread/bde5168ae4f6170a/
Ramesh, MS-MVP
I faced the same problem, and here is the command that fixed it.
regsvr32 shgina.dll
Press Enter.
YMMV.
--
Regards,
Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
"Kenneth Porter" <shiva.b...@sewingwitch.com> wrote in message
news:Xns987D7F54572DAs...@207.46.248.16...
Kenneth Porter
@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl:
> I faced the same problem, and here is the command that fixed it.
>
> regsvr32 shgina.dll
>
> Press Enter.
>
> YMMV.
GINA is the login API, so I'd guess shgina.dll is the DLL that provides the
Welcome Screen. I'll have to see what regsvr32 is supposed to fix.
Presumably it re-registers the DLL in the registry, so I'll have to see if
the registry is missing it.
Cecil Ward
Thanks very much for that.
Still too early to tell, but I have applied this fix to eight machines. The
machines were rebooted afterwards, and since rebooting always cleared the
problem immediately for a while, I will need to give it a day or so to see if
the problem indeed appears fixed permanently.
More information. Tested four machines on Friday which were all experiencing
an intense form of the problem. In every case a user could log in using
double-ctrl-alt-del plus traditional login with username+password, then
logged out and experienced the can't-enter-password-at-welcome-login problem,
100% reproducibly, again and again until a reboot cleared the problem. In
every case on every machine there was no hang, blind typing was not effective
(typing the correct password and hitting enter was not effective).
In your opinion, is the fact that a reboot cures the isue consistent with a
problem curable with the proposed re-registering fix?
I will also review the list of hotfixes auto-applied during october.
Anyway, will report back.
--
Cecil Ward
Ramesh, MS-MVP
>> In your opinion, is the fact that a reboot cures the isue consistent with
>> a
problem curable with the proposed re-registering fix?
Nope. If this problem is intermittent, I don't think the registration
procedure will help. Then it must be caused by something else.
--
Regards,
Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
"Cecil Ward" <cecil@cecilward(.donotspam).com> wrote in message
news:461BB875-0F66-42EF...@microsoft.com...
redcomb
I have the same problem on healthy Windows XP Home. I have 5 users; two
of them (including the administrator) are password protected.
The password can be entered every second time. That’s mean I need
to login to unprotected account then log out to be able to type the
password. It becomes very annoying and even worst. I can confirm that
this problem appeared for the first time after October’s
installation of hot fixes. I’ve tried the “regsvr32
shgina.dll” after reading this thread, but it doesn’t help.
Is there a way to report this bug to MS or something like that?
Thanks
--
redcomb
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Cecil Ward
I have now seen this bug on more than 15 machines, on different networks,
and on machines belonging to different organisations. Every machine is
virus-clean and well-secured. Each problem instance began in late autumn 2006
and is still unfixed (AFAIAW) as of today.
Is there any way to escalate this general issue?
Every machine has the following characteristics:
i) problem not apparent immediately after boot.
ii) at some point, the bug strikes, and from then on, the bug affects every
successive login attempt until rebooted,
iii) one the bug has struck, repeated logging in and out does not fix the
problem, (using the workaround that 2xctrl-alt-del bypasses the welcome
screen and presents the traditional username/password prompt, so allowing
successful login)
iv) there seems to be no pattern in the onset of the problem
v) certain machines are completely immune
vi) all machines are otherwise fine, have been thoroughly security inspected
and scrutinised for infection. Every machine is well secured in the sense all
that no everyday users have administrative rights or administrative access.
Speculation: the issue was caused by Windows Update, possibly by a bad
chaining or unfortunate sequence of applied updates.
--
Cecil Ward
Dooger
asking for a password. I have two user accounts one with a password
and one without. It is annoying and sometimes logging off and on fixes
this or rebooting will.
The last time it happened my wife was on the user account without a
password and I tried logging into the account with the password and I
couldn't (password wouldn't enter as before). I logged back into the
my wife's account. I then used Process Explorer to see what processes
were running that may be causing the problem and I found nothing
definitive. I then stopped all the processes running under the
password account thinking I could log back in that way.
Here's the scary part, when I switched user I didn't get the login
screen I got a blank desktop with the password accounts wallpaper (no
icons or task bar). I then hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and went file/run/explorer
and guess what, I was into the account???!!!???
Dingo
I was having the same symptoms and found the solution that worked for
me, hope this helps...
I saw where someone said to make sure that under User accounts in the
control panel under "change how users logon or off" that "Use the
welcome screen" was checked, what I found was that mine was unchecked
(but still using the welcome screen???) and when I tried to check it
McAfee kept blocking the change as it was a suspicious script.
I had to disable McAfee, check the box and re-boot, problem is now gone
on my offending machines.
Good luck!
--
Dingo
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marcolopes
I'm having the same problem for months, now.
Tried everything i could think off.
This is an intermient issue, and it think it only happened to me WHEN
i'm SWITHING accounts...
--
marcolopes
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SRKeller01
I think I found a potential solution. I was having a very similar
problem. I was unable to see the cursor in the password box during xp
logon (5-user xp Home system, I'm the administrator). Also the
password box appeared rectangular rather than the usual elongated oval.
However, I could type my password in blindly and the computer would
eventually log me on after 10-15 minutes. The problem seemed somewhat
intermittent and seemed to get worse. I ran an AOL computer check, and
it suggested my computer's performance could be improved by reducing the
size of the cache for the Internet Explorer Temporary Internet Files. I
reduced the cache size from 1024 MB (the maximum) to 128 MB, and the
login problem went away completely. My system has been fine for two
weeks now. I don't understand why this worked (could it be related to
a program automatically checking something using the web during the
logon process and the cache being too large and too full?). I would
really appreciate it if anyone has an explanation why this worked. To
change your cache size, in internet explorer (I'm using version 7.0),
go to Tools-Internet Options-Browsing History-Settings. Good luck!
--
SRKeller01
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marcolopes
IE settings have a WIDE range of consequences! That a reason why i hate
IE so much: It messes up with many things that aren't IE related.
Concerning the last post, i can tell you that i have a 50MB cache in
IE7 and the login problem still persists. So, at least in my case,
that's not the issue.
--
marcolopes
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Dooger
this update and that will fix the problem.
cub682
I've had the same login issue for months and was wondering if anyone
knows the fix.
I cannot find Microsoft security update KB923191 in add/remove programs
or c/windows to uninstall it, however Windows Update and Belarc Advisor
both show it successfully installed.
I have read on a couple other sites that this update is the problem.
Could someone please explain to me how to remove this update?
--
cub682
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Dooger
update. So far everything is ok. You should be able to remove it, I
would check out Microsoft for the answer.
mrnoisy
Removing this update solved the problem for me
Here's how to do it...
Start - Control panel - add or remove programs (tick the "Show updates"
box at the top). You should be able to see Kb923191 in the list.
Uninstall it and don't forget not to re-install it the next time you do
a windows update!
--
mrnoisy
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IanKR
>
> Here's how to do it...
>
> Start - Control panel - add or remove programs (tick the "Show
> updates" box at the top). You should be able to see Kb923191 in the
> list. Uninstall it and don't forget not to re-install it the next
> time you do a windows update!
I started to remove it, but it came up with a warning that a long list of
other programs (including a load of Windows Security Updates and suchlike)
relied on it to work... isn't it a bit dangerous to uninstall a single
Windows Update like this, if there's a dependency chain of other updates and
programs?
wreckoning
I too was unable to login to Windows XP (media center edition) despite
having the correct password. This problem persisted even when I created
a user account that did not require a password. It occured "randomly"
when switching user accounts or when logging in after the screen saver
exits to windows screen. Rebooting did correct this problem.
I followed mrnoisy's instructions to remove Kb923191. This seems to
have fixed the problem. Thanks very much everyone, this bug was
seriously annoying!
--
wreckoning
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Brian2
Isn't it dangerous to remove a windows update like this? I can
understand doing it to fix the logon problem, but doesn't that pose a
security risk by not having this patch? I would rather have the
inconvenience of having to resort to the classic login prompt where you
have to enter a username and password than to remove something that
could keep my computer safer.
I have two accounts on the computer, one an administrator account and
the other a limited account. I have the administrator account password
protected and I too have run into this issue of being unable to type a
password on the welcome screen. I don't have to reboot to fix it
though. Sometimes if I log into the limited account where I don't have
to enter a password and then log out again and try clicking on the admin
name again it then shows the cursor and I can type a password.
--
Brian2
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jwf
As yet I haven't tried to remove the update mentioned in previous posts,
but I have come upon a quick way around the problem. Hold down "ctrl"
and "alt", and press "delete" twice. This gets you into another login
screen where I have alway been able to enter my password without fail.
--
jwf
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mrnoisy
.. I have come upon a quick way around the problem. Hold down "ctrl" and "alt", and press "delete" twice. This gets you into another login screen where I have alway been able to enter my password without fail.[/QUOTE Wrote:
>
>
> Yes, as Cecil Ward said in the original post!
--
mrnoisy
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jwf
My bad. I obviously missed that.
--
jwf
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CompUSmart
Microsoft is aware of the problem and suggests that the installation of
any of several updates can cause the problem. However, they do not
provide a "fix" ... only a "Workaround". See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917556/en-us.
--
CompUSmart
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Mike
mike
I just got off the phone with MS and they recommended to me to remove this
update KB923191 for now and the issue should be fixed in SP3 that is planned
to be released in about 25 days.
Ramesh, MS-MVP
--
Regards,
Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
Winhelponline.com blog http://www.winhelponline.com/blog
"mike" <mi...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:93CD7D62-2B3F-47D8...@microsoft.com...
Guillaume
Check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify for keys that lead to
removed/non-existing or disabled services. In my case AtiExtEvent key
caused all the trouble, not any of the file versions in the hotfixes.
--
Guillaume
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trellis
mike;3629016 Wrote:
> Folks,
> I just got off the phone with MS and they recommended to me to remove
> this
> update KB923191 for now and the issue should be fixed in SP3 that is
> planned
> to be released in about 25 days.
>
this issue on XP Home after successful SP3 installation.
--
trellis
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alanjhd
Hi,
I see the same problem with SP3 as well, and the annoying thing is
there's no way to remove the KB that causes it, since it's now part of
the service pack.
Logging on to an operating system should be possible, no?
Cheers,
Alan
--
alanjhd
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jimb...@operamail.com
<alanjhd...@DoNotSpam.com> wrote:
>
>Hi,
>
>I see the same problem with SP3 as well, and the annoying thing is
>there's no way to remove the KB that causes it, since it's now part of
>the service pack.
>
>Logging on to an operating system should be possible, no?
>
>Cheers,
>Alan
SP3 IS a service pack ; add/remove , uninstall .
alanjhd
Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes, I understand that SP3 means Service Pack 3. My point was that I
can't now remove the individual KB that (allegedly) causes this problem,
I'd have to remove the complete service pack, as you suggest.
If I do remove SP3, I'd then have to install all the KBs individually,
which would be time-consuming.
I've reported this issue to MS, I'll post here if they get back to me
with any solution.
awitz
Type (or cut and paste) the following in the “Run” box
C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB923191$\spuninst
Once the folder window opens, double click the spuinist icon ( one with
PC and box ) and the update will uninstall.
From here on out users should be able to type login passwords into the
welcome screen without any trouble.
Good Luck!
--
awitz
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SteveG23
trellis;3943979 Wrote:
> Unfortunately, this problem is *not* fixed in SP3. I'm still seeing this
> issue on XP Home after successful SP3 installation.
I strongly suspect "fixed -in- SP3" does not mean "fixed -by- SP3," but
rather that the version of this update that's bundled into in SP3 does
not itself cause the same problem, so that if you have not installed it
before but now install SP3 you should be OK.
I've uninstalled the original KB923191 as advised by Mike and others,
well after installing SP3, and the fix seems to work as to the login
password box; now let's see if doing so broke any of the things the
original KB923191 was related to and I have to reinstall SP3.
--
SteveG23
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Morrisman12
I had trouble with a windows XP password prompt that would make the
system beep and display a prompt asking for administrator password and
would accept "Admin" or any other password.....this was so annoying an
repetative. It would take Admin in Safemode but would prompt on each
restart.
Failed solution: Typing, "Control Userpassword2" under, Start, Run,
Enter, and remove check "Users must enter user's name and
password".......this failed to work for me.
There are two password prompts each time windows starts up the annoying
on with a beep comes first, then the genuine one with your name, eg
"Morris" also asking for the password, but this genuine one you
sometimes don't get any access too.
The annoying prompt: with words like "The system could not log you on.
Make sure User Name and Domain are correct, type you password again.
Letters in the password must bee typed using the correct case."
PROBLEM i learnt was that windows expects a password and its not
getting one loaded right, thats the very problem.
SOLUTION TO ELIMINATING THE ANNOYING WINDOWS XP PASSWORD PROMPT THAT
WON'T TAKE GENUINE PASSWORDS....This is what worked for me.
Click Start
click Run
Type "Control Userpassword2", and press Enter
Make sure "Users must enter user's name and password".......prompt is
checked, this is very important!....not Unchecked as some website
suggest.
On the same screeen below it says "Administrator Password" with a
button " Reset Password"...Click this button enter password, "Admin" and
"Admin" again to confirm.
Click OK to save and get out of that screen, now restart the Windows XP
system. The annoying prompt doesn't come up, but only the genuine
Windows Login password prompt comes up, I enter my password and I get
thru with ease each and every time.
Thats how you get it solved, its given me about 3 weeks headache before
I solved it.
--
Morrisman12
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