The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contact

[Dave]

I am looking at one my users home PC's. She is currently unable to log in as
it is asking for a password - she has 3 accounts + administrator, none of
which have a password. On attempting to log-in the message "The specified
domain either does not exist or could not be contacted" appears. I have tried
the Ctrl+Alt+Del to see if ther is any way of changing domain/local machine
but no option is available. It should not be looking for a domain as it is a
stand alone home PC running XP Home. I can't find anyway into this to even
see what's going on. I notice that some other have had this same problem. Any
ideas?

Thanks

Dave

[William Anderson]

Hi there Dave,

Try this:

Do the CTRL+ALT+DELETE again, then at the bottom of the logon window, click
on the options button.
In the drop-down box, select the computer name and log in as administrator.
The you should be able to change the PC to a Workgroup instead of a Domain.

Let me know if this helps!

Best Regards,

~Will

[Dave]

Thanks William,

I tried that but no drop down menu appears only username and password. It is
XP Home so should not support domain anyway.

Thanks

Dave

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

I'm willing to bet the user's PC became infected
with a nasty virus and made significant changes
to the O/S. A "clean install" of Windows XP
is perhaps the best solution.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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[Dave]

I have since diagnosed a faulty memory module which has been causing frequent
blue-screens apparently. I suspect this may have screwed something up in the
registry and would like to re-install the O/S however the disks which come
with the PC do not allow this (non-bootlable) and the restore utility built
into the PC will completely wipe everything. Why do manufacturers do this.
Would be so much better to allow a simple re-install of the O/S only. Grrr!
>:o(

Thanks anyway

Dave