Windows XP Login Problem

[phat_bhat 0]

I am trying to fix a friends PC running Windows XP Pro. When I click on his name at the Windows XP login screen, it looks like I am going to be logged in, then it says saving data and logs me out, taking me back to the original login screen. I suspect his PC was/is infected with the Sasser virus and had a lot of spyware on it. I tried booting into safe mode and had the same login problem. I tried the repair through Windows XP, and the same thing happened. I am stuck and need some help, anyone seen anything like this before?

[Scarab6 0]

I am having that exact same problem, please help!!

[jonno001 0]

Did your friend use adaware before this issue occured?

 

I just had the same problem follow these instructions and it will sort the issue out for you.

 

1 Get into the recovery console. XP cd

 

2 Get the file userinit.exe from another computer. (location windows/system32 folder)

 

3.- Overwrite the userinit.exe original file (from the infected computer) with the new one (use a cd or disk to transport it)

 

(Command e:/userinit.exe c:/windows/system32/userinit.exe)

 

4.- Rename the userinit.exe to wsaupdater.exe

 

And that should fix your problem .

 

Jonno

 

[Misterperson_21 0]

I am having the same problem, but I don't know how to get into the recovery console.

 

Also, does the replacement userinit.exe file have to be from a computer that uses XP, or will WIN95 work?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[adamvjackson 0]

The recovery console is NOT installed by default.

 

To install it, from a cmd shell, navigate to your installation media, and type:

 

winnt32 /cmdcons

 

And yes, the version of userinit.exe DOES matter. If you can log in to the workstation with an account that has administrative privliges, you can type:

 

sfc /scannow

 

That shoud restore any missing/corrupted system files from the cache, assuming that hasn't been tampered with.

[barnesa_17201 0]

I am having this problem too, with a friends PC. All the suggestions above assume one can get to a command prompt I can't install the recovery console, and I can't copy over userinit). REmember, safe mode isn't even accessible! There is no command prompt on the F8 menu!

 

I did just install AdAware, and I've read that could be part of the cause. But again, none of the forums have a solution not involving being able to log in somehow.

 

Can someone post steps to getting to command prompt, or using the Recovery/Restore CD? which is it? does it wipe out all their stuff? They have an emachine, with only the one recover or restore CD (not an XP CD). Unit is only 3 months old from Wal-Mart.

 

TIA,

Ann

[dragon11682 0]

What you have to do is keep restarting over and over until u can get back in. If you dont get in after the first try, dont bother retyping ur password to get in again. Just restart and try logging in again. This has worked for me, although I have yet to try the recovery console idea. Thanks for the input guys. L8r

[johnboy 0]

1000 times thank you to jonno001!

i had the same problem, and followed your instructions!

worked perfect!

 

[johnboy 0]

1000 times thank you to jonno001!

i had the same problem, and followed your instructions!

worked perfect!

 

[Andicioz 0]

For the users that still dont know,

You can acces the recovery console by:

 

Inserting your Windows XP cd.

Restarting your computer and boot from the cd.

And after the 'Windows Setup' loaded, there will be 3 avaible commands: start windows installation, use recovery console(press button r), or exit the cd and restart your pc.

Just press the r button. And you are in the recovery console,

There you can follow the commands of the people above.

 

Andicioz

[Y2k_UG 0]

This must be a fairly common problem. I have a friend's PC here now as well. She wants me to fix it up. Her problem is she doesn't have the XP disc anymore. I'm borrowing another XP disc to fix it for her but I don't have access to another PC that has that file listed above on it (I run Windows 98 here).

 

Is there somewhere else I can get that file? Is it on the XP disc somewhere as well? Is there another method of fixing this up short of a reformat?

 

I also want to note that with her PC, I am able to get in through Safe Mode with no problems. Is there something in there I can do to fix this issue?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[corp 0]

Hi all

I have come across the same problem.

On an XP pro machine. That has also just had Adaware installed on it.

Think i'll try the recovery CD option and will let everyone know how i get on.

Cheers to all that have posted.

Corp

[corp 0]

Hello again.

The easiest and best way to solve this is to

Boot from WinXp CD and install xp again over the top of the original install. Using the Repair option.

This fixed it!.

 

I also used a disk that installed service pack 2(final release) at the same time.

Don't know if this is related.

 

 

Hope this helps someone

Cheers

[gristy 0]

hi there

 

i cant get into my laptop due to this windows login loop problem either

 

this is because i deleted a program called windows sa thinking it was a virus

 

well after a day of searching the web for help, i have managed to get to the recovery console. i did this by using the dos command prompt and running winnt.exe in the windows/i386/ directory. i was told i didnt have a 'smartdrive' but continued anyway, and although the winnt program never actually said it had finished copying the files over, the next time i started my PC i was able to access the recovery console.

 

the problem now is that i cant login to the consolde in order to copy the userinit.exe and wsaupdater.exe files.

 

it asks which installation i would like to login to, and i select the only one: '1: C:\WINDOWS', by typing 1 and hitting enter

 

now it asks for the password: bugger

 

i dont think i ever set one, and just pressing enter doesnt help

 

can anybody help?

 

bare in mind, i dont have a floppy drive, and my windows xp setup cd doesnt appear to work (hence me having to install the recovery console instead of just booting from cd)

 

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

p.s. you'll probably guess from my language im not the most computer literate person on earth.

[gristy 0]

hello there

 

just a quickie to say ive managed to blag my way into the recovery console without a admin password by getting to a command prompt and deleting the sam file in c:/windows/system32/config

 

now i can try and sort some stuff out

 

will report back...

[AngelDust 0]

This might sound stupid, but how do I boot from the windows XP cd?

[metafizx 0]

i tried the "install over the top" suggestion to fix this problem, but it didn't work.

 

i will try the other suggestion to copy over the userinit.exe file and rename it wsaupdater.exe

 

to boot from cd, make sure the bios (usually press F2 or DEL key at bootup to get into the bios, then go to boot options) is set to boot from cdrom. put in the windows xp cd and reboot the computer, should ask you to boot from cd. once the cd boots you can either choose install or repair option. install will either do a fresh install or install over the top of the current xp configuration. repair option will drop you into a dos like console, but you may need to know the administrator password. if you dont have it you will have to "blank" the password using offline password changer mentioned previously (but you must be very careful or you will screw it up worse).

 

thank you for the suggestions, i will try the above and report back. 8)

[metafizx 0]

ok, got it fixed with the userinit.exe copied from another xp home installation

 

however, there was no existing userinit.exe, seemed like something had deleted it.

 

i tried to rename it to wsaupdater.exe but this did not help, so i kept the copy version named userinit.exe and it worked!

 

so, thanks again for the help!

[ScinteX 0]

i dont believe it i answered this in a duplicate post! I was robbed!

[ENkimberly 0]

I seem to be having the same problem as everyone else, but I'm not too computer literate. If someone can answer the following questions I'd appreciate it.

#1 Where can I get the XP CD with the recovery console? The CD that came with my computer only gives two options: 1- restore windows XP and 2- boot to command prompt from CD-ROM

#2 How do I get to a place where I can type in the commands to copy the file?

[peterh 1]

The recovery console is available from booting from a retail or OEM version of Windows XP (Restore discs don`t count).

 

You can install the Recovery console by running from the XP CD:

d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

 

If you have a FAT32 volume, any normal DOS or Win98 boot disk will do.

If you have NTFS then you need to boot from a utility to give you r/w access to your C: drive.

 

To replace userinit.exe:

1. Boot using Recovery console (or other cmd prompt with access to C: drive)

2. CD Windows\System32

3. Expand d:\i386\userinit.ex_ userinit.exe (or Copy d:\i386\userinit.ex_ userinit.exe) where d: is CDROM drive and need to expand compressed file to full file.

4. type Exit to reboot

 

 

[hondaboy 0]

Hi everyone,

I think I have the sale problem and your solution of booting in recovery console and replace the userinit.exe file will answer my problem.

But I have another problem : when I boot with the recovery consol option, it promps for wich installation, so I put 1 (for c:\windows) and then it promps for the administrator password and the fact is that I don't have administrator password so I type nothing. But I says invalid password.

What must I do ?

please help me !!

thanks a lot

[adamvjackson 0]

Use this first to reset/change your password on the Administrator account

[Microsoft Bites 0]

I have tried every single piece of advice you people had to offer and nothing works ive tried replacing the file, ive tried enabling that netlogon listsvc and still nothing, ive tried rebooting a thousand times to see if it was just being stupid and still nothing I cannot login to windows xp just like everyone else it says loading personal settings then it flashes to what seems like the desktop then it says logging off saving your personal settings. if anyone has any other way that doesnt involve me having to erase everything and re install windows PLEASE let me know

 

btw: i just got my computer fixed the day before this started happenin and they installed windows and service pack 2 does this have anything to do with anything and is it just me who has been having bad luck with this bullshit service pack 2?? thank you

[thornfish 0]

I had a similar problem on Win2K Server. The solution was a variant of the userinit.exe posted above. I had just run Adaware and got the same behavior where I was in a login loop.

 

Note, I had access to the registry and file system on the broken machine through my network which made it easy to diagnose and fix.

 

The following Registry entry:

HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/Winlogon/Userinit

 

contained a string that was pointing to a bogus copy of Userinit located in "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Windows..."

 

I changed the registry setting to point at the real userinit.exe in c:\winnt\system32 and rebooted for success.

 

Note that the file copy solution noted above didn't work because Winlogon was looking elsewhere for the userinit.exe file.

 

I don't claim any credit for the fix, it is posted on the lavasoft web site. It's a known problem with Adaware, so lots of people are going to suffer from it.

 

Good luck to all -- thornfish