[Doc T]

Hi,

I am having a problem with my limited access accounts in Windows XP home edition.

They hang up at the loading personal preferences stage and the computer freezes. I need to manually
turn off the computer to restart. This is true for established accounts and for any new limited access
accounts I create.

All admin type accounts work and switching a limited access account to an admin account allows it to load.

I have installed sp3 for the system and have all the updates.

This is a Dell dimension machine 5150 with a Pentium 4 chip. I have Avira antivirus software and Spyware
blaster.

Scans with Malwarebytes come back clean.

The problem came up during the installation of sp3. Everything worked fine until I tried to install it,
then the limited access accounts no longer worked. Had a great deal of trouble getting sp3 installed.
Eventually had to go through several iterations of using the XP repair function to get it to work.
Updates now load but I am left with this user account problem.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Doc T

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try to run sfc /scannow...
if you don't have a xp cd you will have to borrow one from a friend or coworker...
it has to be the same flavor of xp you have installed...IE: if you have xp pro...the one you borrow has to be xp pro


To do this click on start...run...then type in...sfc /scannow
note the single space before the /

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem.

for vista...
go to the run box and type in cmd
instead of hitting the Enter key press Ctrl+Shift + Enter You will be prompted with the obnoxious User Account Control dialog… but it will then open up a command prompt in Administrator mode...then type in sfc /scannow

NOTE THE SINGLE SPACE BEFORE THE /

or

If you don't have Windows CD...

click on Start... then Run
type in regedit and press enter

Navigate to the following key...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

you want ... SourcePath

It has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

[happyrock]

try to run sfc /scannow...
if you don't have a xp cd you will have to borrow one from a friend or coworker...
it has to be the same flavor of xp you have installed...IE: if you have xp pro...the one you borrow has to be xp pro


To do this click on start...run...then type in...sfc /scannow
note the single space before the /

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem.

for vista...
go to the run box and type in cmd
instead of hitting the Enter key press Ctrl+Shift + Enter You will be prompted with the obnoxious User Account Control dialog… but it will then open up a command prompt in Administrator mode...then type in sfc /scannow

NOTE THE SINGLE SPACE BEFORE THE /

or

If you don't have Windows CD...

click on Start... then Run
type in regedit and press enter

Navigate to the following key...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

you want ... SourcePath

It has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

[Doc T]

Hi,

Thanks for replying!

Used sfc /scannow with the Windows XP Home edition (SP2) disk. (took awhile to remember
to turn off firewall and antivirus to let the program work).

Ran for about 5-10 minutes. Said it was scanning files.

Unfortunately, limited access accounts still don't work. I see it say it is
loading personal preferences. Then it is loading preferences for individual
programs and then the screen goes blue and nothing else happens.

I can still switch to other users by using ctl/alt/del, but going back
to the limited access account still won't load it.

I've created new limited access accounts and they won't open either.

Any other avenues would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

try running chkdsk /r...
reboot after your done running chkdsk /r...
then Go to Start...Run and type: eventvwr.msc press enter
When Event Viewer opens, click on Applications... then scroll down to Winlogon and double-click on it. This is the log created after running Checkdisk...copy and paste the log back here

[Doc T]

Ok,

A stupid question on my part.

I ran the command as chkdsk /r and got the following in the command window

"This type of file system is NTFS.


Cannot lock current drive. Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by
another process. Would you like to to schedule this volume to b echecked the next time the
system starts?(y/n)"

I checked no.

I had antivirus turned off and the firewall turned off. There were no
other windows opened at time I ran chkdsk.

Here's the rather ignorant question.

I then noticed that you had put in the command chkdsk /r...

Was I supposed to use the periods?

I tried it that way also and the command window flashed and then
disappeared.

I then restarted and looked in the event viewer.

No winlogin file was there.

Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

when you get to this...
Cannot lock current drive. Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by
another process. Would you like to to schedule this volume to b checked the next time the
system starts?(y/n)"
type Y then reboot...chkdsk /r will start up when it reboots

do not put any ... at the end of the chkdsk /r command

[Doc T]

Ok, that worked.

Here is the log:


Event Type: Information
Event Source: Winlogon
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 9/6/2010
Time: 12:11:59 PM
User: N/A
Computer: D7LWB3C1
Description:
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Attribute record of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x4 is cross linked
starting at 0x31d66 for possibly 0x2 clusters.
Attribute record of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x4 is cross linked
starting at 0x31d66 for possibly 0x2 clusters.
Some clusters occupied by attribute of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x4
in file 0x37a6a is already in use.
Deleting corrupt attribute record (128, "")
from file record segment 227946.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 6046 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 6046 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 6046 unused security descriptors.
Inserting data attribute into file 227946.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

74501437 KB total disk space.
30223872 KB in 121080 files.
41788 KB in 9757 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
355617 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
43880160 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
18625359 total allocation units on disk.
10970040 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
90 2c 04 00 21 ff 01 00 2a c2 02 00 00 00 00 00 .,..!...*.......
22 03 00 00 06 00 00 00 ed 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00 "...............
1e 47 52 0c 00 00 00 00 40 39 e4 79 00 00 00 00 [email protected]....
88 0f 63 3c 00 00 00 00 e6 6e 0c 35 05 00 00 00 ..c<.....n.5....
f6 8a 8f 2e 02 00 00 00 e8 ea fc 27 08 00 00 00 ...........'....
10 66 55 b6 00 00 00 00 00 39 07 00 f8 d8 01 00 .fU......9......
00 00 00 00 00 00 b8 34 07 00 00 00 1d 26 00 00 .......4.....&..

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.


For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft....ink/events.asp.


Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

do it one more time and see if it corrects anymore errors...cut and paste the new log after completing...

[Doc T]

Hi,

Chkdsk ran fine again.

Still getting the same behavior with the limited access accounts.

Here's the log.


Event Type: Information
Event Source: Winlogon
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 9/6/2010
Time: 2:32:47 PM
User: N/A
Computer: D7LWB3C1
Description:
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 3 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

74501437 KB total disk space.
30227872 KB in 121185 files.
41788 KB in 9757 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
355105 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
43876672 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
18625359 total allocation units on disk.
10969168 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
90 2c 04 00 89 ff 01 00 93 c2 02 00 00 00 00 00 .,..............
22 03 00 00 06 00 00 00 52 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 ".......R.......
6a 82 4d 0c 00 00 00 00 30 db 84 79 00 00 00 00 j.M.....0..y....
94 21 d8 21 00 00 00 00 2a ed b0 2d 05 00 00 00 .!.!....*..-....
3c 4e b3 2e 02 00 00 00 ac f4 ce 05 08 00 00 00 <N..............
20 8d 55 b6 00 00 00 00 00 39 07 00 61 d9 01 00 .U......9..a...
00 00 00 00 00 80 f6 34 07 00 00 00 1d 26 00 00 .......4.....&..

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.


For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft....ink/events.asp.

Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

since sfc /scannow and chkdsk /r didn't help ...your left with trying a repair on windows and if that doesn't fix the limited user accounts then your stuck with uninstalling SP3...then check the limited user accounts and if they work then try reinstalling SP 3 again...
you must have SP 3 now because windows does not support XP SP2 anymore and you will not be able to get anymore critical patches/updates if you don't have SP 3 installed

for the how to repair your operating system guides...
go here...
before doing anything...BACKUP your data

[Doc T]

Hi Happyrock,

The last time I did a repair it took me 3 tries to get SP3 installed.
Not looking forward to that again.

The XP cd I have has SP2 on it and when I've repaired with that cd
the limited accounts work. It is only when I install SP3 that the limited
accounts stop working. I have another Dell machine a dimension 2400
that has SP3 on it and there isn't this problem.

Ah well, the system seems stable now and I will probably leave it.

I thought running with limited accounts instead of admin accounts
would avoid some potential virus problems.

I've searched on this problem and I've seen other people with it
but no solution posted.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

I feel your pain and reluctance to keep trying after several failed attempts at SP 3

but if you can't get SP 3 to install you will not be able to updates...
there are couple of workarounds though...make the limited user accounts admin accounts and the run DropMyRights 1.04 on those accounts...it will take a little work to get it configured...its here...
there is also another possible fix for you to get updates using SP 2 but we bounced the idea around in the staff room and the consensus was we probably shouldn't give out the workaround...you really need to get SP 3 installed

[diabillic]

You can also slipstream SP3 into your current Windows disk using nLite and repair using a new disc.

[Doc T]

Hi Happyrock,

Guess my last post wasn't too clear. 600,000 words in the English
language and I still can't communicate.

SP3 is up and running on the machine. I recall there were some
parts that failed to install during the repair. These mostly
had to do with NetFrame 3.5 as I recall. I choose the ignorance
is bliss approach and went ahead with using the computer without
those updates.

I can use the update application at the microsoft site so that part
works. It more about not giving everyone admin rights. I will try
the workaround you suggested to limit rights for other users.

Cheers,
Doc T

[happyrock]

no problem...let us know how it works out for you....