Re: Administrator Account Locked Out

Vanguard,

I tried booting in Safe Mode, but I keep getting a "keyboard error" in the
boot process when pressing F8 that subsequently disables the keyboard. I
haven't investigated this problem much because I have been very busy the last
couple of weeks. I will pursue this as I can.
I just wanted to update you.

"FireBob57" wrote:

That is some really good information, and it answers at least one mystery.
When the lockouts occur, my account is not "changing" to "Administrator",
mine is disappearing causing the hidden Administrator account to appear. When
my son had a limited account, my wife's account would disappear too, but his
would stay.

I will disable fast user switching, especially since there is an issue with
that as well. If two accounts are active at once, when the second account
logs off, the display resolution reverts to 640 X 480, and the screen looks
like a color reverse image. I have to reboot to resolve this.

I will try the safe mode recommendations you suggested and let you know.
Thanks for all the help and for hanging with me!

"VanguardLH" wrote:

FireBob57 wrote:

I created another account for myself and set it up as a limited user so I
wouldn't always be signed on as administrator. Yesterday I was doing
maintenance, logging on and off between those two accounts. I was not
connected to the web at the time. After a few iterations of this, suddenly
all accounts were locked out. I am guessing the lockout reset worked although
I didn't wait for it to reset. My wife was able to logon after she got home,
without rebooting as we have done in the past.

It appears something internal to this PC is causing this problem, and I am
suspicious of a Windows Update that was done around the time this problem
arose.

Login lockout occurs only if there were *failed* login attempts.

Have you tried rebooting into safe mode and logging in and out between
accounts to see if the lockout happens? Don't use the "Bob" account
during this testing. Create 2 admin-level accounts and 2 restricted
accounts. Then try the switching between the 2 admin-level account by
logging off and on between them. Do the same with the 2 restricted
accounts. Then try logging off and on between an admin-level and
restricted account. I suspect you won't see the problem until you throw
the "Bob" account back into the mix.

It sounds like you are using fast user switching. That means multiple
accounts could be logged on at the same time (and eating up resources
for each at the same time). I never use fast user switching. It is one
of the first "features" that I disable after installing Windows XP.
That reverts me back to 1 active login at a time and instead of the
Fisher-Price Welcome Screen, I get the standard Windows Login dialog. I
don't go picking an account from a cutsy graphics screen but instead
enter my account name and password in the good old login prompt.
Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on and off,
deselect "Use the Welcome Screen". That also disables fast user
switching. Now test using the Administrator, Bob, and other accounts
where you use the standard login dialog to switch between accounts.

If reverting to single logins and using the standard (classic) login
dialog gets rid of the problem then the problem is not with corrupted
account profiles but instead with that fluff Welcome Screen.

To show or hide an account on the Welcome Screen:

- Run regedit.exe to edit the registry.
- Go to the following key in the leftside tree list:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Microsoft
Windows NT
CurrentVersion
Winlogon
SpecialAccounts
UserList
- Right-click in the rightside pane (data items and their values) or use
the "Edit -> New -> DWORD value" menu to create a new DWORD item.
- Name the new item the same name as an account. For example, to add
the Administrator account, name the new data item as "Administrator" (no
quotes). The data item's name must match the name of an account.
- Set the value for the data item as follows:
0 = do not show in Welcome Screen
1 = show in Welcome screen
- Exit the registry edit.

When a new admin-level account is defined, the Administrator account
will get hidden on the Welcome Screen. Normally you would have to hit
Ctrl+Alt+Del twice in Windows XP Professional at the Welcome Screen or
reboot into Safe Mode for Windows XP Home Edition to see the
Administrator account login. Using this trick, you can re-add the
Administrator account to the Welcome Screen.

You're saying that sometimes Administrator shows up in place of Bob.
Well, if Administrator is no longer hidden by default (because Bob,
maybe, is an admin-level account) then both Administrator and Bob should
show up on the Welcome Screen.

.