Absolutely CANNOT get rid of logon prompt

I'm working on my sister's pc--Win ME. Can't get rid of the logon prompt when booting up. She's the sole user with no User

Profiles. I've been online all day in almost every help forum (including this one) trying to find a REAL solution to this

problem and hope that someone (hopefully a pc guru) may be of help.

Here's what I've done so far:

Searched for *.pwl files and renamed with .old extension--didn't work

Deleted above renamed files--didn't work

Deleted all *.Pwl files--didn't work

Opened system.ini with Notepad and removed all lines in the Passwords section, then saved--didn't work

Msconfig>System.ini tab>unchecked Passwords box--didn't work

Followed instructions per Microsoft's KB #152104--didn't work

Installed TweakUI>Paranoia tab>checked "Clear Last User at logon"--didn't work

also, in TweakUI>Logon tab>checked "Logon automatically at system startup" (with "Clear Last User" setting disabled as
per instructions--didn't work

Control Panel>Network>Primary Network Logon>Window Logon--didn't work

Control Panel>Passwords>checked "All users of this computer use the same....."--didn't work

At Login Prompt, typed a Username, but didn't go near Password box, clicked OK, then rebooted--didn't work

Right clicked for Properties of "My Network Places" icon on Desktop--same thing as Control Panel>Network ("Network Neighbor-
hood" didn't appear on Desktop after format--just "My Network Places"

I realize that I/she can just hit Enter or Cancel to get past it, but it's a pain in the a** when it could (and did) boot

directly into Windows w/o all this happy horse manure. I'm at a loss as to what to do now and hope that someone can steer me

in the RIGHT direction to fix this. Ain't sceered to mess around in Regedit as long as instructions are detailed. I know

just enough to be dangerous in there even with backing it up first. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.

HP xe783
Windows ME v.4.90.3000
20GB HDD
512MB RAM
Internet connection via cable

 

Just to make sure, go back to the KB152104 article and redo step #6. Make sure you also uncheck the Microsoft Networking check box if present.

Steve

 

Thanks for the reply Matacumbie. I did indeed go back to KB152104 as u suggested. However, there is no "Change Passwords" tab there because I never entered a password after formatting. I've seen this prob on other Win ME systems and was always successful in eliminating the logon prompt on those machines, but this one is trying to b an a**hole (excuse the language) about it.

I was hoping there might b a registry hack to fix this, but, so far, other help forums' hacks haven't panned out either. She just may have to live with it and cancel out at logon prompt, but it irks me to no end that I KNOW it can be done and this machine won't let me do it. lol

 

Well, I had a article that explained a different way but I am at work and don't have. Don't even know if I can find it later.

The best I can remember, this may sound familiar to you, is create a new password > click on change password > and do not enter a new password. Then restart.

I think that was the procedure, not positive. It's up to you, might not work.

Steve

 

Thanks to all of u who offered advice on fixing this prob for me. I was able to get a solution that worked on the CyberTech help forum:

Try this Reg Hack but only if your comfortable doing it.

1. Click Start - Run, type in REGEDIT, then click OK. This will open the registry editor.

2. Click the + in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - Software - Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - Network.

3. In the Network sub-menu, click directly on Real Mode Net to expose its entries in the right pane.

4. If you see AutoLogon listed, right-click it, then click Modify.

5. Change the value from whatever it is to 00 00 00 00 (all zeros), then click OK.

6. If AutoLogon is not present, right-click an empty space in the right pane, then click New - Binary Value.

7. Type in AutoLogon (exactly as you see it here), then press the Enter key to lock in the name.

8. Do steps #4 and #5.

9. Close the registry editor, then reboot.

BTW, how do I mark this post "SOLVED"?