WinXP Admin account

I am having a very strange problem. On the login window (where you click on which user to log in as) I click on the Administrator account, it begins to log in then automatically logs off and returns to the login window. I have no idea whats causing this. Should I do a repair install of windows, or is there another solution?

 

There is a virus that causes this "log on/log off" loop. It messes with the userinit.exe file and associated registry entries. Did you run AdAware or another spyware/virus/malware removal program before this started?

hd2k

 

no i don't believe i have but i'll run one now to see what happens, thanks

 

well, the thing is, that when you run the scan, the program (Adaware or whatever) has been known to remove the malware, and it's the removing of the malware that actually causes the problem, not the malware itself. Yeah- it's strange. I was working on a PC about a year ago that started up fine (a bit slow), I could enter the password and login, no problem. I ran the various scans, rebooted, and now after entering the password, Windows would say 'logging in' and 'loading your personal settings' and them immediately switch to 'logging off' and would go back to the login/password screen. This was AFTER removing the malware (it worked fine before removal). The offending item was called the "WSupdater" and was a big problem at the time. Anyway- that was some time ago. If you haven't run any scans (yet) and haven't removed any malware (yet) then you probably have a different problem and it may or may not be malware related. If you can get to your desktop, visit the Malware Removal forums and read the stickies (esp. the "READ & RUN ME FIRST" thread: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407). Good luck!

hd2k

 

believe it or not i just ran AdAware, remove all malware and I am now able to log onto the admin account, it must have been another type of malware causing this, thanks for the help and advice guys

 

Outstanding! I love it when things work out this way! You may want to visit the malware forums anyway, even tho' things appear OK (for now). You never know what else may be lurking deep in your OS, just gnawing away at your system stability and resources.....