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Desktop settings won't save 2

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braddds

braddds

Technical User
Apr 26, 2001
385
CA
My friend has been experiencing trouble with her pc at startup...she gets to the welcome screen (no user account visible) and has to do a 3-finger-salute to get it to the desktop (no logon or password required...this is just to proceed)...then "task manager" pops up which she closes. Also the floppy is being accessed...though I'm not sure if this is due to a virus scanner or not as I have no access to the pc itself.

I had her try to switch a couple icons on the desktop and when she rebooted these same icons had switched back...so I figure her save desktop settings have been disabled. Since I have no access to a XP Pro pc at the moment I'd appreciate if someone could tell me how to re-enable it to auto save the desktop settings when it turns off! Just can't remember ever having done it in the past!

Much thanks!

Cheers
 
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See Line 30,(left column) for the saving settings issue.

Windows Cannot Load Your Profile Because It May Be Corrupted (Q318011)


Here is a collection of MSKB articles on Welcome Screen problems.

297221 - A User Account Does Not Appear in the User Accounts Tool (or Welcome Screen)

305281 - The "Welcome" Logon Screen Does Not Appear

331880 - No User Accounts Appear on the Welcome Screen After You Upgrade to Windows XP Home Edition

294427 - Windows XP Stops Responding at the Welcome Screen

816873 - Windows XP Welcome Screen Appears to Stop Responding (Hang) During Logon

300433 - The "Administrator Logon" Dialog Box May Be Hidden Under the Welcome Screen or "The System Could Not Log You on" Message May Be Displayed

Interestingly this article has fixed a number of Welcome Screen problems.

Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File Is Too Small


Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Explorer.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)
 
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Thx linney and bcastner

I'll pass on this advise and info...interestingly this same person called last week because they weren't able to get online, something to do with corrupted settings/files and error message...unfortunetly I can't remember what exactly but was able to get them back online.

I may even have her bring the pc to me so I can troubleshoot the problem...some of this will be beyond her! Thanks again...and I'll let you know how's it coming!

Cheers
 
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bradds,

Please consider in this instance: faq779-4625
 
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Thanks again to both of you for quick and meaningful responses.

Though neither of you "hit-the-nail-on-the-head" for the solution linney comes closest with his suggested fixes.

It turns out to be a hidden window behind the welcome screen asking for the password to be changed, as it was about to expire...it had one (1) day left! Talk about cutting it close.

I went in and set the password to never expire under "administration tools/computer management/users and groups/user". I left a message for the owner on how to change their password, if and when they require.

I also enabled "system restore"...not that it would have helped in this situation...so that other problems may be fixed over the phone...which I'm sure there will be!!

Again thanks for the help and a "star" for linney!

Cheers
 
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Excellent suggestion bcastner!

I'll get that info off to her ASAP. However I don't believe that the password exipation notice ever was visible...for what ever reason/glitch/setting...but you never know she could have just ignored it in the begining!?

A star for a star!

Cheers
 
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bradds,

Could you check that the user is at Service Pack 1 or 1a level?

There was a password expiration issue in the base install of XP, and cured as part of the Service Pack fixes.

 
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bcastner

Yep! Service Pack 1a...I too was reading that this (or something about the password issue) was fixed in SP1. It seems strange that this issue should present itself but there it is...perhaps it's something new or it was a glitch/setting/malfunction. Since I had her try the:

See Line 30,(left column) for the saving settings issue.

from linney's suggestion it may have aided in correcting the problem (incompletely) when I later discovered the hidden notice. I did notice that when I started the pc the "task manager" issue was no longer a problem. So this fix along with my correcting the password issue has fixed (together) her problem! Who knows, as I nolonger have access to her pc I can't investigate further!

Cheers
 
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Is this possibly a laptop that spends a long time before connecting to a Win2k or Windows 2003 Domain?

There are Group Policy objects to control the password age in such settings that may be a problem here.
 
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No... a desktop pc for home use, no network installed! It's a puzzler.

Cheers
 
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Try making sure that she is not a member of the guest group. All guest profiles are deleted on logoff.
 
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