Weirdest XP bug... ever

I tried Googling this, I tried searching Microsoft.com, I tried searching Annoyances.org... I tried everything!
To no avail.

I think that I have just discovered a bug in Windows XP.
*GASP*

(I am the master of awesome bugs!)


First off, please don't tell me to reinstall the OS. Such a process is long overdue, but I hate doing it and I shouldn't have to. I have solved many bugs here by tweaking odd settings and Windows probably teeters on the edge of complete cataclysm on a daily basis at this point (for example, I never got to the bottom of that long logout time bug; I just concealed it under a setting I found), but it must go on!
This installation has to hold out until hell freezes over and someone creates an operating system that doesn't suck. (I refuse to look at that "Welcome to Windows XP" thing again!).


Okay, the problem:

There are 4 people using this computer. Only one user has a password. The others don't care and have given up trying to secure this thing.

Sometimes, someone uses Switch user (to load a new session without ending the current one, which is what it should say in its name darnit!), bringing Windows back to the Welcome screen. All's well until someone tries to log in to any account.
When any user name is clicked, Windows asks for a password. I will remind that there are no passwords on any of these accounts except one. On that one account, even if the correct password is typed at this prompt, it says that it is wrong.
The only way to solve this is to restart, thus losing any programs that were running at the time.

I should note that this is completely at random, it seems! This usually doesn't happen, but sometimes it does. The frequency at which this problem occurs seems to have increased, though, but I remember it happening once or twice even back when this installation was new.

I am not sure if the problem is directly connected to Switch User or if it's a random glitch with the Welcome Screen.
I am also not entirely sure, but it may be true that this only happens if someone is already previously logged in when another user also does Switch User resulting in the bug.


Have you seen this bug?

Install another OS instead. Like Linux.

You're not really supposed to "Switch Users". non-server Windows versions are really only designed to reliably handle one user at a time.

One thing you can try, at the welcome screen is hitting the three finger salute (Ctrl-Alt-Delete) twice, which should give you a propper login prompt.

No. But then again, I don't have more than one user on my system.

Give yourself a password?

But since Microsoft actually added the 'switch user' functionality to XP, you'd expect them to be able to handle it properly.

It's not like they kind of added it as an experimental feature that they didn't mention to anyone or something...

It never worked properly, no matter how advertised the feature was.

I'd try turning off the Welcome screen, although Flamey's advice should have the same effect - ie use the old win2000 login prompt.

At least there'd be a 90% drop in threads complaining about WindowsXP.

I think your expectations of Microsoft and my expectations of Microsoft differ somewhat. If you want to do that whole user-switching thing, get a Server Windows OS, Mac OS X or Linux.

I would love to go to linux BUT (big but here), when Linux runs Windows stuff I will happily change but there is loads of windows stuff that I use that (to coin a phrase I cant live without).

As for the switch user thing its really only intended for switching to get data off of another account so it seems, its bugger all use for anything else as it pauses everything to start the new account with even more limited space than before due to the other account's programs.

It doesn't, actually - anything that doesn't require human interaction resumes normally - anything that doesn't resume normally is detecting users have been switched and is pausing itself on purpose.

solution: get a mac

But getting a Mac involves something similar to reinstalling the OS. (And I already have Ubuntu running on another partition).

Good suggestions, though.


...So, I guess I really have discovered a new way to break Windows :P

I believe if im not mistaking your getting the password prompt because the user account with the password protection is still logged in which means any activity could compromise that account.

Nope, the user with password is never logged in. And I remind, the password prompt asks for a password but no password seems to actually work. The password for that passworded user does not work even on the passworded user; Windows is asking for a password, but not actually looking at it. (It just says that it's wrong).

I'd jump on the Linux or Mac bandwagon in a heartbeat if they
could run half of the software I needed ... or the software
I want - like games.

XP's memory system is leaps and bounds more stable than
Windows 98's, but I still hate the little design flaws. XP
is drowning in little design flaws.

That's what Linux advocates seem to miss in this equation - some of us like to run software on our computers.

.

With Mac, if there isn't a native game, you could always get Boot Camp, a OEM copy of Windows and use that to play games.

There are precisely two games that I play in Boot Camp : Delta Force Extreme and Conflict:Global Storm - all the others have a native Mac version (AoE 3 is very good), and have just order C&C (which should come tomorrow).

So the solution to the lack of software on Linux is to run Windows. Heh.

.

Hmm, these sorts of crazy problems are rarely solvable without a good old classic reformat/reinstall. Inconvenience yes, but necessary certainly. In the long run, fiddling around for hours/days will be longer and more annoying than biting the bullet and just reinstalling.

I think I'll just switch partitions for a week and forget about all of this.

What, you're telling me that people actually do stuff with their computers aside from making windows wobble?
Yah, right! I had a hard time even finding a window to test the wobbling on. Who uses those windowed programs anyway?
I just got Compiz working and successfully killed Beryl because its configuration program is awful, so that will be fun to "do stuff" with :b
Woohoo, motion blur works now!

No that's fine. But please, when you're enjoying your masterfully crafted OS, that can't (or rather is deliberatly designed not to) have more than one user logged in at any given time, accept it and move on.