_Bat_ Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 This is really strange... I locked my XP machine before leaving work last night. I left it on so it could complete some downloads. I come in this morning and the 'user name' and 'password' fields are completely blank and greyed out, I can't type anything into them. The computer has not crashed, I can press enter and cause it to display an incorrect username/password combination error and I can move the box around. This is not at all important, just more of a pain then anything because I can't get in to see exactly what I was doing when I left. Just wondering if any of you have seen this before, google didn't really throw up any useful info. Cheers
plexer Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 Do another ctrl + alt + delete on it? Has anyone vnced it? sometimes I find vnced machines can't be unlocked until you vnc them again and send another ctrl + alt + del Ben
_Bat_ Posted December 7, 2006 Author Posted December 7, 2006 Nope, no VNC software installed. Tried CTRL + ALT + DEL, didn't do anything . Ah well, I just forced it off now. I was just wondering if it was a common problem in case I come across it again at some point. I should follow my own advice sometimes... "have you tried turning it off and on again" .
robert.mabbutt Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 I use to leave my office pc locked over night due to a ranger problem and haven't come accross this issue. Roberto
plexer Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 How about a shutdown -r -f -m \\computer_name from another xp workstation instead of forcing it to power off? Ben
Pottsey Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 One of my home PC's started doing this a few days ago.
crc-ict Posted December 7, 2006 Posted December 7, 2006 I had a computer doing this yesterday. And what makes it doubly bizarre is a that it is an XP Home machine, which has no mechanism for the user to be able to lock it! Very weird - are we seeing the effects of another 'high quality' MS update, or maybe the payload of a new virus??
_Bat_ Posted December 7, 2006 Author Posted December 7, 2006 Just out of curiousity... how many of these machines have IE7 installed? Not saying it is this, but IE7 already has some annoying problems that I discovered today. Maybe this is another one.
Pottsey Posted December 8, 2006 Posted December 8, 2006 Don’t have IE 7 on my PC with the problem. What I did notice on my PC it seems to be something to do with leaveing it for a while and the screen saver kicks in with the password option to unlock. Then if someone press’s the power button to turn off you get the problem in the first post.
_Bat_ Posted December 9, 2006 Author Posted December 9, 2006 Tis very odd indeed... Left computer on again over night as a test, could unlock this time, but all I could see was the background, no icons or anything else. In the end I forced it to log off and logged back on again.
john Posted December 10, 2006 Posted December 10, 2006 @Bat the one you have posted about last the no box at all I have had, and its when I've left video encoding software open either encoding or not, or a capture device such as TV card open on my XP box, it can cause this and basically it needs a reboot before it lives again.
netadmin Posted December 16, 2006 Posted December 16, 2006 None of our XP machines have done that. I have had a problem with the Windows 2003 server not being able to be unlocked if a remote desktop session connection is not ended properly. This happens fairly often for us.
tarquel Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 Very weird - are we seeing the effects of another 'high quality' MS update, or maybe the payload of a new virus?? Dont know about the virus thing, but it could be a hotfix... I've had it happen on occasion and I'm still in the dark with it. Cheers Nath
FN-GM Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Sorry to bring this back from the dead but i didn't see a point in opening a new thread. We are having the same problem on a few random machines arround the school. It has happened when no applications are open & when word, IE 7 and a few other things where open. If anyone has a fix i would appreciate it.
Gatt Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Only encountered this with VNC - great for winding people up with but a right royal PITA!
tomscaper Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 some students here are having this problem, usually after a student has logged off, i just tell them to restart and it solves it. Never able to find out why.
richard.thomas Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I noticed this one on machine in a primary school the other day. I was shutting it down anyway so didn't bother I just thought it was a random funky windows problem... And what makes it doubly bizarre is a that it is an XP Home machine, which has no mechanism for the user to be able to lock it! You can use START+L key combo to lock a home machine just like a pro one
Michael Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I've seen this problem once which was years ago, not seen it since. I had no choice but to power it down by pressing the power button. All was well afterwards!
Domino Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 no-ones RDP'd to the machine? It can cause a funky lock on the machine, and the sessions not finished properly it can do this could be the kids have found they can RDP (there's a version you can install on a USB stick). Who did it say it was locked as..?
FN-GM Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 no-ones RDP'd to the machine? It can cause a funky lock on the machine, and the sessions not finished properly it can do this could be the kids have found they can RDP (there's a version you can install on a USB stick). Who did it say it was locked as..? nope no-one has. The kids cant run .exe's so i doubt they have managed to get into it. Check Eventviewer (security) to see who's been logging in. Why would this help please?
crc-ict Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I noticed this one on machine in a primary school the other day. I was shutting it down anyway so didn't bother I just thought it was a random funky windows problem... You can use START+L key combo to lock a home machine just like a pro one No you can't! Start+L on a machine which isn't on a domain will only take you to the welcome screen. It doesn't even lock my XP Pro machine here which isn't on a domain.
EduTech Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 (edited) Come accross this: dont know if it is the answer as i have never experienced this problem before but worth a try/ Turn off the power management for the NIC. When the computer goes into standby mode, it will generally turn off power to the NIC, which in turn drops the network connection. Since you no longer have a network connection, hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL will bring the screen up, but there is no way to authenticate the user. Regards James Not on a domain - all the Windows Key + L does is take you to the Logon screen. On a Domain - Locks the machine Edited June 13, 2008 by Edu-Tech
FN-GM Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 It takes you to the login screen yes but if you have set a password on your account you will need to enter it to continue.
superfletch Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I've never seen this problem but it stinks of Remote desktop. None of our XP machines have done that. I have had a problem with the Windows 2003 server not being able to be unlocked if a remote desktop session connection is not ended properly. This happens fairly often for us. I know this problem and it is a PITA. Very similar to when the number of RDP's gets maxed out and you have to reset it. no-ones RDP'd to the machine? It can cause a funky lock on the machine, and the sessions not finished properly it can do this could be the kids have found they can RDP (there's a version you can install on a USB stick). Who did it say it was locked as..? This might be crazy but have you RDP'd to it yourself and seen what happens? Try and RDP it as admin whilst it is locked and observe its behaviour.
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