Windows 98 login

[Guest jizzdepapi]

trying to help a friend who uses Windows 98 on her computer. login box (to Windows? she's not part of any network) pops up on startup asking for her password (it already has her name). she wants to get rid of this.

 

i can't figure it out. tried PASSWORD and NETWORK control panels but don't see where i can make change.

 

anyone out there know? i would appreciate hearing.

 

thanks,

jizz

[Justice]

Jizz,

 

I don't know the answer to your question, but I suspect that your friend has a cable modem. I've got the same problem and it started on the day that I installed the software and equipment for the cable modem. My cable company doesn't send an installer to your house, they sell you the equipment on line or at a local electronics chain. Their technical support staff walked me through the setup process, but they were unable to tell me how to disable the request for a network password. I tried doing the same things that you mention in your post -- with identical results. Although I've learned to live with the problem (I could never go back to dial-up service), it would be great if we could find a solution for it.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Justice

[Guest bottomboykk]

Although not a solution to the exact problem, a very good work around can be found by using the free TweakUI program. It's buried on the Windows98 CD, and I believe it is still available on the microsoft site for download. Once installed, it resides in the Control Panel, and you go to the Logon tab and choose "Log on automatically at system startup" and put in your User Name and Password (you don't have to have a password). Then every time you start up, those will be filled in automatically, and then system will continue to boot up.

 

It's a great little program for many other tasks and settings that are difficult to change otherwise. I've been using the program since it originally was a download as a part of Win95's PowerTools.

[Guest jizzdepapi]

thanks. ill try it. found TweakUI but didnt know about automatic login.

 

jizz

 

P.S.: this computer has a dial-up phone line, not a cable modem. Windows system is the source of the problem, not ISP provider.

[+ deej]

Right-click on Network Neighborhood (or My Network Places ... don't remember exactly which version introduced the new name) and choose properties.

 

Underneath the list of installed protocols, there's a dropdown labeled "Primary Network Logon:". Make sure it's set to Windows Logon, NOT to Client for Microsoft Networks (or anything else that may be listed).

 

It sounds like this computer may have at one time been on a network and is still trying to connect to it.

 

In any event, it won't hurt a thing to just press ESCAPE when the login dialog appears. ;-)

 

(Note: the computer may have been set up for multiple users. Disable this in the Control Panel Users applet.)

[Losgatan]

CORRECTION

 

In my previous note, I stated that the password file has the ".pwi" extension. It should have said ".pwl"

[Losgatan]

Jizz,

 

I recently had the same problem with a friend's machine. It happens when someone accidentally chooses "Log Off <name>" from the start menu instead of "Shut Down." This is easy to do -- they're the bottom two options on the menu. When the machine is restarted, you're prompted for a password.

 

Here's another fix:

 

1) Locate and delete any ".pwi" files in the C:\Windows directory. The first part of the file name is usually a contraction of the user's name: i.e., "losgat.pwi"

 

2) Restart the machine. When prompted for password, leave the field blank and hit the "Okay" button (I don't remember what it's specifically called.

 

From then on the machine won't prompt for a password.

[Guest jizzdepapi]

thanks losgatan. worked like a charm.

 

jizz