My XP system is behaving very oddly.I have not used User Accounts before because there has been no need, but I would now like to set up a guest account. I am running XP in the Classic layout incidentally.When I go to Control Panel > User Accounts and turn Guest Account on, nothing happens. In other words, when I log off and try to log on as "Guest", it starts to load the guest settings but then changes to "Logging off....Saving Settings" and returns to the log-in screen. Only by entering my administrator MAIN account can I get the system to load any settings and open up.I have even tried to create a new User Account and to dis-regard the Guest Account, but exactly the same thing happens. When I enter the the new User Account, it starts to load the settings, then again I get the message "Logging of....Saving settings" and it goes back to the Log-in screen again.I have tried the above both with password required and without password required.Does anyone have any suggestions please ?1 person needs an answerI do too

First of all, you don't want to use the Guest account. It's a system account and not meant for when you are feeling hospitable. Make a Limited account and call it something like "Visitor" instead. But since you can't do this at this time, let's start by making sure your computer is virus/malware-free so we know you're working from a clean base. Post back with the results, and also include what version of XP you have and its Service Pack level.http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_MalwareMS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

HiFirst thanks for helping.OK, I deep scanned for virus and malware thoroughly. I have also done the MS LiveOne Care. No faults found anywhere as far as I can see.1. I am Using Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3.2. I have discovered by chance that if I create a new User Account (Visitor) with Administrative rights, then I can in fact log on with it ! But as soon as I limit the rights, it tries to log on, then says "Logging Off" and saves the settings without actually loading.3. In neither the main account nor in the new Visitor account is it possible to make folders private.4. If I untick the shared folder box for the D: drive when logged on as the main user, in other words so that folders in D: cannot be shared with other users of the computer, nevertheless they can in fact still be shared by the Visitor account (with administrative rights).5. There is one oddity. This computer was set up by the o.e.m Packard Bell and the hard disk has two partitions, C: and D: To my surprise, I find that the Documents and Settings folder is on the D: drive and not on the C: drive where I would normally expect to find it. Is this significant ?So any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know why they put Documents and Settings on D:. Space restrictions perhaps? And yes, I suppose that could cause anomalies. And yet you can successfully make regular adminsitrative accounts so I don't see why the Limited ones aren't working. You might look around to see if there are any Packard Bell user forums; maybe others have experienced this issue.I honestly don't know why your computer is behaving this way and since you hadn't tried setting up a user, we can't answer The First Questions of Troubleshooting (what changed). I'm afraid I'm stumped as I've not seen this kind of behavior before.Things to try (back up your data before doing anything because Stuff Happens):1. Run the System File Checker to make sure system files are intact. Start>Run>sfc /scannow [OK].2. Try a Repair Installhttp://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm3. Do a clean install and only have one partition.http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html -Clean Install How-To http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows -What you will need on-hand Please understand that I'm just throwing out these suggestions and I don't know what is going on with your computer. Before you take any drastic action like a full clean install, you may want to get a hands-on diagnosis from a reputable local professional or do further research (i.e., Packard Bell forums). If you take the machine to a professional, don't use a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.I'm sorry I was unable to help you.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Thanks for trying anyway. I think the easiest will be a clean install.However, before I do that, there is one question. I have just searched the Registry with regedit. All the references are correctly set to D:\Documents and Settings with just one (I imagine critical) setting which is :ProfileImagePath Reg_Expand_SZ %systemroot%\system32\config\systemprofie%systemroot refers to the C; drive , not the D: drive. I have checked C:\windows\system32\config\systemprofile and it contains the usual files Application Data, Cookies, Desktop etc.etc. However, all the profiles Administrator, AllUsers, Default User, Guest and Visitor are on the D: drive.Is this significant ?Best wishes

It sure could be although I can't say definitively. Since you are looking at a clean install, you might as well change that registry entry to point to D: and see if that fixes it. I wouldn't do this without backing up your data first and also exporting that registry key.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Hi, Don't know if this thread is still active but it seems recent.I am having exactly the same problem. It showed up for me while installing sp3. It tookme 3 attempts to get sp3 installed without crashing but sp3 seems to work fine but I can onlyhave administrator accounts.The limited access user accounts worked fine in the past and then didn't work after the upgrade.I am running a Dell Dimension 5150 machine with an Intel Pentium 4 processor. Windows Home XP.I use malwarebytes, Avira, and spywareblaster protection. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!