.NET issues

dcrandall wrote on 5/3/2004, 7:49 AM

The installation of ".NET" support did not cause my computer to boot-up to a log-in screen (I use XPHome). Have you downloaded Microsoft's Power Tools? It includes an option to automatically log-in on power-up.
I consider Scripting to be a valuable addition to Vegas and without ".NET" there would be no scripting.

-Dan

jetdv wrote on 5/3/2004, 7:59 AM

My laptop with XP Pro is now going to a login screen each time as well. Not exactly sure what caused it to happen and not sure it was .NET that caused it. I just know it is happening now and didn't happen a few months ago.

johnmeyer wrote on 5/3/2004, 8:14 AM

Yes, this is definitely caused by the .NET installation. If you have multiple users defined on your computer, then when Windows starts, it gives you an opening screen that lists each users and asks you to choose which account you want to use. However, it you are the only user, you have never had to deal with that screen.

What happens when you install .NET is that it creates a ".NET user" for support purposes (I guess so Microsoft can log on). Even though this user does not show up on the logon screen, it does cause Windows to force you to deal with the screen.

The solution is to delete the ".NET user". Don't worry, .NET still functions just fine.

To delete the user, go to Control Panel and open up "User Accounts." In there, you will see your name, you will see Guest, and you will see the new .NET account. Double click on the .NET account and find the option on that page to delete the account.

There may also be a way to modify the .NET account so that it doesn't force the logon screen to appear (the "Guest" account doesn't cause the problem, for instance). However, I didn't see any reason to keep it, so I just killed it altogether.

jetdv wrote on 5/3/2004, 8:18 AM

I'll have to try that!

ibliss wrote on 5/3/2004, 8:30 AM

Thanks John, I'd been wondering about this too. Will try deleteing the .NET account when I'm back at my own PC.

johnmeyer wrote on 5/3/2004, 1:10 PM

The reason I am certain about this is that I had to restore my PC (first time in eighteen months) because of some weirdness. I went back to a restore from December, and had to reinstall software since that time. This included the .NET 1.1. It asked for a re-boot, and then I saw the screen. Fortunately, I had seen this problem before, so I remembered what to do.

dvdude wrote on 5/3/2004, 1:18 PM

....how to do a similar thing in Win98SE?

I setup a user account on my wife's machine so that I could log in from my XP box. I removed the profile when I was done, but she still gets prompted at logon.

Apologies to the OP, I've searched as deep as I can about it on Yahoo and can't find a solution - it's not a big deal but it is annoying her a bit.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/3/2004, 1:32 PM

I deleted the .NET userid a long time ago and it cleared up this boot problem with no ill effects. Go for it.

~jr

johnmeyer wrote on 5/3/2004, 2:07 PM

[oops -- double-post -- read the next one]

remainder of this duplicate post deleted

johnmeyer wrote on 5/3/2004, 2:08 PM

....how to do a similar thing in Win98SE?

This is covered in Microsoft's Knowledgebase article 152104. You can read it here:

How to Prevent a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me Logon Prompt at Startup

Here is the text from that article:

To prevent Windows from prompting you for a password at startup:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.

2. On the Configuration tab, click Windows Logon in the Primary Network Logon box, and then click OK.

3. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click No.

4. In Control Panel, double-click Passwords.

5. On the Change Passwords tab, click Change Windows Password, select any of the check boxes that you want, and then click OK.

NOTE: If you cancel the network logon dialog box when you start your computer, the Change Passwords tab may not be available. You must log on so that the Change Passwords tab is available.

6. In the Change Windows Password dialog box, type your current Windows password in the Old Password box. Leave the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes blank, click OK, and then click OK.

NOTE: If you have forgotten your old password, view the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 189126 Microsoft's Policy Regarding Missing or Invalid Passwords

7. On the User Profiles tab, verify that the All users of this PC use the same preferences and desktop settings option is selected, and then click Close.

8. Click Start, point to Search (or Find), and then click For Files or Folders.

9. Type *.pwl in the Named box, click Local Hard Drives in the Look in box, and then press ENTER.

10. Right-click one of the .pwl files, click Rename, and then rename the file with an .old file name extension. Repeat this step for each .pwl file.

NOTE: If you do not rename the .pwl files, the passwords from those files may be detected by Windows and the Windows Logon request may continue to appear.

11. Shut down and then restart your computer.

You can also downlaod and install TweakUI, which manages this, along with dozens of other useful tweaks. It is an "unsupported" Microsoft product. You can download it here:

TweakUI

This version is for Windows 95/98/ME.

dvdude wrote on 5/3/2004, 2:17 PM

That's great!! Thanks much,

I remember hearing about TweakUI, kinda like XP's power tools. I should really get 'em both.

Thanks again - you've saved my bacon with the Mrs....

TomHHI wrote on 5/3/2004, 2:30 PM

I also killed the .net login, but I still have to log in and am the only user.

TomHHI wrote on 5/3/2004, 3:09 PM

Update works fine if you check off "Use Welcome Screen"

anthony-chiappette wrote on 5/3/2004, 4:16 PM

It really is very simple to fix, without any added tools, etc. This works on both XP home and XP Pro.

Click START and RUN, type "control userpasswords2" in the run box (no quotes). Click OK. You'll get a passwoords box. Click your username, and then uncheck the box labeled "Users Must Enter A User Name And Password ...". Hit APPLY.

Next you will get a login box, it should show your username, and request (twice) your password. If you set a password, enter it twice. If you have no password set, just hit OK. The box will close and you can hit OK again. It will ask you to logoff. You can just reboot at this point and you'll be taken straight to the desktop.

No need to delete any .NET related stuff, and no need to install any tweakers.

24Peter wrote on 5/3/2004, 4:20 PM

Guys - this is a known issue with .NET 1.1. Here's the MS Knoweldge Base article on how to fix it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827072&Product=NETFrame

That being said, I too wish we didn't need this installed to run Vegas 5.

Yoyodyne wrote on 5/3/2004, 4:46 PM

Thanks babyboy0 - that worked great!

Has anybody had trouble getting Windows update to intsall .net 1.1? I had a heck of a time, I finally looked around and found a downloadable version - that seems to have done the trick.

anthony-chiappette wrote on 5/3/2004, 8:25 PM

You're welcome.

I actually use Print Shop 20 very often, and it's included on the install CD, so I do it from there. But I never had a problem downloading it from Windows Update.

mhf wrote on 5/3/2004, 9:09 PM

I'm a big fan of the .Net framework, which I think is fantastic, and I'm thrilled that Vegas bases its scripting technology on it. Vegas Rocks!

objectcentral wrote on 5/4/2004, 7:27 AM

Ah - this:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827072&Product=NETFrame

is the correct solution to the login screen issue. Deleting the ASP account may work, but that is not the "real" solution.

It doesn't matter if this is a known .NET problem or not. Vegas users should not be required to search the .NET website (which I did, and did not find this particular solution) because of side effects of Vegas decisions. Surely the Vegas support team knows about this problem. It is a Microsoft bug, but I didn't see it until I installed Vegas, so it is a Sony/Vegas problem as far as I'm concerned, and I'm very disappointed to not find a solution in the knowledge base. I've been a Vegas user since Vegas 2, and don't really want to switch to anything else, but I hope this shoddy support isn't an indication of things to come from Sony.

I think this is a pretty serious problem - changing the behavior of an entire computer due to the installation of a single application - and I will repost this solution under a new heading - the solution is pretty deep in this thread. Thanks to everyone for helping! Thank heavens Sony didn't kill this forum!

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/4/2004, 2:45 PM

> Deleting the ASP account may work, but that is not the "real" solution

That’s a matter of opinion on what the “real” problem actually was. Getting rid of a rogue user account that I didn’t authorize to be placed on my computer is the REAL solution for me. The fact that it manifested itself by modifying the logon screen was a blessing. Microsoft is forever punching holds in its own security and this is just another “hacker access point” (i.e., a “well known ACTIVE userid”) in an already insecure operating system. I deleted the user account promptly!

At a minimum you should DISABLE the user account ASPNET!

~jr

terrill wrote on 5/5/2004, 6:11 AM

1. You can read the original step-by-step artice at MicroCrap.com here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315231&Product=winxp

1a. If the above link doesn't work, search for article ID: 315231

2. In a nutshell (copied directly from the above-mentioned article):

a. Click Start, click Run, type regedit,and then click OK to start Registry Editor.

b. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

c. Using your account name and password, double-click the DefaultUserName entry, type your user name, and then click OK.

d. Double-click the DefaultPassword entry, type your password under the value data box, and then click OK.

If there is no DefaultPassword value, follow these steps to create the value:

e. On the Registry Editor menu, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.

f. Type DefaultPassword as the value name, and then press ENTER.
Double-click the newly created key, and then type your password in the Value Data box.

If no DefaultPassword string is specified, Windows automatically changes the value of the AutoAdminLogon key from 1 (true) to 0 (false) to disable the AutoAdminLogon feature.

g. Double-click the AutoAdminLogon entry, type 1 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.

If there is no AutoAdminLogon entry, follow these steps to create the entry:

g.1. On the Registry Editor menu, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.

g.2 Type AutoAdminLogon as the value name, and then press ENTER.

h. Double-click the newly created key, and then type 1 in the Value Data box.

i. Quit Registry Editor.

j. Click Start, click Restart, and then click OK.

k. After your computer restarts and Windows starts, you can log on automatically.

Yeah, Thanks SONY for:

1. Adding crap to my system I didn't want without warning.

2. Changing existing settings without warning.

3. Not tell us, your daily-paycheck, how to fix the problem or supplying a simple .reg file we could modify using Notepad, and instructions on how to import it.

4. Making us, your daily-paycheck, seek answers elsewhere to fix the problems YOU created.

Enjoy! It's a wonderful life, eh?

-- terill --

"Security must be evaluated not based on how it works, but on how it fails."
-- Bruce Schneier
http://www.schneier.com/essay-034.html