Two sign in welcome screens

bobbymcgee

bobbymcgee

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Greetings,ok, here's the thing my friends pc (just recently) started booting with two welcome screens(two different names,two welcome screens) (prefers no names on welcome screen,like in xp and seven it just said welcome and booted to desktop with no name) Anyway, any advice is appreciated also the boot manager comes up also on boot up or restart.Thanks for any help :smile9:
 
Hi bobbymcgee

You mention two login screens? Not at the same time, though? .... I expect that what your friend is seeing is a single screen, with either two operating systems to choose from (which in turn produce two different login screens with different usernames for login)....OR is seeing a single screen with multiple users listed, and depending on which user is selected & logged in - the destop backgrounds are different.

I have never heard of a system that would allow two different logon screens at the same time [not a personal PC, anyway .... in a business client-server setup, many users log into one big computer ... or, even longer ago, very large mainframes had hundreds of "terminals" which users would use to access programs].

Two operating systems showing at boot/restart
This means that your friend, whether by accident or on purpose, has two operating systems installed on the same computer. If he only wishes to use one, and get rid of the other, that is fairly easy to do. To only remove the option to start the unwanted operating system, then - when booted into the preferred operating system:
1) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select System
3) Select Advanced System Settings
4) In the Startup & Recovery section, select Settings
5) In the System Startup section, from the drop-down Default Operating System menu, choose the preferred system.
6) Then set the Time to Display List of Operating Systems to 0 seconds
7) Then select OK

This will cause the preferred operating system to boot without displaying the option to enter the other. [You can uninstall the other - user's choice - or just keep it hidden .... keeping the unused operating system will of course mean a bit less room on the hard drive]

Two (or more) users showing at boot/restart
If there are two or more user accounts created for the only operating system on the hard drive, of course they will show at startup, even if they don't have passwords- or are set to have the passwords entered for them automatically .... how else could a user be selected? If there should only be one user, and somehow another user is showing up -- so long as the 'extra' user isn't the "elevated Administrator" that is built into Windows 10 -- you can remove that user. Be aware that you'll have to choose whether or not to save data/documents/programs/etc... from the account that is being removed. To remove a user:
1) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select Control Panel
3) (make sure Control Panel is in "Large Icons" view)
4) Select User Accounts
5) Select Manage Another Account
6) Select the account you wish to remove
7) Select Delete this account
8) Choose either to Delete or Keep the accounts files.

AutoLogon
Many users prefer to have the passwords entered automatically at system startup/restart ... at home in a non-business environment, it's somewhat reasonable. To bypass the logon screens by means of an automatically entered password, there are at least three different methods.
1) A very simple one is to use the Microsoft/SysInternals utility Autologon -- Autologon
2 & 3) The other two methods are a bit technical - one uses an Advanced User Accounts setting (via netplwiz) and the other uses a Registry edit. Not recommended if your friend tends to type with wild abandon. Here's a link to instructions for those last two options -- How To Automatically Login In Windows 1

Let us know if you have any questions.

[P.S. ... Kristofferson/Joplin fan?]
 
Greetings, thanks for replying, ok here's the thing as to what is happening,(I'll use my user name as an example) First thing that happens is boot manager screen comes up? next "Bobby" and within a sec "BM" (initials) comes up (same screen) from here it boots to desktop. In answer to your question yes Kristofferson/Joplin fan.
 
Hi again

Show your friend my last reply. He's got something going on with either his operating system boot list, or with his user accounts. He should check both. It doesn't take much time to do. Just a few minutes.

Kristofferson's quite a multifaceted talent (Joplin was too).
 
Greetings, did as suggested no dice it's still showing the same thing. First the name (Bobby) welcome screen then the initials(BM) welcome screen. This is of course just one person. Is there a way to have no name appear on the welcome screen as was had in xp and win 7? (Boot screen still appearing also):banghead:
 
Hi again

Does all of that happen without any input at all from the user? (it just flashes by?) ... if so, it sounds like he has two operating systems (else why the bootmanager) and two user accounts (else why the two different users). I'm guessing your friend used something like AutoLogon (from Microsoft/SysInternals) or the Advanced User Accounts applet (available via the netplwiz command) to enable automatic password login. With only one user, that would usually result in no login screen showing at all (the computer should boot directly to the desktop.

Can your friend snap a picture of the screens (might have to use a phone or camera) and post them here?

[I'm not entirely clear on exactly what you are referring to when you mention "boot manager" and "boot screen" ... the only "boot manager(s)" you normally see provide a list of operating systems ... and "boot screens" are generally just a nice design or animated graphic to watch while the operating system is loading. I might just be missing your meaning ... that's where "a picture is worth a thousand words" :)
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again

Does all of that happen without any input at all from the user? (it just flashes by?) ... if so, it sounds like he has two operating systems (else why the bootmanager) and two user accounts (else why the two different users). I'm guessing your friend used something like AutoLogon (from Microsoft/SysInternals) or the Advanced User Accounts applet (available via the netplwiz command) to enable automatic password login. With only one user, that would usually result in no login screen showing at all (the computer should boot directly to the desktop.

Can your friend snap a picture of the screens (might have to use a phone or camera) and post them here?

[I'm not entirely clear on exactly what you are referring to when you mention "boot manager" and "boot screen" ... the only "boot manager(s)" you normally see provide a list of operating systems ... and "boot screens" are generally just a nice design or animated graphic to watch while the operating system is loading. I might just be missing your meaning ... that's where "a picture is worth a thousand words" :)[/QUOTE

Greetings, sorry for the confusion, I'll start with the boot manager(this screen comes up first) safe boot with networking etc. Then up comes the welcome screen with name(Bobby) followed by another welcome screen with initials(BM) Don't know what was done to cause this. Want to get it back to welcome screen(boot to desktop) with no user name or initials. This all happens within a matter of secs.
Click to expand...
 
Well, this is the second time today I've heard about a screen behaving in a way I've never heard of before. [Full moon? Did I walk under a ladder? See a black cat? ... :) ]


Heck, didn't expect that answer. So: it boots to a version of the Safe Mode menu, switches to one username's login screen, and then switches to another usernames login screen (completely replacing the previous one)... all without any user input at all??? Wow. "That's messed up"....


I suppose it shouldn't hurt to try a Startup Repair, at least for restoring sanity. If the computer runs fine once it is past the login madness, try:
1) Click on the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select Settings
3) Select Update & Security
4) Select Recovery
5) Select Advanced Startup
6) Select Restart Now (don't worry, it doesn't restart yet...)
7) .... you'll see a "Please wait ..." screen for a moment ....
8) From the Choose an Option screen, select Troubleshoot
9) Select Advanced Options
10) Select Startup Repair


If we are lucky, this will result in the computer booting to a normal login screen. Or booting directly into Windows 10, if your friend has altered the login settings [by having Windows automatically enter their password by using the netplwiz command method (sort of an Advanced User Accounts applet), or by using the AutoLogon utility from Microsoft/SysInternals]...


If the Startup Repair successfully shows a normal login screen, with only one user on it ... then your friend will be able to take advantage of either the AutoLogon utility --- Autologon --- or using the netplwiz command method --- How do I sign in to Windows 1 automatically? - Ask Leo! --- to have the computer log them in automatically.

Instructions for the AutoLogon utility:
1) Download the program from Microsoft/SysInternals (as in the link above)
2) You will see a file "AutoLogon.zip" in your Downloads folder
3) Right-click the "AutoLogons.zip" file, and select "Extract All"
4) In the pop-up window, select "Extract"
5) Double-click on Autologon.exe to start the program
6) Enter the Username for your account in the Username box
7) Enter the password in the Password box
8) Click on Enable
9) You can now exit the program.


If your friend wishes to avoid typing a password after the computer wakes from a screen saver, sleep state, or hibernation state:

Change ScreenSaver Setting (#1)
...a) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
...b) Select Power Options
...c) Select Require a password on wakeup
...d) Select Change settings that are currently unavailable
...e) Select Don't require a password (in the Password Protection on Wakeup section)
...f) Select Save Changes

Change Screen Saver Setting (#2)
...a) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
...b) Select Control Panel
...c) Select Personalization
...d) Select Screen Saver (it's on the lower right corner)
...e) If there is a check mark in the option box in front of "on resume, display logon screen" - remove that check mark by clicking on it.
...f) Select OK


Change Account Setting
...a) Click on the Windows Start Menu icon
...b) Select Settings
...c) Select Accounts
...e) Select Sign-in options
...f) In the drop-down menu under Require sign-in, select Never
_______________


All of this might be getting a little ahead of what's up at the moment. But might as well hope for the best :)
 
Hi bobbymcgee (and OldGrayGary). :smile9:

I'm not totally sure I've correctly understood the problem, but you can check these ones:
  • Click windows start button, type msconfig, press enter, system configuration window should appear, general tab should be the one opened by default, normal startup should be selected if you didn't stop/disabled something (services, startup entries).
  • In the system configuration window, check also the boot tab: in this tab I have selected only the current OS, all other options are unticked.
  • Right-click windows start button, click run, the run window should appear, type in it control userpasswords2, press enter, user accounts window should appear, untick Users must enter a username and password to use this computer., (if I remember correctly, it should ask you to put the password for the account you'll intend to utilize when the log on window should appear), click ok.

:wave:
 
xilolee said:
Hi bobbymcgee (and OldGrayGary). :smile9:

I'm not totally sure I've correctly understood the problem, but you can check these ones:
  • Click windows start button, type msconfig, press enter, system configuration window should appear, general tab should be the one opened by default, normal startup should be selected if you didn't stop/disabled something (services, startup entries).
  • In the system configuration window, check also the boot tab: in this tab I have selected only the current OS, all other options are unticked.
  • Right-click windows start button, click run, the run window should appear, type in it control userpasswords2, press enter, user accounts window should appear, untick Users must enter a username and password to use this computer., (if I remember correctly, it should ask you to put the password for the account you'll intend to utilize when the log on window should appear), click ok.

:wave:
Click to expand...


Greetings, thanks for the reply both of your suggestions have been done no difference.:smile9:
 
Hi again bobbymcgee [& xilolee :) ]

Hmm... well, since you mentioned that the trouble started not all that long ago, if your friend's computer has the Windows 10 version of System Restore running, you could try that ... (some computers use it, some don't ... it's optional). You can try a System Restore without harming much of anything - if Windows Restore isn't running, it will let you know right away, and we'll have to try something else. If Windows Restore is running, you'll have "restore points" to use for getting back to normal. Note that if programs or updates were installed in the time since the restore point - some of those will have to be reinstalled. Personal files are not removed by a system restore (documents, music, video, office files, photos ... these should stay where they are with no problem).

System Restore in Windows 10:

1) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select System
3) Select System Protection (a blue link in the upper left-hand corner)
4) Select System Restore
5) Choose a restore point from before the current trouble started.

A System Restore doesn't usually take much more time than a half an hour on today's computers.

Let's hope for a good outcome!
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again bobbymcgee [& xilolee :) ]

Hmm... well, since you mentioned that the trouble started not all that long ago, if your friend's computer has the Windows 10 version of System Restore running, you could try that ... (some computers use it, some don't ... it's optional). You can try a System Restore without harming much of anything - if Windows Restore isn't running, it will let you know right away, and we'll have to try something else. If Windows Restore is running, you'll have "restore points" to use for getting back to normal. Note that if programs or updates were installed in the time since the restore point - some of those will have to be reinstalled. Personal files are not removed by a system restore (documents, music, video, office files, photos ... these should stay where they are with no problem).

System Restore in Windows 10:

1) Right-click the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select System
3) Select System Protection (a blue link in the upper left-hand corner)
4) Select System Restore
5) Choose a restore point from before the current trouble started.

A System Restore doesn't usually take much more time than a half an hour on today's computers.

Let's hope for a good outcome!
Click to expand...

Greetings, system restore is not an option because there aren't too many restore points and I don't exactly know when this happened. :huh: Someone said I should go use group policy editor but win 10 home premium doesn't have this option at least not that I'm aware of. :noidea:
 
Hi again


I'd still recommend picking one of the available restore points, if any are older than two weeks. There were some Cumulative Updates on the 1st and 2nd Tuesdays of March, which - at least in their first incarnations, caused a fair amount of problems on quite a few computers. Can't hurt to go back before those. And ANY restore point is better than having to do a full reinstall - which we probably would like to avoid. It would be good to go back before the double-screen logon issues started - aim for that especially. Seems like you should have at least one from before then. It only takes one good restore point!


Group Policy hasn't been included in Home editions of Windows in a good long while = it's aimed at business users.


And ... System Restore usually works ... I had to use it today, in fact, when (what else?) a Windows Update from yesterday conked a previously trouble-free Toshiba laptop on its head -- ten minutes later, after a System Restore, all was well again.
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again


I'd still recommend picking one of the available restore points, if any are older than two weeks. There were some Cumulative Updates on the 1st and 2nd Tuesdays of March, which - at least in their first incarnations, caused a fair amount of problems on quite a few computers. Can't hurt to go back before those. And ANY restore point is better than having to do a full reinstall - which we probably would like to avoid. It would be good to go back before the double-screen logon issues started - aim for that especially. Seems like you should have at least one from before then. It only takes one good restore point!


Group Policy hasn't been included in Home editions of Windows in a good long while = it's aimed at business users.


And ... System Restore usually works ... I had to use it today, in fact, when (what else?) a Windows Update from yesterday conked a previously trouble-free Toshiba laptop on its head -- ten minutes later, after a System Restore, all was well again.[/QUO

Greetings, earliest(and only) restore point is Mar6,gave it a shot no difference same thing.
Click to expand...
 
Hi again

I'm going to guess that System Restore must have been turned off, or that a "Cleaner" program of some sorts might be installed, and is periodically emptying older files/folders. March 6 was only a few days ago... Sorry you didn't have anything from a month ago or so.

What do you think about this:
1) Make a system image backup (easy to do, especially if you've an external backup drive handy .. 1 TB USB externals are down to the $40 range here in L.A....)
2) Try an in-place re-install of Windows 10 --- Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

With the backup system image, you have an insurance policy in case the repair install doesn't work. And sometimes they don't (good news is, often they do).
_______________

If the system image / re-install idea doesn't appeal to you (at least not yet):
Here's a three-step alternative: 1) System file check 2) System file health restore 3) Startup Repair (might have a better chance if file corruption stopped it last time)...

System file check

1) Right-click on the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Command Prompt (Admin)
3) To the question "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your computer?", select Yes
4) In the C:\Windows\System32> prompt, type sfc /scannow

It will take a few minutes. It will either report that it completed successfully, or that it "found but could not fix" file corruption.


System file health restore (online version of DISM tool ... best done with a reliable Internet connection)

1) Right-click on the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Command Prompt (Admin)
3) To the question "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your computer?", select Yes
4) In the C:\Windows\System32> prompt, type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth


This can take quite a while - it varies a lot from machine to machine, and the speed of the Internet connection can add extra time when slow. Even if the "Percentage Complete" stops for a long time at a certian percentage, wait it out: it's fairly normal for the percentage displayed to not get refreshed for quite a long time.

Windows 10 Startup Repair


1) Click on the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select Settings
3) Select Update & Security
4) Select Recovery
5) Select Advanced Startup
6) Select Restart Now (don't worry, it doesn't restart yet...)
7) .... you'll see a "Please wait ..." screen for a moment ....
8) From the Choose an Option screen, select Troubleshoot
9) Select Advanced Options
10) Select Startup Repair

____________________________

Let us know if any of this helps or not. [maybe a lucky rabbits foot, horseshoe, 4-leaf-clover?... :) ]
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again

I'm going to guess that System Restore must have been turned off, or that a "Cleaner" program of some sorts might be installed, and is periodically emptying older files/folders. March 6 was only a few days ago... Sorry you didn't have anything from a month ago or so.

What do you think about this:
1) Make a system image backup (easy to do, especially if you've an external backup drive handy .. 1 TB USB externals are down to the $40 range here in L.A....)
2) Try an in-place re-install of Windows 10 --- Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

With the backup system image, you have an insurance policy in case the repair install doesn't work. And sometimes they don't (good news is, often they do).
_______________

If the system image / re-install idea doesn't appeal to you (at least not yet):
Here's a three-step alternative: 1) System file check 2) System file health restore 3) Startup Repair (might have a better chance if file corruption stopped it last time)...

System file check

1) Right-click on the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Command Prompt (Admin)
3) To the question "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your computer?", select Yes
4) In the C:\Windows\System32> prompt, type sfc /scannow

It will take a few minutes. It will either report that it completed successfully, or that it "found but could not fix" file corruption.


System file health restore (online version of DISM tool ... best done with a reliable Internet connection)

1) Right-click on the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Command Prompt (Admin)
3) To the question "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your computer?", select Yes
4) In the C:\Windows\System32> prompt, type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth


This can take quite a while - it varies a lot from machine to machine, and the speed of the Internet connection can add extra time when slow. Even if the "Percentage Complete" stops for a long time at a certian percentage, wait it out: it's fairly normal for the percentage displayed to not get refreshed for quite a long time.

Windows 10 Startup Repair


1) Click on the Windows Start Menu icon
2) Select Settings
3) Select Update & Security
4) Select Recovery
5) Select Advanced Startup
6) Select Restart Now (don't worry, it doesn't restart yet...)
7) .... you'll see a "Please wait ..." screen for a moment ....
8) From the Choose an Option screen, select Troubleshoot
9) Select Advanced Options
10) Select Startup Repair

____________________________

Let us know if any of this helps or not. [maybe a lucky rabbits foot, horseshoe, 4-leaf-clover?


Greetings, none of these worked,in fact now I'm getting the little blue windows screen along with everything else I mentioned. :eek4:
Click to expand...
 
Hi again

A blue screen? ... is it the sort of blue screen that fills the whole screen, with white letters on a blue background = displaying an error message? [often called "Blue Screen of Death" or 'BSOD", because it usually accompanies a system stop/crash]. If it displayed an error message, can you post it here

Did you actually try ALL of the methods in the last post? [did you try the in-place re-install too?] ... let us know....

Tell you what, at this point it's getting obvious that something is not right. Hardware, software, human error ... could be any of these. We have a better chance of figuring it out if we have look at a few more things ... if we dig through a bit more information. In the BSOD forum here at SysNative, there is an app you can download. When run, it creates a report file - which you can then "zip" and post it here as an attachment. It allows us to see things like your Event Viewer logs (which contain logs of your error messages). I think it would help (that plus a questions to answer list, and diagnostics on the hard drive and memory)

Here's a link to that post in the BSOD forum. I'd like you to try #1, #2, #5, and to try the hard drive and memory diagnostics. If your friend's computer has built-in diagnostics, run those too (they generally run by pressing a special function key at system startup, and choosing the diagnostics from a menu ... the details would be in the computer's user guide.
https://www.sysnative.com/forums/bs...windows-10-8-1-8-7-vista-post303.html#post303

________________________

Note: if you haven't yet tried the in-place reinstall, you can try that first. And if it too fails to fix your current problems, then see about using the troubleshooting info gathering app, and posting some info for us here.

Sorry that it's been a trickier problem than most.
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again

A blue screen? ... is it the sort of blue screen that fills the whole screen, with white letters on a blue background = displaying an error message? [often called "Blue Screen of Death" or 'BSOD", because it usually accompanies a system stop/crash]. If it displayed an error message, can you post it here

Did you actually try ALL of the methods in the last post? [did you try the in-place re-install too?] ... let us know....

Tell you what, at this point it's getting obvious that something is not right. Hardware, software, human error ... could be any of these. We have a better chance of figuring it out if we have look at a few more things ... if we dig through a bit more information. In the BSOD forum here at SysNative, there is an app you can download. When run, it creates a report file - which you can then "zip" and post it here as an attachment. It allows us to see things like your Event Viewer logs (which contain logs of your error messages). I think it would help (that plus a questions to answer list, and diagnostics on the hard drive and memory)

Here's a link to that post in the BSOD forum. I'd like you to try #1, #2, #5, and to try the hard drive and memory diagnostics. If your friend's computer has built-in diagnostics, run those too (they generally run by pressing a special function key at system startup, and choosing the diagnostics from a menu ... the details would be in the computer's user guide.
https://www.sysnative.com/forums/bs...windows-10-8-1-8-7-vista-post303.html#post303

________________________

Note: if you haven't yet tried the in-place reinstall, you can try that first. And if it too fails to fix your current problems, then see about using the troubleshooting info gathering app, and posting some info for us here.

Sorry that it's been a trickier problem than most.
Click to expand...



Greetings, I guess I'm not explaining correctly, it defenently is not the BSOD. It looks like this
 

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Hmm .... that's the default Windows 10 wallpaper, usually displayed for the login screen ... but in your picture, of course, no login-box appears ... Does is just get "stuck" there? Did this appear after trying the in-place re-install? (... is it possible that something was still installing in the background? was there any 'disk activity' at the time?) ... .... Does the computer move from the blue Windows 10 wallpaper to a regular desktop - or is it unusable?

I'm still curious to hear which steps happened, and in what order. And if any of the autologon methods were already tried. My preference would be to get the computer behaving normally before moving on to having the passwords entered automaticallly.
 

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