Windows XP Can't Logon- System Automatically Logs off

The situation is really  trouble some when many are  not able to login to Windows as soon as they login, the windows show applying your settings, saving your settings and logs off automatically without logging in.

This may be due to registry corruption( corrupted registry key which holds the value of the files which are executed while login to windows).Another reason is virus / trojan activity.

To correct this we need to remotely access the infected computer from another computer on same network. Then correct the registry key for userinit under winlogon.

1. Connect the infected computer to a network which has at least one healthy computer connected. Power on both of the computers.

2. From the healthy computer, Go to Start > Run, type regedit.exe and press enter. This will launch the registry editor.

3. Go to File > Connect Network Registry, by using this infected computer’s name or IP address.

4. Locate this entry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

5. At this entry there is a key names userinit, double click on the key and set its value to “C:\WINDOWS\System32\userinit.exe,“

Exit the regedit, restart the computer. This will work for most of the computers.

Another way  to fix : If you have an XP installation CD,boot up with the CD in the drive and let setup run.
The first "R" you come to is the Recovery Console. Select this.Just press enter for the password.At the Recovery Console command prompt type expand         D:\i386\userinit.ex_ C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe (where D is the CDROM drive)

Category: Registry, Repair, Tips, Tutorial, Windows