Houston Chronicle Help Line Column: A Password? Skip Security If You Dare
By Jay Lee, Houston Chronicle
Apr. 17–I have Windows XP Home Edition installed on my desktop PC and on my notebook. When I boot up my desktop, it pauses and asks me to log in. I just hit Enter, without entering a password, and it goes all the way to the desktop screen. With my laptop, it makes no pause and goes directly to the desktop screen. How can I avoid the pause and password request on my PC?
A: I prefer to have my computer require a user name and a password before being able to access the system.
If you are not concerned about that and want to have your system wide open for the sake of saving a few seconds and keystrokes, who am I to stand in your way?
Simply click Start then Run and type in “control userpasswords2″ and hit OK. On the Users tab, uncheck the box next to “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.” Click Apply.
Put in the user name and password of the account you want to have automatically log in. In your case, just the user name and a blank password.
Then open up the Control Panel and double-click on User Accounts then Change the Way Users Log On and Off and uncheck Use the Welcome Screen and Use Fast User Switching.
That should do it.
Q: When I start my computer, a box comes up saying, “RTHDCPL.EXE — Illegal System DLL Relocation.” What’s this mean, and how do I fix it?
A: RTHDCPL.EXE is part of the audio controls for the Realtek HD Audio Control Panel, part of the software load for certain Realtek sound cards.
You might recall that Microsoft released some emergency security updates a few weeks ago. As it happens, if you install these updates, they will sometimes cause the problem you are experiencing.
Microsoft had to rush these patches to market to address a major security flaw. So this problem is not surprising.
Microsoft acknowledges the problem and offers a fix just for computers affected by this technical hiccup. You can find it in Microsoft KB935448 at www.support.microsoft.com/kb/935448. Just review the Web site, then download and install the update.
Q: When I boot my computer, I get an error that says: “Application failed to initialize 0x800106ba. A problem caused Windows Defender Service to stop. To correct this, power off and on, or consult Help and Support on how to start a service manually.” What should I do?
A: I have been frantically telling anyone who would listen that it would be prudent to scan their systems for spyware. I even went so far as to publish the Jay Lee Patented Spyware Removal System at www.geekradio.com/spyware, which includes links to my favorite anti-spyware tools, one of which is Windows Defender.
At the time, this program was in what is known as beta release. Well, the beta period has expired, and so has the program. The error message is a rather non-intuitive indication that you need to uninstall your beta version and go to microsoft.com and download the current version.
You might want to make sure you are up to date on Adaware, which is up to version 1.06, and Spybot Search and Destroy, which is at version 1.4.
Write Jay Lee at helpline@chron.com. You can view more questions and answers at the Help Line Blog at blogs.chron.com/helpline. Lee co-hosts the weekly radio show Technology Bytes from 8-10 p.m. Wednesdays on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston. The program is also available on the Internet at www.geekradio.com. Lee cannot personally answer all reader questions.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Houston Chronicle
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