Member Avatar for r3b3l_04

Hi, we have an ongoing issue on our companies pc and laptops where the username fileds and password fields are missing when we press cont+Alt+Del. the only way around it is for us to keep rebuilding our machines and its causing us a lot of hassles.

leaving pc's on allows us to ping the machines and access it on our network but you cannot access registry at all and cannot logon locally.

our machines our all windows 2000 clients with novell client version Novell Client 4.90 SP2 on Novell backend.


pls help.

thx.

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Most likely cause: the Novell client replaces Microsoft’s GINA and changes how Winlogon shows the Ctrl+Alt+Del dialog; that replacement (NWGINA/Novell login) can suppress or alter the username/password fields on Windows 2000 clients. This explains why machines remain pingable but local logon/registry access appears broken — the logon path is being handled by the Novell component rather than the standard Winlogon UI. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick, non-destructive checks to try before rebuilding:

  • Boot to Safe Mode (limits third‑party hooks). If the standard username/password fields return, the Novell GINA is implicated.
  • From a working admin session (or offline hive — see below) verify/change the Winlogon GinaDLL to the Microsoft GINA and disable the Novell “initial login” so the Microsoft dialog appears first. Example registry locations to inspect (back up first):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
    GinaDLL = "MSGINA.DLL"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\Network Provider\Initial Login
    "Login When NWGina Not Loaded" = "no"

These changes are the recommended troubleshooting step from Novell to force the Microsoft logon UI. (support.novell.com)

If the workstation is unbootable to a usable account: boot WinPE/Recovery or attach the disk to another machine, load the offline SYSTEM/SOFTWARE hives in Regedit (File → Load Hive), make the GinaDLL/Novell Initial Login edits, unload and reboot. If the Novell client is corrupted, perform a clean uninstall and reinstall or upgrade to a supported client build — later Novell/Micro Focus client releases addressed several login/UI issues. Always export hives/values before editing. (learn.microsoft.com)

Cautions: do not enable AutoAdminLogon in production (passwords are stored insecurely); if autologin is required for kiosks use Sysinternals Autologon which stores the secret in LSA rather than plain registry text. Test changes on one machine, keep a local admin account for recovery, and involve Novell/Micro Focus support if the problem persists. As suggested, registry settings matter — but changing the GINA/Novell initial-login behavior often stops the repeated rebuild cycle reported by and is a different troubleshooting path than the separate “used PC asking domain” symptom mentioned by . (learn.microsoft.com)

Member Avatar for GTJack

Novell TID 10013350 references all the registry settings necessary to remember username and password, including using AutoLogin.

Member Avatar for pianist

i bought a used computer and i can't login is asking for username, password and domain i try to go into safe mode with the f8 but i can't help

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