Temporary Password Failure at Logon

Please note, I am NOT seeking password recovery information. I know my password, and - so far - it is working. I'm using XP Pro, SP2 (recently) updated to SP3. Within the past year, when I logon and enter the same password I've used since 2005 my first attempt often fails, as if I've typed a letter wrong. At first, I thought that was the case. In fact, it probably was, a few times.

But even when I type slowly and carefully, it sometimes fails. Yet when I type the same password again, it finally allows me in. I have considered I might not be typing as carefully as I think - that my fingers might be hitting 'extra' keys by mistake. But, once I log in, I have no more trouble than I ever have entering my password to open KeePass, so it seems unlikely the problem is my typing dexterity.

Over time, the problem seems to be slowly becoming worse (originally, I needed a second attempt to get in; now, I sometimes need three or four attempts). Since I updated to SP3 and / or the most recent "MS Tuesday" updates, there has been a slight but noticeable increase in the frequency of problems.

I'm backing everything up more carefully, I can tell you, but what I'd like to know are two things. First, does anyone have any idea what this implies? Will I eventually just need to reinstall Windows? Is there any way I can repair this problem? Also, in case it helps if things get really nasty, is there a way to create a password recovery / reset disk on a USB stick?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Thanks.

Since the keyboard works fine the whole time I'm using the computer, it seems more likely to me it is the password file - or the file that checks the password - which is causing trouble. As far as reinstalling Windows, I guess I wasn't clear. I'm not intending to do that just to clear this up. I was assuming, if the problem keeps on getting worse, sooner or later I won't be able to log on. Depending on what the reason is for that, if I can't access the computer, then, well, Boot & Nuke and a reinstall makes a lot more sense at that point.

What I intended was more along the line of "Does anyone know what this means, and how likely am I to be that desperate one of these days? ". I do prefer advance warning before events like that, especially considering all the junk I've got on here. I'm doing things Microsoft won't even officially admit are possible (4,000+ fonts installed at one point, although with all the apps I've put on here, I've had to cut that back a bit) and only running slightly slow, so I'm really not eager to disturb the apple cart if I don't have to.

 

Thanks.

I suppose that's a good idea. I was thinking of trying something like that myself, but thought I ought to see if anyone had seen something like this before. If it was a bug with the way the password is checked, I was afraid any fooling around might make things worse. But recreating the password does seem to be the next logical step. Thanks.

 

Well, after I recreated my password, I only had to retype it once. Of course, I don't know how that will hold up over time.

 

Thanks for the tip. I suspect you're right about the user account being somewhat corrupted. This began just after I had trouble with my router. After a nearby lightning strike my router settings were all messed up, and it wouldn't let me reinstall the firmware. It acted up for about a month, then died. So the corruption probably has the same root cause: I didn't suspect it because nothing was obviously messed up - and, well, the first few times who can be sure they just didn't slip up when typing the password?

Well, I haven't reinstalled Windows at all since I got this system in late March of 2005 - considering all the work I'll have to go to migrating all my custom settings to a new account, it might just be worth starting over and getting all the stray junk out of my Registry. I just hope I can finish up playing with all the apps I've picked up and been meaning to test - then I won't need to mess up the new install.

This just makes me glad I back up anything I don't want to lose pretty often. Until I get around to reinstalling, I think I'm going the "save two copies every 5-10 minutes" route.

 

Thanks, but I think Arie's right. Even if I didn't think of it until he pointed it out everything fits with my user account being somewhat corrupted. Which means I'll just have to reinstall one of these days - setting up a new profile the way I want it is enough work, I might as well get a clean Registry at the same time. This install is four years old, and I've moved a lot of junk on and off of here, so it isn't as though I haven't thought of reinstalling now and then.