Cannot Logon After Changing Keyboard Settings

 Last reviewed: October 18, 1995
Article ID: Q138354
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5 and 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5 and 3.51

SYMPTOMS

You have configured your U.S. version of Windows NT with the German keyboard layout and you have extended characters in your password. After changing your password, you cannot logon. You can only log on using ALT key combinations to create the extended characters in your password.

CAUSE

You installed the U.S. version of Windows NT with Express Setup. By using Express Setup, the U.S. keyboard becomes the default keyboard. You can only choose keyboard settings if you install Windows NT with Custom Setup.

NOTE: Keyboard settings are user specific. Although you selected the German keyboard settings, at logon time (no user is logged on yet) the default keyboard settings are used. So at logon time no country specific extended characters are available.

RESOLUTION

If you want to continue to use a password with extended characters, you must change the default keyboard settings in the registry as follows:

  1. Run Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE).

  2. From the HKEY_USERS subtree, go to the following key: 

          \.DEFAULT\Keyboard Layout

  3. Change value "Active" to the appropriate string. For example, the string 00000407 defines German keyboard layout, 00000409 defines US keyboard layout. See below for a list of Language IDs.

An alternative solution would be to modify the complete system default profile by saving the current user profile information as the system default profile using the User Profile Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

  • The default settings in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT are also used when you define a new user.
  • Below are the Language IDs supported by Windows NT 3.5x: 

          00000402  =  "Bulgarian"
      0000041a  =  "Croatian"
      00000405  =  "Czech"
      00000406  =  "Danish"
      00000813  =  "Dutch (Belgian)"
      00000413  =  "Dutch (Standard)"
      00000409  =  "English (American)"
      00000c09  =  "English (Australian)"
      00000809  =  "English (British)"
      00001009  =  "English (Canadian)"
      00001809  =  "English (Irish)"
      00001409  =  "English (New Zealand)"
      0000040b  =  "Finnish"
      0000080c  =  "French (Belgian)"
      00000c0c  =  "French (Canadian)"
      0000040c  =  "French (Standard)"
      0000100c  =  "French (Swiss)"
      00000c07  =  "German (Austrian)"
      00000407  =  "German (Standard)"
      00000807  =  "German (Swiss)"
      00000408  =  "Greek"
      0000040e  =  "Hungarian"
      0000040f  =  "Icelandic"
      00000410  =  "Italian (Standard)"
      00000810  =  "Italian (Swiss)"
      00000414  =  "Norwegian (Bokmal)"
      00000814  =  "Norwegian (Nynorsk)"
      00000415  =  "Polish"
      00000416  =  "Portuguese (Brazilian)"
      00000816  =  "Portuguese (Standard)"
      00000418  =  "Romanian"
      00000419  =  "Russian"
      0000041b  =  "Slovak"
      00000424  =  "Slovenian"
      0000080a  =  "Spanish (Mexican)"
      00000c0a  =  "Spanish (Modern Sort)"
      0000040a  =  "Spanish (Traditional Sort)"
      0000041d  =  "Swedish"
      0000041f  =  "Turkish"

KBCategory: kbnetwork kbsetup
KBSubcategory: ntsecurity ntsetup
Additional reference words: 3.50 3.51 prodnt



THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

Last reviewed: October 18, 1995
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.