# XP asked for password that I didn't assign, then rebooted.  Should I be worried?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 25, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052 "2007-07-25T05:49:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052/1 "2007-07-25T05:49:57Z")

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I recently reformatted an old computer of mine and reinstalled Windows XP. After downloading some update from Microsoft’s site (it may have been SP2, but I don’t recall exactly) the login screen asked me for a password that I had not supplied to it. I hit enter a couple times and XP then restarted the computer. I know that it’s bad practice to not supply a password, but the only thing I’ve done so far with the machine is update it through MS’s website and install some trusted applications. My question: Is this known behavior for an XP security upgrade, or might this be evidence that some malicious software is on my system?

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**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052/2 "2007-07-25T06:00:59Z")

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Do you have an administrator account set up? Or multiple user accounts? I had a program create an administrator account that caused that screen to start appearing.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052/3 "2007-07-25T06:41:46Z")

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Multiple user accounts, only one of which has administrative power. I wasn’t surprised by the multiple-user login screen, just the fact that it asked me for a password.

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**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-asked-for-password-that-i-didnt-assign-then-rebooted-should-i-be-worried/413052/4 "2007-07-25T12:47:47Z")

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It always asks for a password, even if you supply none. That’s how the secure start up is.