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#1
I broke my logon screen, can't get into Windows.
I tried to edit my login screen by altering C:\Windows\System32\authui.dll. Now all I get after the Windows loading screen is a black screen with only a white mouse cursor that I can move around.
Windows would not let me replace the file--even after I took ownership of it and altered the permissions--because it was in use by explorer. Knowing I could very well run into some kind of issue, I made a backup of the original file, saving it with a new name in System32. I used resource hacker to save a new edited version to my desktop. The only change I made was that I altered the length and width of the user image from 190rp to 0rp in order to disable it.
I figured I could not make any more progress in Windows easily, so I booted into Debian and replaced the file with my new edited version. I tried booting into Windows and faced this problem of an invisible login screen. I booted back into Debian and got rid of my edited version of the file and renamed the backup to authui.dll. Naturally, I expected everything to go back to normal. However, this seems to have made no improvement and I continue to see this black screen. Booting into safe mode results in the same problem. I do still have my Windows install disk. Unfortunately, my DVD drive no longer functions so I cannot boot using DVD drives. I don't see any easy way to run a Windows installation repair.
Any idea why this is happening or how to resolve it?