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When Windows wants what it cannot have: Cannot find logon.exe

Michael Sheena's photo
SF Computers Examiner

Cannot find 'logon.exe' is one of those annoying message you don't need on a Saturday

Good old Microsoft Windows XP, always finding a new way to get under your skin.  Take for example this weekend.  A quick visit to my aunt's house yielded an annoying error upon startup, "Windows cannot find logon.exe."  As they said on Seinfeld as the Nutria hat shredded all over the Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant, "That's not good for anybody."

Googling around, it appears that this problem is easily fixed for Windows XP users.  The short story is this, using the registry editor navigate to:  HKLM>Software>Microsoft>Windows NT>  Winlogon and double click on the "shell" name.  A dialog box opens allowing you to modify the values.  You'll find that it has "Explorer.exe" followed by "Logon.exe" in the box.  Erase the "Logon.exe" portion of the entry and click "OK".  Close the editor and reboot. 

However, those instructions are a bit dry.  Click to view a slideshow for a visual representation of how to fix this. 

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Slideshow: Fixing 'Windows cannot find logon.exe' error

10 photos
Grrrr. Here is the error message.

Slideshow: Fixing 'Windows cannot find logon.exe' error

, SF Computers Examiner

Michael Sheena's first computer in the 1980s was a Timex Sinclair 1000 with a 16K memory expansion unit. Since that time, Michael's love of computers has remained strong and he has spent the past couple decades maintaining and growing computer networks. Two constants throughout the years have...

Comments

  • Kenny 2 years ago

    Thanks a million. This has been on my screen for weeks every time I started so I finally got tired of it and checked you out, followed your instructions and presto....good as new again. Again....thanks

  • Michael 2 years ago

    @Kenny

    Cool! Glad this post was able to help you out!

  • Jace 2 years ago

    Thanks for the solution!

  • Michael 2 years ago

    @Jace

    WooHoo! Congrats on getting rid of that pesky warning.

  • Anthony 2 years ago

    Perfect Fix! Thanks!

  • Tony 2 years ago

    Michael,

    Thanks so much, I really appreciate your well laid out format to fix this problem. Sorting through all the rubbish on the web about this and then running into your explanation was so professional and refreshing! Owe you one bud!

  • Michael 2 years ago

    @Tony

    Thanks! That means a lot to me!

  • Tim 2 years ago

    You are the man!

  • Nuno 2 years ago

    Just want to thank you, yours was the simplest and most effective solution for this annoyance.

  • Michael 2 years ago

    @Tim & @Nuno

    Glad I could help!

  • TJ 2 years ago

    Thanks a lot for this fix. The slide show was perfect. Easy to follow and a perfect fix. Thanks again!

  • Doug 2 years ago

    So easy with your instructions. It worked great. Thank you very much.

  • Boomer 2 years ago

    Excellent fix... followed your registry instructions
    above... worked great. (Wife's computer with XP has the
    Explorer.exe logon.exe AND No Welcome screen problem). IF it's
    a bug spy bot didn't find it and logon.exe was probably the "Trigger". We'll see... THANKS AGAIN.

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