Password corruption in Unbuntu 12.04 on dual boot -- how can I recover
 

My login acct password is corrupt after reboot following Ubuntu 12.04 dist. How can I recover?

Unbuntu was installed after Win 7; this is a dual boot system. I have seen posts about Grub and recovery but can't seem to get there.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Try this
http://naveenubuntu.blogspot.com/201...untu-1204.html

That link is assuming that I have GRUB installed, which I do not. If GRUB is required then how do I install it? I can't get anything in Linux now except a Guest acct login which has practically no features available...

What bootloader do you have installed?

If this is a normal install (read: not wubi or modified by you), you will have grub. Start your computer and (after the POST) press <shift> and keep it pressed till the grub menu shows.

Thanks for the explanation; I was able to get to recovery via Grub. I changed my login password, but I am still having the same issue from login; when I enter password and then enter, it appears an attempt is made to login but the system returns to the login screen. So apparently this was not a password corruption problem per se. Any ideas on what the cause might be? Any logs, etc to look at? Thanks.

Try creating another user & login

I'm not reading correctly again :( If you have a dual boot, grub should already have been there allowing you to choose between Ubuntu and Windows.

Are you using an encrypted home directory? Are your login problems related to the graphical environment only or also to the consoles?

In case you don't know
At the graphical login screen, press <ctrl><alt><Fx> (x being a number from 1 to 6). You will get a text based screen stating 'login:'. Type your username and press <enter>. Next type your password and press <enter>; note that, while typing your password, you will not see anything happening; just type it.

You can usually go back to the graphical environment with the key combination <alt><F7> (sometimes it seems to be <alt><F8>).