text: why am i getting an error msg of "windows cannot open the user accounts control panel" in win xp? i just re-installed win xp and now i am getting an error message of "windows cannot open the user accounts control panel" when i try to access user accounts in control panel. how do i fix it?  serious answers only, please! type  control userpasswords  in start > run and click ok. this will open user accounts.  please quote the exact error message displayed. this will help in locating the fault much easily.