I've experienced the exact same problem myself.
I have no idea what causes this problem (although one person suggested a registry 
key, which didn't exist and therefore was not the problem) but I have found a semi-workaround.

First, make sure you have at least one user set up on the computer.  Go to Start, 
Settings, Control Panel, Users.  If you see a list of users, then you're OK.  Otherwise, 
follow the instructions to set up a new user on your computer.  When it asks you 
how to set up the user's personalized folders (if you select to have each user have 
their own settings) , tell it to make a copy of the current folders.

If it says you need to restart to use the new user, do it.

Next, you need to set up the "Microsoft Family Logon" (if it isn't already set up).

Right-click Network Neighborhood (NKA: My Network Places) and select "Properties".

If you don't see the "Microsoft Family Logon", you need to add it by clicking "Add", 
"Client", then selecting "Microsoft Family Logon", and clicking "OK".

You may be asked to re-start.  Do it.

After the Microsoft Family Logon is set up, you want to set it as your default logon. 
 Right-click Network Neighborhood, select Properties, and set "Primary Network Logon" 
to "Microsoft Family Logon".

If it asks you to restart, do it.

Last step here...  You need to add a string to your registry.

Open Regedit (Start, Run, type "regedit"), and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon\

Add a String Value, name it "MustBeValidated" (no quotes)
Give it a value of 1

After you do that, restart your computer.

Windows will show your logon screen, shortly followed by an error message saying 
that your user name could not be validated by the server.  Hit OK, and you should 
be able to log on from there.

This isn't a complete solution, but it saves you the trouble of having to wait for 
the "Default" user to load, then log off that user and log in under your own.

Hope this helps.  And I hope SOMEONE can come up with a complete solution some day.

BTW:  What kind of system are you running on?  I'm wondering if there are some common 
factors involved with this problem.

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