I recently reinstalled Windows XP Professional on a Dell D420 that has a biometric fingerprint scanner which is utilized by Wave Systems Embassy Security Suite with the Dell Trusted Platform Module(TPM). I thought I had it working properly after the reinstall but I kept running into errors so I attempted to follow the documentation to delete users, enroll fingerprints different ways, and other instructions that I could find on the Wave Systems web site. I seemed to always end up at the same place which was I could type in a password or swipe my fingerprint but when the attempt was made to automatically login to Windows XP a error would pop up stating that no fingerprints were active for this user. Once I clicked the OK button on the error I could swipe the exact same fingerprint and I would login to Windows without issue. Below are details regarding the error, other steps I attempted to resolve the issue, and the final steps that resolved my problem.

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My Dell d420 came with a biometric fingerprint scanner which is configured using the Wave Systems Embassy Security Center. If you have recently reinstalled the OS on your laptop more than likely the operating system configuration is out of sync with the TPM(Trusted Platform Module) Security Chip. This means that the biometric security will work preboot however it will not work for Windows logon. So you will not be able to swipe your fingerprint and automatically logon to Windows securely and you will also not be able to lock your computer and log back into Windows by swiping your fingerprint.

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I changed the system board on my Dell Latitude D420 because of the on-board Ethernet port only working some of the time. After replacing the system board it is required to enable TPM again and activate it for Windows login.

First you will need to enable TPM in the BIOS.

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