Actually I'm using (I think) your avatar as link hack

I have the default value set to { images folder}/no_img.gif But, I think what is happening is there is a field when a user signs up. The avatar field. For some reason it is blank and when the user signs up it shoots the blank field over and then it's blank in their edit profile.
I followed the instructions you wrote and it works like a charm, except when I get a new user. I'm using 2.26 by the way. Thanks in advance.