Automatic logon Windows XP Visa 7

In case you have a Windows system that runs in an isolated secure environment (eg: at home) where there is no point of having to logon manually into the system using an user and a password (eg. you are home alone so who's gonna logon to your system, your cat?) then there is a simple hack that you might want to try it: the automatic logon Windows XP Vista 7.

Automatic logon Windows XP Vista 7

1. click the Start -> Run and enter regedit (the Windows Registry Editor app) then press OK to launch the app
2. in the registry editor navigate (the left side) the whole tree down to the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon; if you didn't find it then you did something wrong (check again), it MUST be there
3. on the right side lookup for some entry named DefaultUserName, DefaultPassword, DefaultDomainName
4. double-click (right-click -> Modify) each entry and set its appropriate value
5. Make sure the entry named AutoAdminLogon exists and is set to 1 otherwise create a String entry and set its value to 1
6. reboot Windows, next time it will logon automatically using your default username and password; that's all folks!

Depending on the Windows edition you are using (see Home vs Professional or whatever it is called nowadays) you might be able to change some of there settings using a Control Panel applet like Window Policy (or alike) but to be honest with you I am not scared to get a bit dirty with few bits from Windows Registry from time to time (everyone has a fetish, this is mine).

Caveat emptor: by setting the LegalNotice% entries the default logon might not work.

@edit: as a friend of mine noticed me, you may also try some other options available via some Windows utilities:

• on WinXP and later : open Start -> Run then enter "control userpassword2" where you may customize some logon options
• on Win7 and later: open Start -> Run then enter "netplwiz"

Now, if you think that this article was interesting don't forget to rate it. It shows me that you care and thus I will continue write about these things.

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Eugen Mihailescu

Founder/programmer/one-man-show at Cubique Software

Always looking to learn more about *nix world, about the fundamental concepts of math, physics, electronics. I am also passionate about programming, database and systems administration. 16+ yrs experience in software development, designing enterprise systems, IT support and troubleshooting.

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