Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Automatically logging into windows

We have one Windows XP machine at home that is used by the whole family. When I first set it up I created an admin user and a low priviledged user 'mike' and gave both passwords. The default setup with XP is to automatically log you in as administrator (yes, I know, no wonder there are so many successfull exploits out there for windows), but after you create accounts and give them passwords you arrive at the logon screen after booting up. I wanted to keep both accounts with passwords but to automatically login to 'mike' when the machine booted up. type the following at the command prompt (while logged in as adminstrator): control userpasswords2 The 'user accounts' dialog opens. Uncheck 'users must enter a username and password to use this computer' and click 'apply'. A dialog pops up asking you to specify the user that will be automatically logged on. Enter the name and password, click OK and you're done.

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