Login Automatically on Windows XP Home / Professional
If your Windows XP installation forces you to login every time you reboot, you can automate the login process easily so that you won’t have to login again.
Note that for security reasons, you would usually want to have a password, but for a home computer you may not care.
Go to the Start menu, click Run, and type in the following:
control userpasswords2
You will be presented with a window similar to this one:
Uncheck the box, and click the OK button. You will be presented with a password dialog for the currently logged in user.
Now when you reboot your system, you will automatically be logged in.
This can be very useful when you are installing a bunch of software or testing out configurations.
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I tried this and it did not work. Each time I boot up, it still wants me to enter a password even though I removed the check mark. Any other solutions?
I also tried this and it still forces me to choose a logon name (there is only one–mine) before loging me on. any other help available?
this worked for no problems at all thanks mate
Great tip. Thanks. Make sure you just hit enter when it prompts you for a password.
Also works on Vista!
I had made a username to try and connect to a W98 machine (didn’t work). Then Vista decided that this user should sign in automatically each time the cumputer booted. But it was a bogus user. I then deleted that user, and it still tried to sign in, giving a message “unknown user”, but not fixing it.
The tip fixed it (in revers of course, turning password on, instead of off).
I am having problems setting windows logon to log in without me having to click on an image and having no password for it. This first all started when my now new partner wanted to have her own login to make her own desktop, but i didnt like and could not revert back to normal ie pc boots up and is ready for what ever i want to do rather than have a welcome screen with my name and hers there to click on 1st, so now that i have deleted her account and tried doing (control userpasswords2) and following the proceedure that now it had created a new administrator i cant delete, i have since changed it to guest but i still cant get my pc to boot up without first clicking on my profile rather than having none come up as i have said and it all ready for me to use straight away, please can you tell me step by step of how to correct this, many thanks andy
hiya
I’d like to know the “step by step” also, please. I would like my (and only mine) computer to just come on without having to click no the pic..I Thank you in advance.
bdot
make sure you have two administrator accounts, the one you want to keep and the one you want to delete; go back to ‘control passwords2′; enable tick, change the unwanted administrator to a guest, click apply; unable the tick again and your wanted administrator will become the default, click, click apply after each change
SysInternals has a program called “Autologin” that saves a users password and will login in automatically at system boot – no need to click on any icon. You can also run the program to disable autologin if you have enabled it. It works fine on XP.
this is nice except it instead says “loading my personal settings”, on some other machines i work on, it just bypasses the welcome screen.. is there a way to just have it boot right to windows, no welcome screen, please help, thanks
I want to keep a password at work but in XP Pro we have to change it every 90 days. Any way to use just one password and keep it??
People, please note after you type in “control userpasswords2″ into Run…, you have to select/highlight the username you want to have login automatically. This tip works perfectly, thanks How-to Geek!
I have a computer that has a user ID and password set up on it. How can I by pass this to get into the computer. It was from an apartment where the people were evicted so I can’t contact the people who it used to belong to. Can you help me by pass?
and if the user accounts window does not have the option to check or remove the check from “users must enter a user name and password to use this computer,” how are we to make a particular user id automatically login?
Looks good mate. Hopefully works
Many of you mentioned you wish to do this with your computer at work or school.
If “control userpasswords2″ did not work, chances are your computer is a member of a domain.
There is another way to set your computer to autologin even if it is a member of a domain, using a change to the windows registry.
Exceptions and Warnings
1. Caveat. Domain controller scripts, group policy and/or other active directory actions on the part of network administrators may simply remove your changes or render them inoperable.
2. More importantly. This change to the registry is NOT SECURE. Your password will be stored in the registry in PLAIN TEXT. Anyone/anything that can gain access to your computer’s registry may easily get your valid userid and password.
3. A final warning. If you do this with your work computer, you may be subject to disciplinary action, including termination of employment, in accordance with your company’s policies.
Registry Change
DO NOT attempt to make changes to the registry if you are not comfortable working in the Windows registry, as you may render your computer unbootable.
Navigate to this branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
The following two values should exist. If they don’t exist, DO NOT create them. STOP HERE. Do not use this hack.
1. Change/verify the value of DefaultUserName – this is your userid
2. Change/verify the value of DefaultDomainName – this is your domain where you login
The following value may or may not exist:
DefaultPassword
If this does not exist, create it as the type ’string value’.
Set it to your current password.
NOTE: If your password is changed, also update this value BEFORE you log off, or you may not be able to log back in to your computer.
I have a serious problem I would like your assistance. I forgot my administrator password and I cannot even reach and see my desktop icons. PC start opening and it stops when the rectangular image appears asking to CTRL+ALT+DEL. Days ago PC was reaching the step where the only thing to do was to insert the password, however now even with CTR+ALT+DEL I cannot reach where I have been asked for the password. How to fix this problem taking into account that my knowledge have finnished.
The problem is that I cannot reach the icon desktop. I have tried using the Windows XP CD, but it doesnot work. Please, help.
i want to oper new user in administrator please give me advice
i stumbled upon this threw google search, i was actually looking how to do the opposite of this example… still got the job done.
thanks for the help