IMPORTANT: The autologon feature is convenient; however, this feature may be a security risk. If you set a computer for autologon, anyone who can physically obtain access to the computer can gain access to all of the computer's contents, including any network or networks it is connected to. Additionally, when autologon is turned on, the password is stored in the registry in plain text. The specific registry key that stores this value can be remotely read by the Authenticated Users group. This setting is only recommended for cases it which the computer is physically secured and steps have been taken to make sure that untrusted users cannot remotely access the registry.
Use Registry Editor to turn on automatic logon
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To use Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to turn on automatic logon, follow these steps:
NOTE: If no DefaultPassword string is specified, Windows automatically changes the value of the AutoAdminLogonkey from 1 (true) to 0 (false), disabling the AutoAdminLogon feature.
Registry change will not work if the “Logon Banner†is defined on the server either by a Group Policy object (GPO) or by a local policy. When policy is changed to not impact server, the feature works as expected.
An interactive console logon that has a different user on the server changes the DefaultUserName registry entry as the last logged on user indicator. AutoAdminLogon relies on the DefaultUserName entry to match the user and the password. Therefore, AutoAdminLogon may fail. You may configure a shutdown script to set the correct DefaultUserName entry for AutoAdminLogonAs. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
This article describes how to configure Windows to automate the logon process by storing your password and other pertinent information in the registry database. With this feature, other users can start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on.Â
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Notes To bypass the AutoAdminLogon process and to log on as a different user, hold down the SHIFT key after you log off or after Windows restarts.Â
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324737
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