Automatic Logon for Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008

Josh — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:01:00 +0000

So this is a basic one and a quick one that comes up quiet often. Be it to improve the startup performance of your PC (avoiding the login portion) or if you have a machine that is dedicated to a task that needs to startup and login as a specific user automatically should it ever be reset/restarted/power cycled… It really is quiet simple! I remember I used to modify a few keys in the registry to make this happen however it seems this is no longer required. Enter, the control userpasswords2 menu! .

Start by holding the Windows Key (between ALT and CTRL) and pressing R
This will open the RUN window.
In the RUN window that opens type the following.

control userpasswords2

Then press OK or enter. see image below(screen shot from Server 2008).

Following That you will be presented with the below menu. Uncheck the box shown below that says ‘Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.’ and then click Apply
After clicking Apply you will be given a login box, as seen below, where you can enter the login credentials that will be used upon startup to auto log the machine in.
Select OK and OK out of the “userpasswords2″ User Accounts window and test your new configuration.

I’d like to point out that this is not a very secure function and I would recommend against it, however in some circumstances it is a requirement and for that reason I’ve done this short post.

Any questions, leave them in the comments. Cheers

Tech Help Blog » Desktop Tech (Windows)

Automatic Logon for Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008