It is possible to make the logon automaticly, which is very convient when using a strong password to avoid network attacks but still wants to have easy physical access to the machine. It is possible to configure automatic logon with Tweak UI, but it can also be done through REGEDIT.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows NT \CurrentVersion \Winlogon]
DefaultUserName = "MyUserName"
DefaultPassword = "MyPassword"
DefaultDomainName = "MyNetworkDomain or MyComputerName"
AutoAdminLogon = "1"
Note the security policy "Don't Display Last Username" must be disabled for the automatic logon to work. This can be done with this STRING registry value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software \Microsoft \Windows NT \CurrentVersion \Winlogon]
DontDisplayLastUserName = "0"
Note in Win2k/XP one can force autologon, so when a user logs off it will automaticly logon again (Though it will disable remote logon):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software \Microsoft \Windows NT \CurrentVersion \Winlogon]
ForceAutoLogon = "1"
Note it is possible bypass the automatic logon in case one need to access another account than the default. This is done by holding down the keyboard key SHIFT while Windows is starting or holding down SHIFT while logging off. It can be disabled with this registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software \Microsoft \Windows NT \CurrentVersion \Winlogon]
IgnoreShiftOverride = "1"
Note in Win2k/XP when using Tweak UI to setup the username and password for autologin, then the password will be encrypted and saved at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SECURITY \Policy \Secrets \DefaultPassword]
Note in Win2k/Xp one can also configure automatic logon in the Control Panel by opening "Users and Passwords" and unchecking "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" and it will prompt for the username and password for the automatic login. But it doesn't work if logging on to a domain.