Skip the XP Login Page

Windows security updates are undeniably a good thing, but they can be pesky at times. One typical piece of Windows strangeness is that after a couple of the patches your computer will no longer go straight to the desktop at bootup, but will display the login screen. This can be especially annoying since most machines have only one user account on them anyway. Not to worry, this guide will take you through the few steps it takes to have Windows XP skipping that login screen and booting straight to your desktop.

First, you'll need to click "Start", then "Run" and inside of the run dialogue type "control userpasswords2" The screen shown below should appear.
(userpasswords2.jpg)



Now, first instinct tells you to uncheck the box that says "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" and call it good.

While that is definitely one of the steps, don't do it just yet. You'll want to highlight the default user account first, and then uncheck the box. Windows will autoboot to whatever account is highlighted when you uncheck the box.

Now, after you've unchecked the box, click OK. "Automatically Log On" should be the next dialog box that you see. Don't enter a password and click OK.

That's all! You've told Windows XP what account you want as the default and it will now automatically load that account, and should stay there unless told otherwise. (If you log off, etc) Reboot, and test.

Link: (Thanks to www.crueseinformatique.net for this tip!)

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