JSI Tip 6237. How do I force an attempt to unlock a workstation to require online authentication?

When you log on to a computer, the Winlogon service stores a hash of your password. When you attempt to unlock the workstation, if the password you enter matches the password hash, the workstation is unlocked. If the password doesNOT match the hash, a log on is attempted, and if successful, the local hash is updated and the workstation is unlocked. If the log on fails, the unlock will fail.

The above process limits network traffic.

If you prefer to force a log on, instead of relying on the hash:

1. Copy / Paste the following to a ForceUnlockLogon.reg file:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon]
"ForceUnlockLogon"=dword:00000001

2. Merge the ForceUnlockLogon.reg file with your registry, or run regedit /s ForceUnlockLogon.reg.

3. This change will take effect after the next restart.