Automatic NT Logon

Windows NT lets you store your domain name, username, and password in the registry to automate the logon process. To enable automatic logon, you must first create the AutoAdminLogon value. Open regedt32 and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon registry subkey. From the Edit menu, select Add Value. Enter

AutoAdminLogon

in the Value Name field. Select REG_SZ for the data type. Enter 1 in the String field and click OK.

Next, add your logon information to the registry. For the DefaultDomainName value, enter your domain name. For the DefaultUserName value, enter your logon username. For the DefaultPassword value, enter your logon password.

If the DefaultPassword value doesn't exist, select Add Value from the Edit menu. In the Value Name field, enter

DefaultPassword

Select REG_SZ for the data type. Finally, enter your password in the String field and click OK. If you don't enter your password in the String field, NT changes the AutoAdminLogon registry value from 1 (true) to 0 (false), thus disabling the AutoAdminLogon feature.

Close regedt32. Reboot your computer and restart NT. You will then be able to log on automatically.

You can bypass the AutoAdminLogon process and log on as a different user. Hold down the Shift key after a logoff or an NT restart.

Be aware that other users can also automatically log on to your computer. Another problem is timing conflicts. For example, if you have several network transports loaded, enabling automatic logon might cause NT to attempt to connect to network resources before the network transports load completely.

—Rajesh Mehta
[email protected]

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