Access Denied: Configuring XP to Require Ctrl+Alt+Del for Logon

Our Windows XP workstations that belong to a domain behave like Windows 2000 and Windows NT at boot-up—the user must press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open the logon window before entering a username and password, then select the local computer name in the Domain drop-down list. But when an XP computer doesn't belong to the domain, the logon process is different. After booting, XP simply displays a list of local user accounts, as Figure 1 shows. When a user clicks an account, XP prompts the user for the password. We want our standalone XP machines to work the same way those that belong to a domain do. How can we change their behavior?

To configure standalone XP computers to use the classic logon window that you're familiar with from Win2K and NT, navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon registry subkey, then set the LogonType DWORD value to 0. A value of 0 directs XP to use the classic mode for the logon window. A value of 1 directs XP to use the new Welcome mode, which Figure 1 shows.

After you modify the registry, however, XP still won't require the Ctrl+Alt+Del sequence. To require the user to press Ctrl+Alt+Del, open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Local Security Policy snap-in; navigate to Security Settings, Local Policies, Security Options; and disable the Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL policy, as Figure 2 shows. Now, the standalone XP computer will require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Del before the OS will display the classic logon prompt from Win2K and NT. Note that XP complies with the Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL policy only if you've set LogonType to 0.