Bypassing the Windows XP/2000 login window

Introduction

Windows XP and Windows 2000 have a login window that prompts for a username and password when starting up. This is not ideal for Simian workstations because it prevents an unattended reboot to open Simian automatically in the event of a power failure etc. The steps for the solution work for those users who use a Workgroup as their networking scheme. There is no way to bypass the Windows Login window for those users on a Domain. Since it is recommended to have your Air and Production workstations on their own network, most users will be using a Workgroup.

Solution

Go to the Start menu and choose Run. In the window that pops up, type "control userpasswords2" if using Windows XP (as shown in Figure 1) or "control userpasswords" if using Windows 2000 into the Open field and click OK.

Figure 1: Run window showing 'control userpasswords2' entered
In the 'User Accounts' window, highlight the user you would like Windows to automatically log in as, then un-check the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." option and click OK. Enter and confirm your password when prompted and click OK on all remaining windows.

Figure 2: The User Accounts window is shown with the Air username highlighted. The 'Users must enter a username and password to use this computer' option has not been unchecked
The next time you restart Windows, you will not be prompted for a username.

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