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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 11:30:57 am

Title: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 11:30:57 am
Ever Since I Installed All Of Microsofts So Called Fixes It Now After A Re-boot Makes Me Select What user To Log-In As.

Since I only Have One User (Me) I Wish To have Windows Reboot Right Up Into Windows Desktop.

Any Help On This?
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: Marko on June 08, 2003, 11:48:33 am
Is yours is the only user account, and is it password protected?

OK, so yours is the only account!!!

Did you set a password for it?

If you did, XP will stop at the welcome screen. If you didn't, are you seeing the welcome screen, or the "old-style" w2k login box?
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 11:52:54 am
>> are you seeing the welcome screen
Yes

I have no Password

Windows XP Pro

And to get to windows i must press an Icon
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: Marko on June 08, 2003, 11:55:18 am
and yours is the only icon on the welcome screen?
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 12:01:28 pm
Yep.

if i turn off the welcom screen then i get the old style win 2000 logon asking for a password
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: Marko on June 08, 2003, 12:17:26 pm
while not getting to the cause, you could try the "tweakui" xp powertoy from MS.....

http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

It has, amongst other things, an "autologon" setting you can make. It's really just a frontend for a range of registry edits, and it may put things back the way you like them.
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 12:19:37 pm
yea i have been looking thru the registry (manualy)

it seems per the new updates there is only two ways to login. before you could bypass this login crap.

Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 12:37:44 pm
Everyone stay calm

everything is working fine now, it loads up into admin now without me doing anything.

everyone can sleep better now.
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: Marko on June 08, 2003, 12:46:35 pm
Quote
Everyone stay calm

everything is working fine now, it loads up into admin now without me doing anything.

everyone can sleep better now.


You know, you really shouldn't use the administrator account for everday usage. You should make a user account for yourself that is in the administartors group. If it is the only user account you make, and it's not password protected, and you haven't used regedit to force the administrator account onto the welcome screen, windows will log you on directly and present with your desktop.
If, for any reason, you wish to use the admin account, you get to it from the welcom screen by pressing ctrl+alt+del twice, which will bring up the old w2k style login, which you use to login with the admin account.

-marko.
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 12:54:59 pm
>> You know, you really shouldn't use the
>> administrator account for everday usage.
why?
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: MachineHead on June 08, 2003, 03:15:06 pm
Quote
>> You know, you really shouldn't use the
>> administrator account for everday usage.
why?


Yeah, why? This is the first time I've seen this.
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: KingSparta on June 08, 2003, 03:17:56 pm
Marko

I did find an Option In Tweek To Auto Log You On As Any User You Want.

I set it up like that.

Thanks for the tip
Title: Re: Help! With Windows Log-On
Post by: Marko on June 08, 2003, 10:54:17 pm
The "administrator" account is a prime target for ne'er-do-well's who may wish to try their hand at compromising your system. The account name is a "given", leaving only the password to find, and if you haven't set a password on the admin account, well how easy do you want to make things? The admin account, unlike any others, does not get "locked out", no matter how many incorrect logon attempts are made.

Paranoid? Maybe, but would you like to take the chance? The default admin account created during windows install has many special permissions. I'm not exactly sure what these are, but it's odds on that your local neighbourhood script-kiddie does. Read almost any windows security advice site and they'll tell you, not only to not use the default admin account for everyday usage, but to rename it, create a dummy admin account even.
The hint is in the simple fact that the admin account is hidden from the standard welcome screen. In the years I've been using XP I've never needed to logon as the administrator. I see it more like an account that would be used on larger corporate networks etc. etc.
Try googling for some XP admin security advice.
Windows XP - Home User Self-Defence (http://www.uksecurityonline.com/husdg/wxpp2.php) has some interesting reading. For the purposes of this thread, have a read of their "rename the admin account" (http://www.uksecurityonline.com/husdg/windowsxp/renameadmin.htm) advice.
Remember though, while a little paranoia can be a healthy thing, too much just gets in the way and spoils things. Read a little and decide how tight you want or need things locked down.
The one thing they all appear to be unanimous about is that you really should have a strong password on your admin account, and you shouldn't be using it for general purpose stuff.
:)

-marko.