Willow Pond PC Tips:
Windows XP Auto Login
     
Windows XP Auto Login

If you're willing to accept the security risk, you can configure Windows XP to automatically login a user if your computer is not part of a domain.
  1. Click Start, click Run, and type: control userpasswords2. This is just one of many handy shortcuts to control panel settings.
  2. A User Accounts window will open. Uncheck the box "Users must enter a username and password to use this computer" check box [Figure 1].
  3. Click Apply.
  4. Another window will now open and enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK (See Note if you are using XP Home) [Figure 2].
  5. Click OK again and you're all done.

This feature allows other anyone to start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use, but can pose a security risk since anyone can just turn the machine on and access your files.

Note: With Windows XP Home, attempting to auto-login as the default "Administrator" will result in an error message.

Reference: Microsoft Article ID: 315231 (also includes registry edits for cases where the PC is part of a domain)

Uncheck the box shown here
Figure 1: Uncheck the "Users must enter a username..."

Figure 2 - Enter user name and password here (Please note that a fictitious account name was used in this example)
Figure 2: Enter User name and Password

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