149. Auto logon for Windows XP (Easy)

Would you rather not have to log on after your computer starts? If you’re the only person who uses your computer, you can make life a little easier by skipping the Welcome screen completely and having Microsoft Windows XP take you straight to your desktop.

To automatically log on to Windows XP upon startup

1.Click Start, and then click Run.
Note: Remember your user name at the top of the Start menu, because you’ll need it later.

2.In the Open box, type 'control userpasswords2' (without quotes) and click OK.

3.Clear the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box. Click OK.

4.Click the User name box, type the user name that was displayed on the Start menu in step 1. If you normally type a password to log on, type your password in both the Password and Confirm Password boxes. Otherwise, leave these boxes blank. Click OK.

Auto logon now allows anyone to start and use your computer without typing a password.

Note: Keep in mind that you should not enable auto logon if you need privacy for any files on your computer. If you need to maintain privacy, create separate user accounts for everyone in your home, and protect your account with a password.

131. Select theme and color scheme for welcome screen

With this tweaks you will be able to modify which color selection of the default theme is shown when the computer start up screen is displayed. Currently since there is only one theme you can only change the color scheme for the theme but in the future when more themes are available for XP you will be able to change which theme is used in the same place in the windows registry.

1. Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.
2. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager
3. Locate the key ColorName
4. Right Click on it and select modify.
5. Change where it says "NormalColor" to "Metallic"
6. Click Ok, and exit regedit
7. Restart

Note: To go back to the old color scheme durring startup just change "Metallic" back to "NormalColor" Once more themes are released you will be able to modify the DllName key to select different themes.

124. Add administator account to welcome screen

Easy way to add the Administrator user to the Welcome Screen:

Start the Registry Editor

Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList \

Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD Value Name the new value Administrator. Double-click this new value, and enter 1 as it's Value data.

Close the registry editor and restart.

123. Change your logon screen to Windows 2000 style

If you are already using classic style log on, this rather lengthy tweak will completely change the log on to the Windows 2000/NT style we're all used to.

Step1: Back up the following registry keys so you can revert to the default XP style later. Click each key in the left pane of the registry editor and select File-Export. Choose a name to save each key as a 'reg' file.

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

Step 2: Create a new '.reg' file by copy-paste the following entries. Do this in Notepad or another text editor ... do not use a word processor like MS Word. Include only the text BETWEEN the lines starting and ending with //. Right click on the new 'reg' file and select "Merge". Log off or reboot to see the changes.


//START COPY BELOW THIS LINE//
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]
"ThemeActive"="0"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors]
"ActiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"ActiveTitle"="10 36 106"
"AppWorkSpace"="128 128 128"
"Background"="58 110 165"
"ButtonAlternateFace"="181 181 181"
"ButtonDkShadow"="64 64 64"
"ButtonFace"="212 208 200"
"ButtonHilight"="255 255 255"
"ButtonLight"="212 208 200"
"ButtonShadow"="128 128 128"
"ButtonText"="0 0 0"
"GradientActiveTitle"="166 202 240"
"GradientInactiveTitle"="192 192 192"
"GrayText"="128 128 128"
"Hilight"="10 36 106"
"HilightText"="255 255 255"
"HotTrackingColor"="0 0 128"
"InactiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"InactiveTitle"="128 128 128"
"InactiveTitleText"="212 208 200"
"InfoText"="0 0 0"
"InfoWindow"="255 255 225"
"Menu"="212 208 200"
"MenuText"="0 0 0"
"Scrollbar"="212 208 200"
"TitleText"="255 255 255"
"Window"="255 255 255"
"WindowFrame"="0 0 0"
"WindowText"="0 0 0"
"MenuHilight"="0 0 0"
"MenuBar"="212 208 200"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"BorderWidth"="1"
"CaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"CaptionHeight"="-270"
"CaptionWidth"="-270"
"IconFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"IconSpacing"="75"
"IconTitleWrap"="1"
"IconVerticalspacing"="-1125"
"MenuFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"MenuHeight"="-270"
"MenuWidth"="-270"
"MessageFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ScrollHeight"="-240"
"ScrollWidth"="-240"
"Shell Icon BPP"="16"
"SmCaptionFont"=hex:f5,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,bc,02,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,54,00,61,00,68,00,6f,00,6d,00,61,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,

120. Disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen

By default, the Microsoft Windows XP logon screen displays a Turn off computer button. This display seems convenient, until one of your kids happens to shut down your computer and close all your programs. To prevent this from happening, you can disable the Turn off computer button. You can still shut down your computer; you just have to log on with a computer administrator account first.

To disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen

1.Log on to your computer as an administrator. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.Click Performance and Maintenance.

3.Click Administrative Tools.

4.Double-click Local Security Policy.

5.Expand Local Policies by clicking the plus sign next to it, and then click Security Options.

6.In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy.

7.Click Disabled, and then click OK.

Windows XP removes the Turn off computer button from the Welcome screen—so no more shutting down without logging on!