Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

Log on automatically at startup

For increased security, Windows 2000 presents a logon dialog box at startup and requires that you have a valid user account on the computer or domain in order to log on to the computer. While you can’t get around the requirement for a valid user account, you can configure Windows 2000 to automatically log on at startup. If you always use the same logon account and are not concerned with your system logging on automatically at startup, automatic logon will save you the extra few steps of pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del and typing your username and password to log on.

Specify an automatic logon account

It’s easy to configure the system for automatic logon through the Users and Passwords object in the Control Panel:

1. Open the Users and Passwords object in the Control Panel.

2. Deselect the option “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer,” and click OK.

3. Windows 2000 prompts you to specify the username and password for the account that will be used to log on automatically at startup.

If you later want to reconfigure the system to require manual logon, just open the Users and Passwords object again and select the option “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer.”