Automatic Windows Logon on Domain Member Machines

On a Windows machine, you can normally use Start => Run => control userpasswords2 to enable automatic login for a given user when the system boots. On computers that are part of a domain, this is not the case. However, while the functionality is removed from the user interface when you join a domain, it is still available if you’re comfortable mucking about with the registry.

Using Regedit, go to “Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon“.

There are 4 keys you need to set to allow automatic logon:

  • AutoAdminLogon, REG_SZ => 1
  • DefaultDomainName, REG_SZ => YourDomainNameHere
  • DefaultPassword, REG_SZ => YourSecretPasswordInClearText
  • DefaultUserName, REG_SZ => YourUserName

Add or edit the keys to match your domain setup and reboot. Autologin should function as intended after this.

AutoLoginWindowsDomain

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