Windows 8 Bible

Bypassing the Login Page

This is one of those little Windows secrets everyone likes to know about but should be cautious about using. It lets you bypass the login screen and start up Windows 8 in a specific user account automatically. Although it does save you one click at startup, it means anyone who sits at your computer can just turn on the power switch and have full access to everything in your user account. So don’t do this if you want to keep other people out of your user account.

This trick requires administrative privileges. So you need to know the password or you need to log in to an administrative account first. Here are the steps:

1. At the desktop, press Windows+X, click Run, and enter netplwiz. Or you can open the Charms Bar, click Search, and enter netplwiz. Click the Netplwiz application on the Apps screen. The User Accounts dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 15.14.

FIGURE 15.14 The User Accounts dialog box

2. Grant permission or enter an administrative password if prompted.

3. Clear the Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer check box.

4. Click Apply.

5. In the dialog box that opens, type the name of the user account to which you want to log in automatically.

6. If that user account requires a password, type the password once in the Password box and then again in the second box for confirmation. If the user account isn’t password-protected, ...