Disable Password Prompt at Startup in Windows XP

Note: This post may be wrong. I’m getting a lot of complaints that this doesn’t work. See the Microsoft page on how to do this here

Disabling startup login prompt for password

  • Click Start and Run
  • Type “Control Userpasswords2” and press enter.
  • Uncheck the box for “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.”
  • Click Apply and Ok.

Please read the comments before following these steps – some comments have reported that this fix is causing a few issues.

Author: Binny V A
A philosopher programmer who specializes in backend development and stoicism.

17 thoughts on “Disable Password Prompt at Startup in Windows XP

  1. This does not work in my case. On restart I not only get the password screen back but also a message telling me the system could not log me on. I can only get out of this by entering my name again and clicking OK

  2. this method does not work. i have xp professional and the option “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.” was only on my computer when I first installed windows. after i checked the box, the option disappeared and now I must enter a password every time. this blows.

  3. I’ve used it many times. XP Home and Pro. Worked every time. Did you disable the Welcome screen first? More than likely that is your problem.

  4. This works in the sense that I don’t have to enter a password but I am logged in as the “Administrator” user instead of as my usual user. How do I login as my usual user without having to enter a password during STARTUP, even though the account IS password-protected? Thanks.

  5. hi i work out how get old user setting back up, when you make new user account, iam running xp pro and i could not load my user password at start up it driving me nuts so i try everything you can think of, untill i when to system tools and program call [backup] it made back up of the old user setting in administrator folder the one you cannot get in, run the program made a back up to 2nd hd when it finish backing up, i when back to program and copy my folder to my new user folder over right all and then restart the pc and all is well again, it took like 1hour to do, it save me reformatting pc.

  6. when i turn on my PC it wants to enter name and pass,and i have to press enter.i wanna turn this off(to enter directly in window)(my windows is ex)

  7. This advice can be a disaster. I received the same screen asking for a password that never existed. I had to start in F8 (SafeMode) and then go in and undo the unchecked box. The “welcome Screen” must also be activated (this being important) for it to have ever worked.

    It looks like the original poster knew just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to tell all the necessary details 🙁

    http://en.allexperts.com/q/Windows-XP-3282/bypass-password-2.htm

  8. For anyone still searching this…

    The advice at the top of the page is poor. It may or may not work depending on your system settings.

    However the advice in the link directly above is also inappropriate, unnecessarily long and laborious, if all you want to do is just stop having to enter your password on boot-up. In Windows XP you simply adjust the settings in Control Panel -> User Accounts.

    A simple explanation is in this official article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q282866/

    *N.B. in User Accounts “Use the Welcome Screen for fast and easy logon” as referred to in the article now just says “Use the Welcome Screen” (on my WinXP service pack 3 at least), but ticking the box next to it as advised still worked for me.

  9. it works for sure…… but thr shud’t b more than 1 user n it shud’t b password protected………. 1st u hv to remove all d oth user accounts n password………..

    thank u Binny V A..

  10. I can’t remember password after turning on comp it has been in storage for so long I haven’t used it for a while I started it in safe mode but don’t know administrator password how do I get round this I don’t want to buy new comp

  11. thank u sooooooooooooo much for the help i was suffering with this problem from 2 months to enable password prompt on startup………:)

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