The most annoying phenomenon in any person’s day is probably when they notice that, all of a sudden, Windows has decided to show a Welcome screen and make you click on your username to log in. Not only is it annoying, but it’s yet another obstacle to your day especially when you’re in a hurry. When you’ve got to run, it’s torture to come back from the kitchen after preparing breakfast and finding that your operating system didn’t even bother to finish booting. What’s most annoying is that Windows doesn’t include the option to disable the Welcome screen in a place that’s easy to find. So, let’s do a little exploring…
Wait. What About Security?!
Oh, this one is a question I get a lot when proposing this simple “bypass surgery” to customers. They’re concerned that remote users will be able to log in to their computers if a password is no longer necessary or if they skip the Welcome screen somehow. One thing is for sure, disabling the welcome screen doesn’t open the invitation for remote users to hack into your computer. They will still need password and bypass the firewall to connect to it. Disabling the welcome screen will allow anyone who use your computer to access your account (unless they log out physically). If you don’t have any confidential data in your computer, or you are the only user of your computer, it is perfectly fine to disable the welcome screen for the added convenience.
Let’s Do This!
So, before we go on, let’s get one thing straight: Make sure you’re doing this to your computer only!! Doing this to someone else’s computer is not ethical and doesn’t give you any kudos. Now, let’s start:
- Click your Start menu, type:
and press “Enter.” This takes you to the “User Accounts” screen.
See that checkbox over the list? Clear it. This removes the requirement for users to physically type their password and username when they’re present at the computer.
Click “OK.”
That’s it!
Please leave a comment below if you have a question about what we’ve discussed here.
Miguel has been a business growth and technology expert for more than a decade and has written software for even longer. From his little castle in Romania, he presents cold and analytical perspectives to things that affect the tech world.
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