Auto logon should not be configured if more than one user is working with a computer or if the computer is part of a local area network. A PC that is only used by one user could be configured to automatically log that user in when he boots his computer. I have auto logon enabled in Windows XP and really enjoy the faster boot speed.
There is however a discrepancy among users on how to enable automatic logons in Windows XP. If you search for this on the Internet you will find the advice to configure it directly in the Registry. This works fine but has the disadvantage that the password of the user is stored in clear text.
While this is not really that problematic if you are the single user of the computer it still poses a greater security risk than storing the auto logon password unencrypted. Since it is not difficulty to store the encrypted password you should always use this way to store it.
Tweak UI for Windows XP offers an auto logon function that makes it possible to enable auto logon in Windows XP and store the password that has to be saved in encrypted form.
Another way would be to simply change the password of that user account to one that does not reveal any information about the user and that also is not similar to passwords normally used by the user. I do prefer the Tweak UI solution though.
There is however a discrepancy among users on how to enable automatic logons in Windows XP. If you search for this on the Internet you will find the advice to configure it directly in the Registry. This works fine but has the disadvantage that the password of the user is stored in clear text.
While this is not really that problematic if you are the single user of the computer it still poses a greater security risk than storing the auto logon password unencrypted. Since it is not difficulty to store the encrypted password you should always use this way to store it.
Tweak UI for Windows XP offers an auto logon function that makes it possible to enable auto logon in Windows XP and store the password that has to be saved in encrypted form.
Another way would be to simply change the password of that user account to one that does not reveal any information about the user and that also is not similar to passwords normally used by the user. I do prefer the Tweak UI solution though.
