Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite
3

With Windows 7, if you have multiple accounts (and there are no passwords on those accounts), Windows will give you a welcome screen on boot to let you choose which one to log in.

With Windows 8, it will just log you straight in to the last logged in account. How can I make it act like Windows 7?

share|improve this question
I tried Autologin from Sysinternal too. Doesn't work. – Felix Sep 30 '12 at 9:55

6 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

The only way to make it work is to set a password on all the accounts. You can choose a normal or picture password which may help the transition.

I have looked for a long time on this and went through many articles on how to bypass the lock screen hoping it would lead me to a way, as I could find only a few articles on forcing the lock screen none of which worked. But there is not. Windows attempts to bring up the last logged in account. If that account doesn't have a password it will log it in. So, if you have multiple users and you do not want them to login automatically then they have to set a password.

I don't like the answer either, but it is true. I have 4 users, (wife, 2 kids and myself). I set a password on mine, but the others do not.

A waste of time since the other 3 are locked down and can't do anything. It is like asking for a password at a kiosk.

share|improve this answer
I did find a way by enabling "Do not display last user name". See my answer below. – Felix Nov 27 '12 at 0:41
up vote 1 down vote

You can enable/disable autologon by clicking windows key and R to open Run dialog, or just type in the search bar netplwiz and on the User accounts panel check the mark by Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer

share|improve this answer
That's the first place I checked. It is checked. – Felix Sep 29 '12 at 10:53
Try signing out before you shutdown windows, or put some password on your account, it seems that if there is no password on the account and the computer was shutdown with user logged it logs on automatically to that user. There should probably be some registry tweak, but I'm not able to find it – Alen Sep 29 '12 at 11:06
Signing out before shutting down doesn't change it. It still logs in automatically. – Felix Sep 29 '12 at 11:53
up vote 1 down vote

Shutdown in W8 is not really a full shutdown, its a form of hibernation...make a command shortcut to do a full shutdown should solve it...

Open notepad and copy this into it

shutdown /s /t 0

you can change the zero to 5 if you want a 5 second delay after you launch the command, zero is immediate shutdown.

save it to your desktop as "Windows full shutdown.cmd" (change the file extension from txt to cmd)

Use this command shortcut to shutdown the PC, hopefully this will allow you to pick a user on next boot.

share|improve this answer
Doesn't work, it still does the auto logon. – Felix Sep 30 '12 at 6:05
up vote 1 down vote accepted

I got it working, but in an less than perfect way. This way Windows would ask you to type the username every time. Would still like it to show a welcome screen with icons you can click on every boot though.

Run secpol.msc > Local Policies > Security Options > Interactive logon: Do not display last user name > Enabled

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Felix, please try Logonexpert autologon tool, it should work (declared Win8 compatibility)

share|improve this answer
While this may technically answer the question, it would be more helpful if you added more information about the website you've linked to. – Randolph West Oct 12 '12 at 19:05
I tried disabling autologon using Logonexpert, but it doesn't work either. – Felix Oct 20 '12 at 2:34
up vote -1 down vote

Tak a look here: How to disable the Windows 8 lock screen, without disabling the password?

It is probably the best solution (same as in W7). It disables both the lock screen and auto-login of accounts without password.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.