Deleteing the guest login user in XP Home....little help pls!!

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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I just got Windows XP Home. I like it but dont use the custom log in settings for different users. I tuned them all off but one. Now it asks me for a password evertime I reboot or turn on computer. How do I make it so the computer just boots up. No logging on etc. just boot to desktop right away like my 98 used to. I looked in msconfig already and saw nothing of the sort. Thanks all in advance.
herb
 

torreyk

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Aug 31, 2001
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Do you only have one account set up on this machine? I fthere are multiple accounts setup then it will not log in automatically either.
 

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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bump....anyone please help me? not sure what the deal is. no password but still stops at login screen until i push enter.
 

SwampsterFL

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Oct 30, 2001
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Make sure there is only the one user (delete others if they exist), and go in and select to change his password. Reboot and log in using the new password. Go back into Control Panel / Users / Change password and change it to nothing. This should make it boot without asking for anything.
 

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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Anyone? I only have the guest login and my own w/o a password. I cannot find where to delete that guest user so I can hopefully turn the somputer on and go straight to windows with no logon screen. Any help is appriciated.
thanks
herb
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
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As suggested above, use TweakUI. It will take care of what you need and is very easy to set up.
 

Den

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Jan 11, 2000
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Here is a Link to the Microsoft Tweak UI for XP download. Expand it into whatever dir you want it to live in, double click the inf file to install it. Then go to the conrtol panel to run it. The tab you want is logon, just check the box, type in your id and password and you are set. Note, you can have a password and it will still work fine. This does not run each time, it just makes the needed windows settings for you.
 

c0rv1d43

Senior member
Oct 1, 2001
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Don't try to delete the Guest account. Windows XP Home needs it. As long as the User Accounts applet in Control Panel says that the Guest account is off, there is no problem. If you have only one regular account and wish everyone to use that, then go to the Start | Run dialog and enter "control userpasswords2" (no quotes) and hit the <Enter> key. Uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." OK your way out.
 

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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Excellent....You all are great....thanks soo much....now to reboot and try that w/ user login unchecked...hope for the best....tyvm
 

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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OK seemed good but when I rebooted it said that could not login blah blah something. The administrator name was in the login box. Can I delete the administrator account and not have problems? My main (and only) account is as an administrator also so it seems like I should be able to use it for everything. I am just a little leary to delete the administrator account that is automatically setup in XP. Getting closer it seems to not having to login each time. Thanks all.
herb
 

herbage11

Senior member
Feb 10, 2002
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ALRIGHT!!!Got it thanks all and a special thanks to c0rv1d43 for his advice on the run control userpasswords2...Found the option to let me login w/o screen. Thanks again all.
 

c0rv1d43

Senior member
Oct 1, 2001
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I'm glad you got it. You really don't need to delete any user accounts. You could have several different accounts without passwords and have one of them set for the automatic logon in TweakUI for Windows XP. (I'm assuming you're using that based upon the earlier part of the thread.) The main Administrator account is actually not available to you at the normal login / desktop in the Home Edition. You can only log in under that primary Administrator account when you start up in Safe Mode. It's a good safety feature that makes sure you always have an account with admin access, and having it available only in Safe Mode also means that you won't use it for performing hardware and software installations. That, in turn, means that the primary admin account's profile can't get borked by a bad installation procedure. (It's not really common, but it does happen.)

Remember to not try to get rid of the Guest account. WinXP uses the Guest account for more than just providing a means of having an anonymous user log in under a very limited context. The OS uses it for establishing security relationships. I believe this has something to do with the way remote users log on when Simple File Sharing is enabled, and I imagine there may be other roles which the guest account plays. I do know that Microsoft specifically warns against trying to delete it.

Have fun with the toys!

- Collin
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
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Quote from http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q300489:

The Guest account in Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional (when not joined on a domain) serves several special functions that relate to security and network shares. Because of its importance, you must not disable the Guest account. If you disable the Guest account, your network can have problems that include malfunctioned shares.

Even if you have the guest account disabled, this sounds like an exploit just waiting to happen....so, dont delete the guest account, but give it a strong password, make sure its disabled, and rename it.