Win2k requests password

Hi All,

I have a rather minor problem with Win2k and next to no knowledge of Win2k.

One of my computers, it's a work computer, has just recently started requesting a password on bootup. It has a user name in there; the password entry area is blank; I can close the dialog box as long as I don't enter anything, and then everything will start normally.

I do recall that in Win9x if you had a problem like this you could just delete any .pwl files and reboot. There are no .pwl files on this computer.

Actually, since I'm asking questions, in the \windows\system32 directory, you can find doskey.com. Since I usually work from a command prompt, I'd like it to load doskey for me. Problem is that I don't know how to get it to load. Do I have to enter it into the autoexec.bat? Just typing doskey gets me nothing. Not even an error message.

TIA for any help,

Jim

 

Sounds like the account has a blank password - otherwise you wouldn't get on.

And BTW - password info is not available with an NT system which is one reason security is less of a bad joke than with 9x systems.

If you want to have it go right thru the logon screen without bothering you, you will need to tweak your registry a bit. And you will need to be logged on with an account having administraor rights to the box in order for the registry changes to work.

Later if you occasionally need to use a different logon, hold down the SHIFT key while the system loads and it will bypass the autologon.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

AutoAdminLogon = 1
DefaultDomainName = [Domain name]
DefaultUserName = [User name]
DefaultPassword = [Password]

Set the values to suit your needs. For the account in use now, just have a blank for the value of DefaultPassword.

As for DOSKEY, I just checked my XP-Pro system and a 2K server system and both already have DOSKEY loaded so it must be part of the default setup since I certainly haven't loaded it. I opened a DOS window (cmd) and did DOSKEY /? and got a full range of features.

 

Hi there is another way to have the password dialogue box appear during boot up and then just dissapear without any input from you.Go to control panel / users & passwords and open , uncheck the box" users must enter a user name & password to use this computer. "You will need to be loged in as administrator for this to work.Only thing is there is usually no user name details or password already entered for this to work ,give it a go, may still work OK, otherwise Newts suggestion is the way to go.

 

Thanks very much, both of you. I'll check it out tonight.

Newt, the doskey executable (doskey.com)is is my windows\system32 directory, and if I do a "doskey /?" I also get the help info. Just can't get it to run. In any other Windows system I've ever used, including WinNT4, Win2k's predecessor, typeing the command loaded it. At least on this computer though, nothing.

The good news (for me) is that this computer is used by my clerk for my part time job and I have to spend very little time on it. The bad news is that it was provided and set up by the State of New York and I was given no information on any preinstalled passwords, accounts or anything.

Thanks again for your help and with this information, I should be able to eliminate this minor annoyance.

Jim

 

A little more on doskey & various DOS goodies with NT systems -

NT 4, 5, 5.1 don't use autoexec.bat or config.sys. If you really need to put settings into the PC and you would have done so via one of these files, take a look in windows\system32 at autoexec.nt and config.nt which are the files an NT system can use if needed.

I haven't used doskey in just about forever but I just tested it on a 2K and XP-Pro machine and at least parts seem to be working fine. I ran doskey on my XP-pro machine. No response including no errors. But now when I press F7, I do get a nice little DOS-style window with my command history. Alt-F7 clears things and I no longer get the window until I run another command. Haven't tried a macro but my bet it that it would work.

And BTW - doskey.exe is the file for 2K/XP. Not positive about NT4 and don't have one handy to look at.