Logon Automatically and lock computer
So your the only user on your computer and you want to have the security of your own password, but you don’t want to have to wait for all your startup programs to launch when you first boot up. You wish there was just some way to have your computer startup, load all your programs, but be secure so that it does it all in the background of the login screen and you don’t have to wait for it.
Paying something like $50 for a program such as Tweak UI is just out of the question, wouldn’t you agree? Well, luckily for you, you can do this for free! Just follow the next couple of steps in this post and you will have your dream in no time.
Lets get started!
Step 1:
Go to your desktop and right-click any where that has no file, so that it brings up the default right-click menu.
Select “New” from the menu, then select “Shortcut“. “Shortcut” is located just under “Folder“.
Step 2:
Windows will now ask you to specify the location for the shortcut.
Copy and paste the following into the location. If you wish to type it, please note that it is cAsE SeNsItIvE.
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Make sure there are no trailing spaces at the beginning or end of the line.
Click “Next” to continue”
Step 3:
Change the default name for your shortcut from “rundll32.exe” to anything that you want. I called mine “Lock“.
Then click “Finish“.
Step 4:
Now double click on your newly created shortcut and it should lock your computer. It will not log you off.
Just type your password back in on the logon screen and you will see! If it comes up with an error, then delete the shortcut and go back to Step 3.
Step 5:
Right-click on your shortcut and select “Cut” from the menu.
Step 6:
Click on the start menu and then go to “All Programs“. Find a folder in there called “Startup“, right-click on it and select “Open“.
Step 7:
Now, right-click any where in the “Startup” folder and select paste. You will see your shortcut be placed in there.
Step 8:
Click on the “Start” menu and select “Run“.
Vista Users can type “Run” into the search field in the start menu if it isn’t present.
Step 9:
OK, so, if you’re using Windows XP you have to type “control userpasswords2” as the run command and click “OK”
Vista users do the same:
If the security window comes up in Vista, just click “Continue“.
Step 10:
You will see a window come up called “User Accounts“.
Uncheck the tick box that says “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer“.
Then click “Apply“.
You will be asked to enter in the password twice for your username.
Enter your password and click “OK“.
Click “OK” again on the user accounts screen.
Step 11:
That’s it! You’re done! If you want to test this, restart your computer. You will see it load up, then it will bypass the logon screen, loggin you on, then it will lock your computer still loading up all your startup programs!