It’s not great security but it is more practical and a better end-user experience to have Windows automatically login on a single-user computer. Instead of waiting for the person to enter their password, Windows can get right to it and load the profile and startup objects all in one fell swoop. A person might power on their PC, walk away or start doing something else, and this way when they return the computer will be ready to be used. To configure Windows 8 to autologon works the same as Windows 7, so the following directions use screenshots from Windows 8 but will still work for the previous version of the operating system.
From the Windows 8 Start Screen, you can start typing the command ‘netplwiz’ and then launch the app that is found by search. If you go to the Desktop, you can also use Windows Key+R to get the Run box to pop up. There you can also type ‘netplwiz’ and hit Ok to get the same results.
‘control userpasswords2’ is also interchangeable for netplwiz from the Run box. You may remember this command more from previous configurations.
Once you launch the app selected above, you will be greeted with a User Accounts window (pictured below). Select your user name from the box in the middle. Then uncheck the box for ‘Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.’ When you click the Ok or Apply buttons, you will be greeted with another box requesting your credentials. The username should already be populated, so just enter your password and confirm it and hit Ok.
Your computer should now automatically log into your account upon start up. Like I said before, it’s not great security but for my desktop at home, if somebody has physical access to it already, I have bigger problems.
In order to deactivate the auto login, just run netplwiz again and check the box to require entering a password and hit the OK button.