Further to William Hilsum's answer, this method does not require you to leave the password in plain text in the registry (although I am not sure how the authentication is actually stored).
Step 1
As a local administrator, tell Windows to allow admins to log on automatically.
In Regedit, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
.
If it is not there, create a new String Value called AutoAdminLogon
Set this value to 1
Step 2
Tell Windows to remember the password for logging in.
In the run box, type control userpasswords2
Ensure your domain username is in the list, if not, add it.
Untick (or tick and untick): Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.
Make sure your username is selected. Click Apply.
At this point, Windows should prompt for the password that will be used.
Step 3
Now head back to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Ensure the following String Values are set, if not, set them:
DefaultUserName
: Your domain username (without the domain prefix)
DefaultDomainName
: Your domain
That should be it.
Note on password changes:
You will need to redo this procedure from step 2 each time you change your password. Unfortunately Windows resets the DefaultDomainName to your local machine name every time you save that dialogue, so you have to change it back manually.
2That's probably not the smartest way to do it. There are multiple ways to get at the registry without using regedit.exe. VBScript, PowerShell, the "reg" command, and probably more. I think it's a better idea to change the ACL on the registry key itself to prevent users from viewing it. – Tmdean – 2015-03-19T22:16:11.157
1... To add to the little comment I made, if using this for a kios or similar, you would hopefully be using locked down software/a browser in kiosk mode or more so users wouldn't actually have access to the desktop... – William Hilsum – 2015-03-21T10:32:24.973
FYI: This won't work if you have any third party identifier like in my case ekey (fingerprint logon software) - so you have to remove that program for this to work – SimonS – 2017-03-08T16:16:22.893
1I can confirm this works with a Windows 7 VM joined to the domain. I have mild concerns about how accessible the password in the registry is: no privileges are required to read those keys; but the VM is used soley by me, so hopefully it isn't too serious. – jmtd – 2011-04-06T14:20:38.093
@jmtd - working, and security best practices are two separate things! I would only recommend this for a kiosk/guest/similar account. – William Hilsum – 2011-04-06T15:30:23.353
2On a kiosk, you should use Group Policy to disable registry access to prevent users from accessing the logon password. The setting is
User Config\Admin Templates\System\Prevent Access to Registry Editing Tools
. – Bacon Bits – 2011-04-19T01:34:02.740