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Away with that pesky log-in screen!

Toronto Star Fast Forward column for August 24, 2000 

Copyright ©, Myles White, 2000

I promise this will be the last column that mentions Bell's Sympatico High-Speed Edition for a while, although we're still sorting out issues (such as why the speed I'm getting – roughly 250 to 276 kilobits per second download – is so slow compared to what I should be getting). The @Home folks have been reading these columns, too, and want to install their product so I can test them side-by-side. I hope this comparison will make interesting reading at a future date. 

I must have tapped a sore spot, though — based upon the tone, content, and sheer volume of the mail I've been getting since the first column appeared on August 10 and who-knows-how much I'll get after the one for August 17 appears (I'm writing this the day before). Although some readers report happiness with their Sympatico HSE experience (and @Home service), they're in the minority. Most respondents wrote to share their horror stories about both services, instead.

Say again?

But enough of that for now. It was a throw-away line in the August 10 column that drew the single largest response. I'd mentioned that, as a friendly gesture, I'd shown the technician from Montreal-based RBA (Sympatico's residential installers), how to disable the Windows logon screen he'd inadvertently restored to my system long after I'd banished it. I was inundated with requests from readers to share this with them, too. So, although I once covered this and the related topics below a couple of years ago, it appears to be time to go through them again.

Getting rid of the password/logon screen: 

The appearance of the Windows logon screen has been a default setting for Windows 9x products since their inception. Windows NT (and now 2000) users always got it; those versions of the operating system were intended for corporate environments where security is a necessity. But most home users of Windows 95, 98, 98 SE and, soon, Windows ME (Millennium Edition), don't need it. 

So, here's how to get rid of it: 

• The logon screen is controlled from the Network Properties applet 
  • either right-click the Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop and choose Properties, or call Control Panel from Start/Settings, then double-click on the Network icon found there. 
  • It doesn't matter whether you have a network or not; this is where to make the choice of whether the logon screen appears. 
• About half-way down the Network Properties dialogue box is a drop-down list of choices labelled Primary Network Logon. Ignore all the others; choose Windows logon. Click Okay, then restart your system.
  • Important note: For this to work, the password in the Windows logon screen must be blank (not filled with the space character, but blank). If you put a password in the first time the logon screen appeared, you have to take it out before you can banish the screen. 
  • To do so, open Control Panel, then double-click on the Passwords applet. 
  • Click on the Change Windows Password button. 
  • To make a change, you must re-enter the old password, first (this is what prevents people from disabling your Windows logon screen if you didn't want it done). 
  • Then you enter the new password twice (the second time is the confirmation). 
  • To blank the password, simply leave the new password and confirmation lines empty, then click on okay.

Password caching

One of Windows' other tricks is to offer, in various dialogue boxes, to remember passwords for you so that you don't, for example, have to re-enter your Internet logon password each time you connect. This is a boon if you're the only person using your system or don't care if family members can log on without having to know a password (and you can ignore this section if you're more cautious). 

However, on a new install of Windows 9x, you may find that the "Remember Password" boxes are grayed out and unavailable. 

For password caching to be invoked:

• we go back to the Network properties dialogue (Start/Settings/Control Panel, or right click on Network Neighborhood and select Properties). 
  • You need to do this here even if you don't have a network. 
• Install a Microsoft network protocol such as IPX/SPX or NetBEUI 
  • click on the Add button
  • then select Protocol from the list
  • then Microsoft. 
  • In the absence of any network, I recommend using IPX/SPX, because this protocol is required if you ever want to use the Direct Cable Networking feature in Win9x at some future time. 
• By the way, you'll probably need your Windows CD in order to accomplish this unless the files are already on your hard drive. 
• When you've finished adding the protocol and restarting your system, you'll still have to re-enter your password(s) at least once more, but this time the Remember Password box should be available and it should stick.

But what if it doesn't stick?

Another common problem, particularly with Windows 95 versions, is corruption of the password file(s); no matter how often you tell Windows to remember your password, it ignores you. 

To fix it (at least for a while):

• select Find from the Start menu
• then enter *.PWL in the Files Named line. 
  • Most often located in the C:\Windows folder/directory, the files usually have the form <username>.PWL, where <username> is the name you put in the Windows logon screen (remember it?). 
• When you find the PWL files, rename them to something you can remember (such as <username>.old_pwl).
  • Once you've fixed the problem and nothing has gone awry for a while, you can delete them later.
• Windows will re-create the files as you enter passwords at the various points where you need them (again, such as when you log onto the Internet). Here, too, you'll have to re-enter your password(s) at least once, but this time, when you check off the "Remember Passwords" boxes, it should work.

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