Troubleshooting
Problem
Sometimes it is necessary to automatically restart the computer (i.e. for the IBM Rational® product's Silent install option). This requires the computer to know the Log-on settings and passwords, which means they have to be stored somewhere.
Cause
This storing place is the Microsoft® Windows® Registry, in the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Under this key the following values have to be set:
- DefaultDomainName
- DefaultUserName
- DefaultPassword
Also, the AutoAdminLogon entry has to be set to "1" (if it doesn't exist already, a new string called "AutoAdminLogon" should be created).
More information on this is available from the Microsoft Support Page, on the link listed below.
HOW TO: Enable Automatic Logon in Windows (Q310584)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q310584
Resolving The Problem
To automate this process, the attached utility AutoLogon.exe can be used, which sets the mentioned parameters. As input parameters it takes the arguments provided in the command line:
AutoLogon <DomainName> <UserName> <Password>
i.e.:
AutoLogon Rational DummyUser IDontKnow
would set the following Registry keys:
- DefaultDomainName = "Rational"
- DefaultUserName = "DummyUser"
- DefaultPassword = "IDontKnow"
- AutoAdminLogon = "1"
To reset the values of this keys (i.e. after the silent install is done), the program AutoLogon should be called with no arguments provided in the command line.
Calling just AutoLogon would set the Registry keys to the following values:
- DefaultDomainName = ""
- DefaultUserName = ""
- DefaultPassword = ""
- AutoAdminLogon = "0"
This is disabling the Auto Logon option, since the AutoAdminLogon key is set to 0.
Related Information
Historical Number
123352510
Document Information
Modified date:
27 December 2019
UID
swg21128426