Logon

Logon

In the Logon category, you toggle Autoexec.bat parsing by setting the REG_SZ value ParseAutoexec in the key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon to 0 or 1. Set ParseAutoexec to 0 to prevent Windows from parsing Autoexec.bat for environment variables. Otherwise, set ParseAutoexec to 1, and Windows will parse it for environment variables.

There are three other settings in the same key. The Keep RAS Connections After Logoff setting is in the REG_SZ value KeepRasConnections. The Show Additional Domain Information at Logon setting is in the REG_DWORD value DCacheShowDnsNames. Last, the Show Full DNS Domain Names at Logon setting is in the REG_DWORD value DCacheShowDomainTags.

Autologon

The last useful category in Tweak UI is Autologon, and it enables you to automatically log on to Windows without providing your name, domain, or password. Table 5-28 describes the values that you must set to log on to the computer automatically. Name is the user name, and Domain is the domain name. To enable Autologon, you must set the REG_SZ value AutoAdminLogon to 1. Last, set the value REG_SZ value DefaultPassword in the subkey Winlogon to the password that you want to use to log on to the computer automatically. You don't see this value in Tweak UI because it stores the password differently.

NOTE
This setting is useful for IT professionals deploying software. It's one way to install applications that require administrative access to the computer, which users in most enterprises don't have. Chapter 18, “Fixing Common IT Problems,” discusses this setting in detail.

Table 5-28 Values in the Autologon Category

Setting	Name	Type	Data
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Log on automatically at system startup	AutoAdminLogon	REG_SZ	0 | 1
User name	DefaultUserName	REG_SZ	Name
Domain	DefaultDomainName	REG_SZ	Domain

Settings

The Settings category allows you to copy current desktop settings from your current user profile (the profile you're using while logged on to the computer and using Tweak UI) to the .DEFAULT user profile, which is the user profile that Windows uses when it displays the logon dialog box.

Screen Saver

Configuring the screen saver to lock the desktop is always a good idea. It prevents other people from accessing your computer when you walk away from your desk. As a convenience, though, Windows gives you a grace period from the time the screen saver starts to the time it actually locks the desktop. By default, this grace period is five seconds. You can change it to any value, however. This setting is in the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. It's REG_SZ value ScreenSaverGracePeriod. You simply set this string value to the number of seconds you want to use for a grace period.