Logging On Automatically After Installation

If you're using the [GuiRunOnce] section to deploy settings or run programs after installing Windows XP, you'll want to automatically log on to the operating system immediately after installation is finished. On top of that, you'll likely want to log on as local Administrator to install applications that require elevated privileges or change settings in HKLM that restricted users can't change. For that, use the AutoLogon setting in the [GuiUnattended] section of your answer file. Set AutoLogon=Yes. This sets the value AutoAdminLogon in the key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon, which you learn about in Chapter 15, "Working Around IT Problems."

You must also set AutoLogonCount in the [GuiUnattended] section. This setting specifies the number of times you want to automatically log on to Windows XP as local Administrator. This sets the value AutoLogonCount in the key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon. Normally, you'd log on to Windows XP only one time by setting AutoLogonCount=1. However, you can log on to the operating system as many times as necessary, such as when a setup programs restarts the computer in the middle of the installation process. The following lines show you the settings necessary to use this feature:

 [GuiUnattended] AutoLogon=Yes AutoLogonCount=1 [GuiRunOnce] "regedit %SYSTEMROOT%\Settings.reg /s" 

When you set a password using the AdminPassword setting in the [GuiUnattended] section, Windows XP uses that password to log the local Administrator on to it. However, if you encrypt the password and set EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes, Windows XP disables this feature. It's a trade off between security and deployment convenience. Don't panic, though; when Windows XP finishes installing, it removes the password from any local copies of the answer file, such as %SYSTEMROOT%\System32\$winnt$.sif.