Microsoft: Turn On Automatic Logon in Windows

To use Registry Editor to turn on automatic logon, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type Regedt32.exe, and then press Enter.
3. Locate the following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
4. Double-click the DefaultUserName entry, type your user name, and then click OK.
5. Double-click the DefaultPassword entry, type your password, and then click OK.

Note: If the DefaultPassword value does not exist, it must be added. To add the value, follow these steps:
a. On the Edit menu, click New, and then point to String Value.
b. Type DefaultPassword, and then press Enter.
c. Double-click DefaultPassword.
d. In the Edit String dialog, type your password and then click OK.

Note: If no DefaultPassword string is specified, Windows automatically changes the value of the AutoAdminLogon key from 1 (true) to 0 (false), disabling the AutoAdminLogon feature.

6. On the Edit menu, click New, and then point to String Value.
7. Type AutoAdminLogon, and then press Enter.
8. Double-click AutoAdminLogon.
9. In the Edit String dialog box, type 1 and then click OK.
10. Exit Registry Editor.
11. Click Start, click Shutdown, and then type a reason in the Comment text box.
12. Click OK to turn off your computer.
13. Restart your computer. You can now log on automatically.

Notes:
* To bypass the AutoAdminLogon process and to log on as a different user, press and hold the Shift key after you log off or after Windows restarts.
* This registry change does not work if the Logon Banner value is defined on the server either by a Group Policy object (GPO) or by a local policy. When the policy is changed so that it does not affect the server, the autologon feature works as expected.
* When Exchange Active Sync (EAS) password restrictions are active, the autologon feature does not work. This behavior is by design. This behavior is caused by a change in Windows 8.1 and does not affect Windows 8 or earlier versions. To work around this behavior in Windows 8.1 and later versions, remove the EAS policies in Control Panel.
* An interactive console logon that has a different user on the server changes the DefaultUserName registry entry as the last logged-on user indicator. AutoAdminLogon relies on the DefaultUserName entry to match the user and password. Therefore, AutoAdminLogon may fail. You can configure a shutdown script to set the correct DefaultUserName entry for AutoAdminLogonAs.