Having no password on windows 7 log in physically, but with password through RDP

I am trying to make my main desktop be able to reboot right into the desktop without asking for a password, but I still want to be secure when I'm accessing it remotely. No one is ever going to physically touch my PC except me, but security is security dealing with Remote Desktop.

How can I enable RDP without having to type the password locally?


Solution 1:

In order to make RDP work you MUST have a password for that account's login.

But you can still accomplish both things you want. By doing this

  1. Press Win+R (Run)
  2. In the command prompt, type control userpasswords2, then press Enter.
  3. In the User Accounts dialog that appears, uncheck the box marked Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.
  4. Click OK on the User Accounts window to complete the process.

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From now on, when your PC starts up, Windows 7 will log on automatically.

Solution 2:

reboot right into the desktop without asking for a password,

Windows can be configured to autologin to an account with a password. But this requires that you store the un-encrypted/un-hashed version of your password in the registry, so it is a bit of a security weakness. The values you set got at the following registry locations.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
DefaultUserName = 
DefaultPassword =

Ref:

  • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324737
  • http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/b2e213fe-ce33-4712-8a8d-3cc09722c551/windows-7-autologon?forum=w7itproinstall