Windows/Network Login and TweakUI

Once any kind on network (Ethernet, Dialup-adapter) is installed, you will get during Windows95 startup the ‘Login’ screen : “Enter Windows Password” :

Or : “Enter Network Password” :

When you are connected at work at a server with confidential data, such user-logins (with passwords) are a MUST, but at home, it only delays the startup.
Are you only using Dialup-Networking to connect to the Internet ?

The easiest method is to change your Primary Network Logon:

to Windows Logon.
On reboot, Do NOT enter any password:


because when configured for “Windows Logon” and having NO password, then Windows will NOT present anymore the Logo screen.
If you did already define a password, change it to “having no password”:
You can do that in the Control-Panel:


Enter your old password, do NOT enter any new password.
There is also the more “radical” solution :

Use “FIND” to locate in C:\WINDOWS the Password-file (PWL-file) for that
username and delete it !
That will delete for this user all password (including the passwords
used in Dialup-Networking),
but on entering this username during Logon, you will be prompted again for password, where you do NOT enter any password.

Do you have a Network-board installed and you need to use as
Primary Network Logon ?

Part of the ‘unsupported’ Windows95 PowerToys, download from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wutoys/w95pwrtoysset
Windows 98: includes PowerToys / TweakUI
(but Windows98 SE does NOT anymore include the PowerToys / TweakUI)
‘TweakUI‘ allows to automate the login-procedure. Once it is installed (via the content-menu ‘install’-option of the tweakui.inf-file), the TweakUI is available in the Control Panel:

Select the tab:network to use it. But be aware of the warning:
there is no password confidentiality !
But now, there is no more possibility to login as a different user, UNLESS:
You press the SHIFT-key and HOLD IT DOWN, as soon as during boot-up the system has changed to the Graphic resolution !
That tells Windows95/NT4 to IGNORE the AUTO-LOGIN and it will prompt you with the Login-window, allowing you now to login as a different user.
If you like to do this definition manually, use “Regedit” to define the
registry keys and its values (which are all String-values):

The NT4-registry keys are almost identical (WindowsNT instead of Windows):

but you need in addition the key “DefaultDomainName“, which is either
the Windows NT-domain or ( if you are not member of an NT-Domain) just
your own local Computer-name.

Display of Login-Box without the name of the last user
The system will remember your last login-name and show it at the next startup.
If you do not like this (i.e. Windows95 showing the last user), you can also use “TweakUI” :

On the Tab: Paranoia, check the item: “clear Last User at Logon”

If you do not like to use TweakUI, here is the Registry key for this action:
“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon”
key : “DontDisplayLastUserName”, value (string) : “1” :

“I forgot my Login-Password !” (Windows 95 ONLY ! )
In case, that you forget your Login-password: Just login as a new user, define a new password, then have a look in C:\WINDOWS for *.PWL-files: these files store for each user the passwords. Just delete the file with your user-name, then restart Windows. You can now enter your own username and define a new password.
This procedure is ONLY valid for Windows 95 with its “weak” security system, it does NOT apply to Windows NT4 with its ‘strong’ security system.