Hidden+User+Accounts

Hidden User Accounts

This feature is only available in Windows XP and 2000 ( . This process does involve an easy registry edit, but if you're uncomfortable with that, you might want to think twice about attempting this. Normally, when you log into XP, you see the start up screen. This tip allows you to hide a desired account from this screen. If you want to log on as this user, you have to press Ctrl + Alt + Del twice at the Welcome screen to make a Windows security dialogue box appear. There you can type in the username and password of the hidden account and log in. Limited users shouldn't be able to see any sign of you except for the listing in the Documents and Settings folder. If having a hidden account sounds like your cup of tea and you have no problem with small registry changes, Then this is how:- 1.) First, you need to open up the registry editor. Go to :- Start > Run and type "regedit" in the box. Click OK when you're done. 2.) You should be looking at the registry editor and what you need to do now is navigate to this key:- HKEY\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Userlist. You will not see this folder if you do not have the option of "Show hidden system files" turned on. 3.) Once here, we need to create another DWORD value. This is easier than it sounds. Right click on the User list label file on the left side of the screen and select New, DWORD. You'll see the new entry in the right pane of the window. Rename this value to be the name of the user account you want hidden (make sure you type it in exactly how it is listed in the start up screen, case sensitive too) and leave the value at 0 (zero). 4.) Close your registry editor and restart your computer. When the Welcome screen comes up again, you'll notice that there's no icon for the user you just concealed. So, how do you log in? This is where you press Ctrl + Alt + Del twice and the Windows security dialogue box will come up, asking you to authenticate (with the username and password). After that, the system should log you in. You can turn the Windows log on screen on or off in the User Accounts area of the Control Panel. (Start > Control Panel > User Accounts. Then select "Change the way users log on or off" and the one that says:- "Use Windows Welcome Screen"). You need to turn it off if you plan on using a hidden account and there are no other accounts on the system. The reason why is that Windows does not have any user accounts to display in the Welcome screen, so it will continuously reboot. Now, if you do run into this or any problems, simply start your computer in Safe Mode at the next boot up. This will allow you to go to the User Accounts window and fix any problems. If you find that you can't log in at all with your hidden account, go back and look at the registry value you created. Make sure you're spelling the username correctly and that it's in the right location within the registry.  