Automatic Login for Virtual Machines

Jeff Atwood

12 Apr 2006 — 1 min read — Comments

Virtual machine images typically don't need much security, so the login prompt is more of a formality than anything else. Plus, if you're planning to share the VM image with others, you need to communicate the login information along with the image. It's a pain.

I've seen tips on how to force the login background to be an image containing the username and password which appears directly above the login dialog.

But there's an even easier solution. Tweak UI, one of the official Microsoft PowerToys, allows you to enable a default login, with no typing at all. It calls this feature "autologon":

TweakUI, Login, Autologon

I don't know why you would bother with the "bitmap login background" method, as the autologin method is so much cleaner.

security virtual machines autologin microsoft powertoys

There is no longer any such thing as Computer Security

Remember “cybersecurity”? Mysterious hooded computer guys doing mysterious hooded computer guy... things! Who knows what kind of naughty digital mischief they might be up to? Unfortunately, we now live in a world where this kind of digital mischief is literally rewriting the world’s history. For proof of that, you

Hacker, Hack Thyself

We’ve read so many sad stories about communities that were fatally compromised or destroyed due to security exploits. We took that lesson to heart when we founded the Discourse project; we endeavor to build open source software that is secure and safe for communities by default, even if there

Let’s Encrypt Everything

I’ll admit I was late to the HTTPS party. But post Snowden, and particularly after the result of the last election here in the US, it’s clear that everything on the web should be encrypted by default. Why? 1. You have an unalienable right to privacy, both in

Welcome to The Internet of Compromised Things

This post is a bit of a public service announcement, so I'll get right to the point: > Every time you use WiFi, ask yourself: could I be connecting to the Internet through a compromised router with malware? It's becoming more and more common to see

Recent Posts

Stay Gold, America

We are at an unprecedented point in American history, and I'm concerned we may lose sight of the American Dream.

The Great Filter Comes For Us All

With a 13 billion year head start on evolution, why haven’t any other forms of life in the universe contacted us by now? (Arrival is a fantastic movie. Watch it, but don’t stop there – read the Story of Your Life novella it was based on for so much

I Fight For The Users

If you haven’t been able to keep up with my blistering pace of one blog post per year, I don’t blame you. There’s a lot going on right now. It’s a busy time. But let’s pause and take a moment to celebrate that Elon Musk

The 2030 Self-Driving Car Bet

It’s my honor to announce that John Carmack and I have initiated a friendly bet of $10,000* to the 501(c)(3) charity of the winner’s choice: By January 1st, 2030, completely autonomous self-driving cars meeting SAE J3016 level 5 will be commercially available for passenger use

Related posts

Recent Posts