Question:
We are running a SCADA package on an NT 3.51 machine at a mine. Since we often have power failures, the PC reboots itself and then requires the operator to type in the password. We wanted to change this so that the PC is automatically logged on as user OPERATOR and restarted the SCADA.
After some research, I found out how this could be done via the registry. In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinLogon I added a value called AutoAdminLogon of type REG_SZ and value = 1, as well as DefaultUserName = OPERATOR and DefaultPassword = operator’s password. This prevents the Logon screen with CTRL-ALT-DEL when logging on, and simply logs on as OPERATOR. This is fine; however, now the problem…
How do you now log on as the Administrator, which needs to be done to make changes to the SCADA system? NT always logs on as OPERATOR, who has no rights to make changes to the SCADA or registry, so I am stuck being user OPERATOR. Even logging off simply causes automatic logon to start again. Unlike NT4, NT3.51 does not have the option to “Close all programs and log on a different user.” What can I do ?
Answer:
Another good reason to go to NT 4.0. Outside of reinstalling NT (and setting up the OPERATOR with rights to those keys), here is the approved MS way:
“To stop the auto logon, you need to do so from another Windows NT computer. First, log on to another Windows NT computer. Then, start a command prompt and connect to your auto logon computer via:”
"net use: \ c$ user: administrator
where
