How To: log on Windows 7 with username & password

The purpose of this article is to discuss how you can change your Windows 7 logon screen.  This post will explain how to require a user to enter a username and password by default like the classic version of Windows.  

I recommend advanced computer users carry out this task.  It involves tweaking the registry which can damage the computer if you don't know what you are doing. 

Require Windows 7 Username & Password

This will show you how to make Windows 7 require all users to type their username and password to log into an account. 

Tips

• For "Username" when logging into the computer - you will need to type your account username.  (e.g: C:\Users(usernames are here).  

Here is an example.  The image below represents what the logon screen will look like after successfully carrying out the steps that are listed further down. 

Warnings

• The following tweaks will be done in the Windows Registry.  Please note this is the brain of the computer so doing one small mistake could crash your computer. 
• The author of this post does not take legal responsibility for what may occur to your computer.  Doing the below steps are at your OWN risk.  

Tips

• Whether you are a newbie, intermediate or advanced computer user I recommend you back up both the registry and your computer files before continuing. 

Step 1 Start > Search "regedit" > press enter and click yes to UAC prompt

Step 2 Navigate the source

computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > Current version > Policies > System.  (See photo below as a guide):

Step 3 Find "dontdisplaylastusername" > click modify > type 1 > click OK

Have you gotten this far? Well done! Now all you have to do is restart the computer and see how you went. 

Step 4 To restore - do the same but type 0

Basically same as the above.  Just remove the one you manually entered then replace that with a zero.