Clear User Name Field when Unlocking PC

[Guest]

Does anyone know how to clear the user name field when your using the
ctrl+alt+del to unlock a computer that was manually locked? To be more
specific, let's say you come to a computer that has been manually locked and
to unlock it you hit ctrl+alt+del, and immediately it shows the user that
locked it in the user name field. I need that field be blank. It's most
likely in the security settings or registry but i don't know where to look
for that option.

Your help is much appreciated!

 

[Steven L Umbach]

There is nothing in security settings to do that and I have never head of a
registry settings to do that. Why do you need the field to be blank?

Steve

 

[Guest]

There is nothing in security settings to do that and I have never head of a
registry settings to do that. Why do you need the field to be blank?

Steve

i need the field to be blank because we have servers spread all over the US
in headends and we don't want any techs to try and hack into our system. It
would be more difficult to guess the user name along with the password.

 

[Guest]

There is a way to clear the Last User to Log On. Local Security Settings
contains a policy that you might want to enable if you don't use the welcome
screen. Ordinarily, the name of the last user who logged on appears in the
User Name box of the Log On To Windows dialog box. On a system that's used
primarily by a single user, this is a convenient freature that allows the
user to log on again without typing his or her name each time. But it's also
a bit of a security hole, because anyone can learn a valid user name just by
looking at this dialog box. If you're using Windows XP Professionnal, you can
prevent the last used name from apprearing by typing 'secpol.msc' (without
the quotes) at a command prompt to open Local Security Settings. In Local
Security Settings open Local Policies\Secuity Option. Then enable the policy
named Interactive Logon: Do Not Display Last User Name.

Source: Windows XP-Inside Out, by Microsoft Press and co-authored by: Ed
Bott, Carl Siechert, and Craig Stinson

Hope this helps, good luck and have a nice day, Seree

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Thanks for that info and I am aware of that setting however the OP is
talking about when a computer is locked.

Steve

 

[Steven L Umbach]

That is true but again I have never heard of a way to do such. All I can
suggest is that you enforce very strong passwords or consider using smart
cards and requiring that a smart card be used to logon to the computer
interactively. If the password is sufficiently strong it should not matter
what user they try to logon as.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Hi Steve, so this setting won't configure the login status from a locked
position, if the OP is not using the welcome screen? I misunderstood the
setting then. The way it was presented was if the welcome screen is not in
use, this setting would clear the last use logged on in any situation. Well,
that is too bad, oh well. At least I learned something new regarding that
particular setting today! lol Thanks for the response. Seree

 

[Guest]

That is true but again I have never heard of a way to do such. All I can
suggest is that you enforce very strong passwords or consider using smart
cards and requiring that a smart card be used to logon to the computer
interactively. If the password is sufficiently strong it should not matter
what user they try to logon as.

Steve





Thanks Steve and Seree. I'll take note of what you guys said and pass the info. along. By the way, these servers are running either 2000/2003 server. That probably doesn't change anything but just to let you know. If you guys find out anything more, please post and i'll look out for it.

Thanks again!

 

[Steven L Umbach]

That has not been my experience. When I enable it the last logon user name
does not show but when the computer is locked it shows the user that was
logged on when the computer was locked. If you find something different be
sure to let us know.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Seree... you were right! There is an option in the security setting to not
display last logon name. It's under:

Interactive logon: Display user information when the session is locked
Security setting: Do not display user information

Interactive logon: Do not display last user name
Security setting: Enabled

Thanks so much!

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Good catch. I was thinking XP Pro Local Security Policy since this is an XP
Pro newsgroup.

Steve