It’s convenient to just turn on your computer, go get a cup of coffee and have the desktop waiting for you when you come back. Right?
But do you realize that you are putting your sensitive data at risk when you do that?
What if you lose your computer? One barrier to the Bad Guys accessing your files is removed. I can think of countless scenarios similar to this.
If you are running Mac OS X, here are the steps to turn off automatic login…
- Open System Preferences and then open the Security pane.
- Put a check mark beside “Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver”, and also put a check mark beside “Disable automatic login” for all accounts on this computer.
What about Windows XP or Vista? First off, you need Local Administrator rights to make this change. Second, if you are joined to a Domain, then by default your auto-login is turned off and this is managed by the Domain Administrator.
Here are the steps to turn off automatic login in a Windows XP and Vista environment…
- Go to Start… Run… and then type control userpasswords2 in the Run… box and hit enter.
- Put a check mark in the box beside Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. Click Apply, then OK.
That’s all there is to it! Pretty simple, and greatly increases the security of your files in the event you lose your computer, or someone without permission turns your computer on.
- Dan
